I want this thread to be a point of discussion on why this is so. With millions of Filipinos worldwide, how come our cuisine lags behind other countries' in terms of familiarity?

I also want to post this article I read earlier today:

Are We There Yet?

By Norma O. Chikiamco
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:08:00 07/06/2008

MANILA, Philippines - I feel disheartened every time I hear people extol the virtues of Asian cuisine. Most likely they'd be referring to Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian or Chinese food; just as likely there won't be any mention of Filipino food. As if it isn't hard enough being called the Sad Sack of Asia, they have to snub our cuisine too. Not to be dramatic about it, but that's like pouring vinaigrette on our already festering wounds. As with our government, we can't seem to get our act together when it comes to making our food acceptable to others.

Is Filipino food meant to be loved by no one else but us?

Maybe it's because our food is indistinguishable. Being an aggregation of Spanish, Chinese, Malay, and American influences, it's neither East nor West, neither here nor there. Ours is probably the only country in Asia where American hamburger is seasoned with Chinese soy sauce, “Italian” spaghetti is cooked with hot dogs, and Chinese dishes are called by Spanish names (as in camaron rebosado, morisqueta tostada). And where else but in the Philippines can one find a dish called Arroz a la Cubana which doesn't exist at all in Cuba? All these alongside our own homegrown favorites such as dinuguan, sinigang, pakbet and tinola. Being accustomed to all these, we probably take them for granted. But a foreigner trying our cuisine for the first time would probably be scratching his head, wondering what culinary circus he has stumbled into.

And yet, this shouldn't really come as a surprise. Ours being a hybrid culture, it's but natural that our cuisine should be a mishmash too - part East, part West, and everything in between. Some of our dishes were learned from our colonizers, others from our ancestors and a few we invented ourselves, never mind that the country after which we named our invention may be totally unaware of the honor.

That is why it's so gratifying when, once in a rare while, we get a bit of unsolicited publicity. I almost jumped with pride and joy when I saw Martha Stewart featuring Filipino cuisine in her highly-rated TV shows. With Martha by his side, Filipino chef Romy Dorotan demonstrated how to cook lumpia and adobo. The doyen of domesticity even had some favorable words to say about our cuisine and pronounced Romy's cooking delicious.

Likewise, in an issue of Gourmet Magazine a few years ago, halo-halo was included among the featured Asian ices. And in the reality show “Fear Factor” (and later, in “The Amazing Race Asia”), one of the challenges contestants had to hurdle was eating balut, the dark, forbidding unhatched duck embryo that's a unique Filipino delicacy. As expected, it had some contestants gagging, and while this might have given Filipino cuisine some notoriety, it at least brought our much overlooked cuisine its 15 minutes of fame.

Maybe we should take our cue from the Americans. A few decades ago, American cuisine was being derided as consisting of nothing more than hamburgers and hot dogs. Even Julia Child herself once acknowledged that post-war American food was all about tuna casseroles and TV dinners. And yet look where it is now. In the '70s, Alice Waters and company launched a culinary movement advocating the use of fresh and seasonal ingredients - which California was more than ready to supply. Tex-Mex cuisine has come into its own as a major player in the culinary field, and American chef Thomas Keller has been hailed as one of this century's greatest living chefs. Today with even European chefs opening restaurants in major U.S. cities, American cuisine is certainly nothing to sneer at.

One factor that helped bring this about was the opening of more culinary schools in America. Suddenly cooking was no longer just a past time or an avocation. It has become a prestigious career, as respectable as going to law school or taking up medicine. In addition, with the food channel airing cooking shows round the clock, chefs have become superstars in their own right, not unlike the supermodels who've become the staple of tabloids.

With more and more young Filipinos now going into culinary arts, is our cuisine then next to be launched into international stardom? Is a renaissance of Filipino food soon in the offing?

I wish the answer could be “yes,” but I think it's more of “not yet.” True, there has been so much renewed interest in dining out, and options for the dinner crowd have expanded tremendously. And yet, what I see is young chefs opening Greek restaurants and French bistros, working in international ocean liners and developing recipes for American food imports. Few are those who have ventured into Filipino cuisine, or who've championed the cause of Pinoy food. Maybe it's because other endeavors are more lucrative. Maybe chefs feel (with reason, I believe) that their countrymen wouldn't pay restaurant prices for dishes they can cook at home. Maybe it's just a reflection of the diversity of our culture that our chefs can adapt so easily to foreign cooking.

Which brings us back to where we started: Filipino cuisine as the outsider looking in, the uninvited guest to the feast. Will we ever find ourselves the belle of the ball?

