I had promised myself that I should see the Banaue Rice Terraces, and soon. My nationalistic conscience bothered me when friends from foreign lands would ask me if I had been to this wonder of the world. When that happens, I change the subject matter to other places like Batanes and Tawi-Tawi, faraway places I had been to, which, at the time, almost no one had visited yet.
The big question we will be forever asking is: “Why isn’t Philippine cuisine as well-known as Thai or Vietnamese?”
Thanks to various cultural influences, Filipino cuisine is more than a hybrid. Take fried chicken and spaghetti from the Americans, and pancit canton and chop suey from the Chinese. These various dishes are now our “comfort food.”
Memphis, Elvis’ Town, home of the blues and the best barbecues in the world—Tessa and I are here because I was invited to participate as a guest chef for the celebration of Memphis in May 2012, as the city salutes and pays tribute to the Philippines.
Filipino food may finally be getting its due attention stateside.
Old Cavite Puerto (now Cavite City) was, in the 18th century, by royal decree, the shipbuilding and repair location of the galleons plying the Manila-Acapulco trade. And it was so until 1898. While the rest of the province remained rural in its cooking, Puerto residents drowned everything they ate in Spanish olive oil. Their pochero (aka cocido) or boiled beef dinner was, and is still eaten by some, alinear style—meat, potatoes, vegetables and saging all cut up and dressed with vinegar and olive oil, just like a salad. Similarly treated is its potaje de garbanzos—chickpeas with bacon slab. And where in da Pilipins would you find the everyday ginisang mongo, with shrimps or lowly tinapa so lovingly laved in vinegar and olive oil? (Try it, it’s great!)
Most of us are proud of our cuisine. And most of us think Filipino cuisine will be a hit to foreigners. But it’s not the case. Why? It’s interesting to hear the various reasons why local cuisine hasn’t made an impact in the international market, unlike the Thai, Vietnamese, and even Singaporean cuisines. Some say [...]
It’s a good thing there are plenty of dinner plates to go around in Cabalen, the restaurant that has been serving Filipino and Pampangueño food for the past 25 years. That’s because in the middle of your meal you’ll probably want to change your plate once, maybe twice. How can you not, when the buffet [...]
It has been claimed in scholarly papers on food that sinigang is the national dish of the Filipino, like the sampaguita is our national flower and the monkey-eating eagle is our signature bird, and therefore sinigang is known all over the Philippines.
What does it take to impress a chef lauded by no less than The New York Times as one of three chefs in Singapore who are reinventing the city’s traditional food culture? Aun Koh, publisher of the Miele Guide, shouted out this challenge: “Margaux: after years of Su-Lyn and me advocating the Manila food scene, [...]
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