The ASEAN Flavors Connection

 NCCA formally launches Filipino Food Month with partner agencies

By Earl D.C. Bracamonte

The National Commission for Culture & the Arts (NCCA), together with partner agencies, the Department of Agriculture, Department of Tourism, and the Philippine Culinary & Heritage Movement (PCHM), launched the National Food Month through a presser at the Metropolitan Theater Ballroom in the city of Manila.

Simply dubbed “Connected by Taste: The Filipino food in the flavors of ASEAN,” the mid-afternoon event highlighted our shared culinary heritage with our ASEAN neighbors; and at the same time celebrate the unique flavors, traditions, and stories that define Pinoy food.

“It is hoped that we will have a local rating like the Michelin Star in the future – even a Michelin PH excellence rating. There are eager efforts for global recognition of our food.

“Food, in general, has become globally competitive. Around the country, we highlight restaurants that promote international visibility,” enthused PCHM’s Paulo Denito Tugbang.

“We need to assess the culinary proficiency of our country through chefs’ master classes. Filipinos can preserve our food systems while innovating. After all, no two adobo dishes are the same,” he added.

The merienda spread proffered such delicacies as Beef Rendang (Indonesia), Laksa (with its variations in Malaysian, Singaporean, and Indon cuisine), sticky rice (Thailand), spring rolls (Vietnam), as well as Mama Sita’s champorado and Biko with Latik from the Philippines.

“A change in performance calls for eventual change in food. The Department of Agriculture, through local cooperatives, offer our farmers training on a global level.

“Performative acts cannot be applied as these depend on particular contexts. The balance between tradition and innovatiom lies in the consciousness and grounding of organic food, as it redounds to the practices throughout its changes,” intoned NCCA chairman Dr. Eric Zerrudo.

Dr. Zerrudo added that the National Food Month campaign is now on its eighth year.

Mandated by law through Proclamation No. 469 (series of 1998), it provides for an annual celebration every month of April thereafter, calling the celebration as “Buwan ng Kalutong Filipino” or Filipino Food Month.

The annual celebration showcases the richness of Philippine culinary traditions while promoting Filipino cuisine as an essential expression of the country’s cultural identity.