Recently someone said something about Filipino food being the best kept secret of Asia. And there perhaps we've found our squeeze, our rightful position in the global community. Filipino food as the ultimate culinary secret, a hidden treasure whose bewildering ways are understandable only to a chosen few. Never mind being snubbed and being obscure. While others are unaware of this last frontier, it's ours to savor and ours to enjoy. After all where else can one find pitisu, a derivative of the French petite choux, side by side with pancit Canton (which isn't really from Canton) or lumpiang Shanghai (which isn't really from Shanghai either).

It's circus cuisine all right, and we don't have to force others to buy tickets to the show. If it's Asia's best kept secret, let's just keep it that way. Let's conspire not to tell the rest of the world about it.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/si...re-We-There-Yet

wasn't this discussed before?

anyway, ilikeredhotchillis..

Omg, you should! Redhotchilis are the bomb!

I can't simply like bagoong and balot both are yucky.................

I've read some travel blogs who say filipino food is bland compared to the thai food

hey bagoong is good with manggang hilaw and kare-kare
and bagoong is not bland..

kare kare makes me sick.....

Filipino food is not promoted well compared to other Asian cuisine.

Take the United States for example.

Filipino-Americans are one of the largest Asian-American groups but there's not a lot of Filipino restaurants.

I see more Thai and Vietnamese restaurants.

Maybe other Asians just have more desire to open up restaurants.

yes that is awesome
bagoong is like the filipino ajinomoto

I have two neighbors that do spaghetti with hot dogs made of chicken.

How about plantain. Is Plantain consumed much in the Philippines. Its popular here. Which type of Plantain do they use in the Philippines. Checking it seems you seem to use Saba Banana (plantain) which could be what they call here "Chamaluco". Here the regular Plantain and not Chamaluco really consumed.

Saba Banana (could be the Chamaluco): **

Regular Plantain: **

Hotdogs is like the cheap alternative to meatballs Every Filipinos got so used to it they even prefer it compared to the real meatballs.

As for the plantain, Im not sure. Where do you live btw>?

Filipinos eat lots of inards and stuff like that, the only way to popularize it in the USA is to "Americanize it" maybe make a Filipino / Hawaiian style restaurant, something caucasions will be familiar with.

fu-k no!

i like my kare-kare the way it is...

wth is wrong with some people here. "EW BALUT IS SO GROSS!" wth, why don't you sit down and actually try the liqud inside with some salt, then eat the yolk, you don't really have to eat the little formed duck. i mean you talk about filipino pride but you're throwing down your own culture

seriously, its like they're (oh its kadiri oh my) pansies! well ok, I can eat everything except the chick fetus.

if you can eat out some pek-peks, u can eat a balut. lol

PMFJI

this thread seems about selling..!

why shouldn't everyone eat their own stuff?

the chinese are selling huge amounts of food also here in europe, a little restaurant at every other urban corner, but eventually it has little to do with what chinese people eat in their homeland, and that ends not with cats and dogs or bird nests.
these special asian dishes that are said to be imprtant to the health, are not popular and often not legal (by our local version of 'FDA).
no snakes, no insects, no fresh living hearts of reptiles.

in terms of genuine food culture I see little disadvantage for the filipino cuisine because white people (in mass) don't eat any of that special stuff, be it thai or filipino or japanese. it may be cool with the upper 10000 to have the exotic food of the day though..
sushi is the only pure asian stuff that has gained some popularity.
"beijing duck" is westernized enough, duck is quite a usual food here, and the culture is in the way the chinese serve it to us, and some special spices are very welcome.
the chinese way of making rice is part of their huge success.

I think it is just a matter of good selection and good business plans.
then filipinos could have a restaurant at every corner where there is not already a chinese one !
but it really took decades and tremendous dedicated work for the chinese, to create their standing.



selling is not about the reality of the product, but about the reality of money, and the "image" of the product.
it was mentioned above, very true. if an entrepreneur invents something and then calls it "filipino" just to sell, he might become billionaire..
personally I appreciate the intention to be genuine and deliver something "true" but as you see, it is much more difficult.

I find most of the Filipino food boring and greasy.
I've had enough of it at home, surely I will not want to eat Filipino cuisines when I dine out.

If not all, most Filipinos alike whether living back "home" or else we're always b!tch, moan, & wait until someone will do something 'bout it.

I agree with this.

Pinakbet is not greasy and it's very healthy.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinakbet

Sinigang na Bangus is also not greasy and contains lots of Omega 3 for the heart.

the taste is okay perhaps

The reason that Filipino food is not as popular is because Filipinos would mostly cater to their fellow Filipinos. Have you seen the serving sizes of the dishes? Its also way overpriced.

Just like a business, you might have the greatest service or product in the world, if it's not marketed properly then you're not going to make a lot of sales. Our cuisine is on par with some of the best in the world.

