I realize that I’m a bit slow to the punch on these … by about a decade. I’d first heard about these in a Rex Navarrete stand-up routine and thought he was joking, or referring to Flipz (note the “Z” at the end to denote the tough, street-wise nature of the product, n’ahmean?). But some random web-surfing reveals that this product is, indeed, deliciously real, and available in several variations - Standard, Agujeros, and “Bigsticks” (heeeey!)

Unlike the previously discussed and unfortunately-named “Gookies”, which I’ll assume came about because some Asian thought the word sounded like a clever variation on the word “cookies”, the unfortunate naming of these seems to have been a conscious decision by the Philippines’ former oppressors. According to the always trustworthy and accurate wikipedia, they were inspired by ‘rosquillo’ biscuits from Iloilo and Negros but the Spaniards decided, in a delicious twist, to coat them in white, milk, or dark chocolate. It’s like they decided to recreate the Filipino color spectrum in cookie form, from mestizos to malays to negritos all united by a light-colored, biscuit-y center. Or as one non-cookie Filipino congressman complained, the cookies seem to be a sly commentary on Filipino colonial mentality, being “dark outside and white inside”. Oh, those Spanish and their sensitive insight into the Asian condition.

Maybe with this photo, they were merely expressing their desire to be Asian too.