LOLAS are usually the bringer or the means that we Filipinos are practicing certain rituals nowadays.
My lola, who was born in the 1930's, used to tell me that offering food for the dead during All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day will help their souls journey to the other world still "healthy." The food is usually offered at the altar of one's home. And during the offering, the offerer must say a little prayer for his/her dearly departed.
However, we must be careful in choosing the food that we offer for the souls as there are food that we must cook or prepare to make the souls of the dearly departed happy wherever he/she is at the moment, while there are also prohibited food.
"Biko," a delicacy made of glutinous rice, tops the list of food that are best for the souls. According to my lola, souls love this sweet and sticky delicacy maybe because people of the olden days who are definitely had gone to the other world had not been introduced to other sweets but only to biko. With this, our elders always incorporate biko in the list of food to prepare during Undas.
Next in the list is Suman or Budbod. Suman is made of glutinous rice while Budbod is from "tiktik," that part of milled corn that is flour-like and the second to the smallest.
For additional information especially to the young ones, ears of corn when milled produce different sizes: the corn grits we usually use as substitute for rice, the "binlod," which we also use as substitute for rice but much smaller compared to corn grits, the "tiktik" -- an almost flour-like but a bit bigger compared to flour -- the product of milled corn commonly used for Budbod and other corn cakes, and the "tahop" or corn bran, which is used mostly as feed for livestock.
Both Suman and Budbod are made with coconut milk and sugar, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.
My lola said according to her mother, Suman or Budbod is usually prepared because this is the staple delicacy, the deserts that are commonly prepared during those times. So this means their souls must love this delicacy, too.
Binignit is present in the list of must-prepared food during Undas as well. My lola once said that Binignit will surely make the souls of our dearly departed happy while journeying to the afterlife as not only will it make them full and satiated, they must also love the mixture of sago, camote (sweet potato), gabi (taro), banana, jackfruit, rice flour, sugar, and coconut milk.
As for the prohibited food during Undas, my lola strictly told me not to prepare any grilled food such as barbecue and grilled fish, no matter how expensive the kind of fish is. She told me that if I prepare grilled food, the souls of my departed loved ones will have a hard time journeying to the other world.
She also restricted me to prepare pancit, as common sense tells us that this food is usually served during celebrations and having a dead loved one is not something to be celebrated.
But no matter what your beliefs or traditions are, the most important for us living who believe in souls is to pray for our dearly departed so that they may rest in peace with God.