Theres not that many Filipino restaurants around outside of the Philippines. If there were more I'm sure it would become very popular. Give it time. I think it will become very popular one day!

seems like a lot of the foods are made with fatty meats and organs, inards, blood, and bagoong, not the type of food the typical American would like, it's more of an aquired taste

We use to have lots of americans at my sister's parties eating typical filipino food, but it stopped because it was just too many people and for now parties are just for immediate family and friends.

And a lot of it is meant to be eaten with your fingers. Since the staple is based on rice and not a bun to hold the dripping fat people balk at the "nasty" stuff.

There's a Filipino restaurant in an area heavily populated by Filipinos here in Toronto called Aristokrat. Just beside it is a Chinese buffet restaurant and for some reason, Filipinos prefer going to that Chinese restaurant than the Filipino restaurant

I bet they're both own and run by chinese.

I've never had Filipino food that tried to be more than just homestyle. If Filipinos want to amp up their game, they need to start thinking about the way we cook it. I've never ate a Filipino restaurant stateside that matched the refinement of a western restaurant.

Between the two cuisuines i do prefer the Chinese way it's way too yummy. And no, i dont eat at chowking or any crappy chinese restaurant you have to visit the place to try the real food. Anyhow Filipino food is a cure for home sickness.

filipinos are busy being engineers and nurses to open up filipino restaurants. and when they do decide to open a business, they prefer filipino grocery over filipino cuisine

This is the question that I am also asking for the longest time. After reading the same article a few years back, I was challenged and asked myself this question: "What can I do to make Filipino Cuisine known throughout the world?".

The Philippines is one of the melting pots of Asia; it is the home of several cultures brought about by colonization. This is one of the reasons why some Filipino Food have a close resemblance with the dishes of other countries. Some would think that this is negative and would say that we should have our own identity in terms of our cuisine - but I personally think that this is more of an advantage to us. We are what we are and we could not change it but we can do a lot of things to make it better.

Can you name at least 100 Filipino Dishes? How many of these dishes have you tried? How many of this dishes have you prepared? I don't expect everyone to answer these questions because the first question alone would probably give some of you a hard time. My point is simple, How can we get there if we do not know the direction. We need some sort of GPS or Google Maps perhaps to lead us to our destination.

"Are we there yet?" is a question that passengers ask. Why don't we be the driver or the navigator for a change? Why don't we take some time to learn and promote Filipino Cuisine in our own little way? Sure, some of our foods might gross-out non Filipinos because there are certain Filipino foods that needed an acquired taste - there are even Filipinos who feel the same too. We can always start to promote the foods that we think is more likely to be appreciated by non Filipinos and slowly introduce the bizarre ones. I know that it is easier said than done but every journey begins with a single step. Let's try to make that step by first educating ourselves. We can't be good sales people if we don't know anything about our product, right?

I started this journey a year ago but I still cannot say if I completed the first step yet. I was able to put-up a Filipino food blog http://panlasangpinoy.com that aims to promote Filipino foods through proper education. This is the most effective way that I can think of to reach-out to everyone anywhere. Instead of just asking or criticizing, why don't we do something about it? The journey is long and tiring but I believe that we will arrive to our destination soon if we can only combine all our efforts and focus on our goal.

Our cuisine lacks presentations of some sort, you cannot dress-up sinigang, and so as paksiw, pinakbet maybe too bitter for others, Kare-Kare needs bagoong, sisig is unfriendly to the heart but I don't care I like them all. I wont trade adobo for sushi.

I've noticed that too. I live in the West, and when it comes to Asian cuisine...

30% are Chinese restaurants
20% are Japanese restaurants
15% are Korean restaurants
10% are Vietnamese restaurants
10% are Thai/Malaysian restaurants
10% are Indian/Indonesian restaurants
5% or lower for all the other Asian cuisines

I've never came across any Filipino restaurants. My friend and I were at a restaurant eating, and we were talking about Asian restaurants and cuisines. I said that I've never eaten Filipino food, and I have never went to any Filipino restaurants. My friend (also Asian) looked at me funny and said, "of course you haven't been to any Filipino restaurants, there aren't any around here".

From a family of cooks, siguro it has something to do with the spices (kulang) and the presentation ika nga ni Kuya Ronnie.

Culinary arts in not the priority of Filipinos at this time all they care is how to get their stomachs full no matter what they eat so they can proceed to make more babies.

I think it's because there hasn't been any attempt to make Filipino food into some kind of fine culinary art.

For example, one major turn-off is the horrible presentation of Filipino food - they just jumble it up in some place or bowl, you grab rice and mix it together or something.

At least put it in a beautiful plate covered with small banana leaves on a bamboo tray, or something, make it look presentable.

Another is the lack of any formalized institution that specialized in "fine Filipino culinary arts."

In Japan sushi chefs are trained for years under masters as apprentices, then they go on to making their own sushi places. The level of cooking is comparable to Western chefs who apprentice for as long as 30 years.

