We often are recognized for being the Slow Food Manila community even if we do not have farmers in our midst, as we are all based in the metropolis. But it is actually in Manila where the rubber meets the road – where ingredients from far away are included in menus across restaurants in the cities of Taguig, Makati and Alabang, to name a few. This is the melting pot where degustations are offered by our new chefs who have since been foraging to find ingredients that are not only fun to use, but memorable for many consumers. Who will not remember kamias, santol and langka as part of our new menus? When other restaurants offer Maine lobster and another can of caviar, our new young chefs offer the most exotic fruits, ferment tomatillos and papaya and offer adlai and etag like it is pancetta or prosciutto of yesteryears.
Recently we had a lunch event at Grace Park where we tasted the flavors of Batanes, a province still mysterious to many as it is not so easy to get to – you need to go during the right season and hopefully not get stranded. And at the event, the diners experienced Batanes specialties like dibang and luñis, versions of daing and adobo, which is not only survival cuisine but are foods that represent the taste and culture of the island. Luñis is present because a pig can be slaughtered and its meat kept in its own oil for a year. That is for survival when the harsh weather hits the island and no one can catch animals or slaughter them.
That is the role of Manila’s Slow Food community – to preserve and educate about food culture as presented in Manila. And thanks to all these young restaurant owners, we now highlight local ingredients and it is now common practice to feature kamias juice and not just the usual calamansi or lemonade. This is why we will highlight restaurants and cafés in the National Capital region (NCR) with our partnership with Department of Tourism NCR by coming up with a list of establishments that feature Slow Food ideas – using heirloom ingredients, featuring recipes that use adlai, etag and other ingredients that otherwise you can only find if you flew to Batanes or visited some remote island for a specific fish like the flying fish or dibang.
When we go to Bacolod to celebrate at the Terra Madre Asia and Pacific on Nov. 19-23, we will feature these dishes in everyday activities of food sampling and story-telling at our stand. With no particular restaurant featured, we will bring chefs to interpret these Ark of Taste ingredients for everyone to try. Just like how we used to serve samples in Turin, Italy at the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, we will feature everyday dishes that highlight ingredients that need to be preserved. By using these uncommon ingredients, consumers will be more aware that we need to eat them if farmers are to continue propagating them.
Even just heirloom rice as a staple is something we need to put a spotlight on. With rice varieties being imported into the country every day, we need to know what real heirloom Ifugao rice tastes like. We may soon forget its taste if our memory is not fed with real taste profiles of a staple such as rice. And yes, rice has a distinct taste, and heirloom Ifugao rice has that profile.
We will also serve coffee from Benguet and Sulu, as these are Ark of Taste entries – so we can preserve old varieties of the beans in the midst of growing imports of coffee from Vietnam and Indonesia. What does Benguet Arabica taste like? What does Sulu Robusta taste like? So with local cafés offering these brews, we can bring back the taste profile to the consciousness of our consumers.
Ark of Taste is a catalog of all the ingredients we have listed (for me since 2012) under the Philippines which need promotion, consumption and appreciation. Here, listed in the Slow Food website, we remember to document fruits like kamias, duhat, mabolo and rice varieties like chong-ak, diket, grains like adlai and even salt like tibu-ok and tultul. If you remember an ingredient that is not yet there, go ahead and nominate it. That way it can get help from consumers and cooks to keep using the ingredient.
DOT-NCR will be one with us in promoting these dishes, ingredients and also suggest a list of establishments where tourists can partake of these recipes. We will have a list of cafés offering Ark of Taste coffee varieties as well as restaurants that use Ark of Taste ingredients – adlai and heirloom rice included.
Tourism has taken a richer direction of not just promoting local food but preserving these traditions as well. We in Slow Food are thankful that the Department of Tourism (DOT) is helping in preserving food cultures and helping us preserve these important ingredients. All systems go as DOT rounds up all its regional offices to highlight these food items available all year round. I know that this effort will go a long way in ensuring our food scene is not taken over by mass production of ingredients and the same taste profile because of commercial mixes. By highlighting local food, local ingredients and culinary procedures, DOT is helping in creating a national food palette that underpins Slow Food philosophy of good, clean and fair food. Who would have thought this germ of an idea we discovered 13 years ago will be a national drive to keep our Filipino flavor profiles?
We hope that you can visit Terra Madre Asia Pacific happening in Bacolod on Nov. 19-24 where you can taste not only the Philippines’ flavors but other countries’ pride and joy as well. Entrance to the stands is free. But all told, the DOT-NCR and Slow Food Manila will be there to welcome you and show you the way.
Slow Food Manila is there to help promote our Filipino food culture and preserve it through information dissemination and experience.