RAISING AWARENESS ON FILIPINO CULINARY HERITAGE

April marks Filipino Food Month with food expositions, cooking demonstrations, cultural shows

“Food is essential to our culture. Food is our ‘welcome’ and our ‘introduction,’ no gathering is complete without food.”

Thus spoke Victorino Mapa Manalo, chair of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), at the recent press launch of Filipino Food Month, held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.

The theme of the monthlong celebrations in April (along with separate celebrations for Literature Month, which is also in April) is: “Pagkaing Sariling Atin, Mahalin at Pagyamanin” (Love and Enrich Our Very Own Food).

The programs and activities are led by the Department of Agriculture, the NCCA and the Department of Tourism in cooperation with the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement (PCHM).

“Many Filipinos are asking how food affects the environment,” said Jose Antonio Melchor, founder of the PCHM. “So this month is a good opportunity for access to clean and healthy food. Even as we celebrate our culture, we must preserve our food.”

He added, “Filipino food is often referred to as one of the world’s earliest fusion cuisines. Its ancestral cooking is influenced mostly by the surrounding environment of people’s settlements and early foreign visitors, such as the Mexicans from the Galleon trade period and the Muslims from neighboring countries.”

Dishes vary from region to region, province to province, depending on available local ingredients. Favorite or remarkable dishes that have been featured in the food month Facebook include Camarines Norte’s crispy pili nuts, sili ice cream of the Bicol region, Masbate’s pinakro (saba banana stewed in sweetened coconut milk) and adobo, a popular national dish.

Nationwide celebrations

The month-long, nationwide celebrations will focus on the various programs initiated by the four agencies involved.

At the Rizal Park open-air Auditorium in Ermita, Manila, there will be a concert that will showcase dishes of the three main islands of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. These performances will pay tribute to the culinary traditions of the farmers, the agricultural community, fishermen, rural workers and the indigenous peoples. There will be food stalls, activity booths and cooking demonstrations.

Selected local government units will be involved in the project Hapag ng Pamana, with its food expositions, cooking demonstrations, cultural shows, with all activities focusing on regional cultural heritage. This project will be held in Ilocos Norte, Samar and South Cotabato.

A Filipino food conference, Kaincon, will be held at Jose Rizal University from April 3 to April 5, and will be about educating people on the best way to preserve culinary heritage. Participants will include farmers, culinary historians, chefs and gastronomic experts. The conference is open to the public and will be streamed over Filipino Food Month and partner agencies.

“Filipino food has long played a significant role in the lives of the Filipino people,” said Manalo. “It has the ability to bind together people with many different backgrounds. This year’s celebration aims to raise awareness about the history behind our culinary heritage, and recognize its role in our lives.”