For Filipino restaurants, most of the time it's usually some old lady who had enough money to invest and happened to remember the recipes that her mother or grandma used to have. The level of cooking is comparable to a housewife baking home-made chocolate chip cookies.

there are sooo many filipino restaurants in SoCal especially san diego (even the Sizzlers there serves Filipino dishes), but it looks like 3/4 only targets filipino customers

if they really want to ..appeal to western taste ...they might have to modify some of the preparations/ingredients used... & concentrate on certain dishes that might have the potential. & create a general taste... a filipino dish taste different every time... depending who cooks it or what region it comes from... (there was this vietnamese restaurant in my area, vietnam restaurants seems to be doing pretty alright around there... but this particular one.. has cuisine from N.vietnam instead of the common S.vietnamese cuisine... the food looks good, i ate there twice, but then it had to shut down.. because people,non-viets of course; was expecting a certain taste they become accustomed to ..with the other vietnamese restaurants.)


i also been to chinese restaurants where theres is an "Americanized Menu" & a separate "Chinese Menu" given to mostly ethnic chinese customers.

when i watch that restaurant battle on food network... i was surprised the Filipino guy was picked by the judges to win... despite using ox tail/ cow tongue etc... on the dishes... but that was the main criticism by the judges.. they said words like... 'ox tail/cow tongue' doesnt look very good on the menu.
the judges are very open-minded, which i think the main reason why he won.

although many of the 'bistro' style filipino restaurants ive seen looks presentable enough...

like this one called Bistro Luneta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQngeansG6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gmJlyTWWWQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxwAdy1oKjg

but nothing beats the high end ones in the PI..

Balut is very international. Set aside from the fact every single East and South East Asian eats and have their own description of a embryo duck or chicken.....

I think Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Japanese/Korean are pretty much neck and neck with each other. I've noticed that in the US of A Japanese usually means a Korean or Chinese posing as a Japanese while hiring Hispanics to make the food. <<< Not in all cases but most. There are some authentic Japanese restaurants that are run by both Koreans and authentic Japanese however. But then again Chinese Restaurants are sometimes Hispanic owned and operated by Hispanics completely much less how many Asians in general open up a Chinese joint.

i notice this too.. & the white people can't even tell the difference! lol

& they play soft asian music at some restaurants but every time the kitchen door opens... i suddenly hear loud fast mexican music.. haha


i was eating at a japanese restaurant... when you walk in they greet you in japanese.. but they're obviously korean.. even playing k-pop music... i overheard this white girl say "oh my god i love japanese music, i think i've heard this song before!".. she even said some japanese words to the korean waitress & also asked how to say something in japanese

oh lord


anyways...white people love filipino eggrolls

If you google "Filipino restaurants" you can get several hits in the Los Angeles area alone. Keep in mind with cuisine such as Chinese, it is very regional and adapted to each part of the world. Chinese American cuisine is different from Chinese Australian cuisine or Chinese French cuisine, lol. There was once a comedienne that did a wonderful piece on this. These restaurants adapted Chinese food to local taste, so it is nothing like that found in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, or Beijing. It also varies regionally. "Chinese" food will be different in the Cantonese area vs. Shanghai vs. Xinjiang vs. Sischuan vs. Beijing, etc. Parts of the country even have Russian influence.

I personally enjoy some Filipino foods, but am sensitive to certain fishes. I've never tried some of the more adventurous dishes such as balut, lol, but I adore spring rolls, and find pancit tasty, and I think spaghetti with hot dogs is a hit with me, lol. In an odd way, contemporary Filipino food is more "American" of the 1950s legacy than American food today, lol. Some foods I find bland, and I find fish staring back at me a bit creepy, lol. But that's not something limited to the Philippines alone. I'm the type of person that is a carnivore as long as I don't have to think about where it comes from, lol.

IMO it's a combination of marketing and westernising (somehow) some of the food so it appeals for broader access. Just like the way Indian cuisine has been modified for broader appeal hence its popularity here in the UK. Heck, even curry was invented in England! You'd think it's India wouldn't you????

lol so curry dishes in the philippines like kare-kare derived from the british too

Not sure about kare-kare! I doubt it though.

kare-kare = curry-curry? haha

probably because filipinos like a good deal and prefer the buffet style all you can eat, it's cheaper to eat there

also because most people go to restaurants to eat something they dont usually cook at home, they want something different

I have a Filipino restaurant and store right down the street from me so I don't really have that problem. I would rather go to that than a Chinese place any day of the week. How many Chinese restaurants even serve authentic Chinese food anyways? I have had authentic Chinese food and it is heaven-sent compared to the rubbish they serve at the small hole in the wall Chinese places that are a dime a dozen.