Our male ancestors hunted for food while the womenfolk did the gathering and, I guess, the cooking, after Prometheus passed on to humanity his gift of fire. Since then, we have learned to eat more than three times a day, to the point of being food-obsessed, according to a foreigner (who had yet to experience a taste of our “sisig” and “dinuguan”).

But why shouldn’t we love to eat, when our cuisine is a delicious mix of Chinese, Spanish, Malay, Indian, and native food, which includes everything from the pinakbet of the North to the curacha of Mindanao. Remember that true story of the US Marine who boasted he was not afraid of anything, until he was confronted with the challenge to eat a balut?

Last Saturday, to welcome my sister from Sacramento, Calif., we decided to give her a food tour of Banawe, Quezon City’s street of eats. (I didn’t tell anybody, but Banawe was also a first for me, even though it’s a short distance from where I live.)

None of us in the group is over 110 lbs but we’re all in different stages of senior citizenship. This is what we did from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., a food trip made in QC.

First on the list, lumpia from Amoy, whence came most Chinoys. One roll of lumpia — not Shanghai, please — is enough for people with slender waistlines, but as it was our mission to give Ms. Jocelyn a taste of Food Philippines, we took her to another restaurant for tofu and Chinese suman (sticky rice with bits of chicken and pork, wrapped in a banana leaf). At a third restaurant, we asked for fried chicken, slightly spicy, followed by oyster cake, fried misua (thin noodles), kangkong, seafood soup, fried rice with a slightly salty accent.

Going over this list, I realize the menu may sound like it’s on the heavy side, but honestly it’s not. Because there was room in our tummies for cua pao (a bun like siopao, with pork and cilantro) and “taho” for dessert.

As foodies know, the secret is never to gorge but to “try a little of everything” — and know when to ask for the check and leave the table, aha! with a push and purpose.