Good day, Eat Log readers!

First of all, let me apologize for not posting as often as I (and my bosses) would like. Life has gotten a wee bit busy, and well–writing, unfortunately, takes a bit of time.

Today I just wanted to post some stuff I talked about in a recent seminar of sorts called Top Menu Masters. Basically it was a gathering of food and hospitality professionals—an opportunity to share knowledge and ideas—and I was invited to talk on a very difficult, and sometimes even touchy, subject: where Filipino food is now and how to bring it to the global table.

You and I and anyone else who bothers to read my humble little blog are probably rabidly passionate about our local cuisine. It is the stuff we grew up eating, the stuff that brings us together, and the stuff that often goes hand in hand with our most memorable moments. We’ve been trying to espouse its tasty qualities forever, and yet we are still a bit shy of bringing it out into the spotlight. I’ve heard people quibble about how to cook this, or how this recipe is lousy compared to “my mom’s version.” Well, truth be told–moms put so much love into that plate of adobo that it often would be hard pressed to top it. But that doesn’t mean that we should drag other versions down.

The point of what I was trying to say in my seminar was quite simple: enough bickering. Let’s all gather around the flag of our cuisine and stand proud as we serve it to the world. It’s damn good food, and people need to try it.

Here, then, is the meat of the talk. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

SPOT.ph blogger JJ Yulo at the Top Menu Masters Seminar

Filipino food. If you ask people what it is, you will come up with various (and rather typical) answers – the locals will say an amalgam of influences from different cuisines (Malay, Chinese, Spanish, even American), it’s predominantly brown, it’s hard to present, it’s a bit maasim, minsan matamis, maalat, malinamnam. You’ve heard it before, yes?

It’s all this and more. It is, I believe, actually becoming a bit of a big deal. More and more people are slowly discovering what Filipino food is, even if they have to start with a humble plate of adobo. Maybe it’s because of the diaspora—we’re everywhere on the planet, us Malay/Chinese/Spaniards, or as I used to tell my classmates from culinary school, the Chicanos of Asia. Filipinos always ask their friends and neighbors to come on over and break bread (“kumain ka na ba?”) and naturally it is at the dining table where the introductions to the finer points of our cuisine begin.

We’ve also managed to find ourselves cooking in professional kitchens, in restaurants, resorts, hotels, and cruise ships on every continent. Staff meals, the meal shared by everyone in the kitchen from the executive chef to the dishwasher, just became a little more special by way of, say, Samson’s most excellent oxtail meat and Archer farms organic Japanese eggplant, haricot verts, and Beijing bok choy slow braised in savory nut sauce and topped with an essence of Maine shrimp emulsion—a.k.a kare kare and bagoong.

I might be exaggerating just a wee bit with that, but I’m not kidding when I say that the wheels are in motion for our cuisine to finally hit the big time. Yes, I will go out on a limb and say that adobo will be as famous as Angelina Jolie, or at least as much as pad thai. How can it not, what with the advent of 24 hour food TV, reality shows, blogs, and other social media providing knowledge and shaping the thoughts and opinions of gourmands across the globe.

But first, there are several things that I think we can start working on and improving:

For example, I think it’s time we go beyond adobo, lumpia, halo-halo and the dreaded balut. (I cannot tell you how many times my foreigner friends would ask me if I had ever eaten one). There are so many delicious things to bring to the table, so to speak, so how come it took a dude named Bourdain (who I love, by the way) to put sisig on TV?

Anthony Bourdain eats sisig and barbecued chicken ass on his show Emmy Award-winning show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

There is a wealth of things to be learned, eaten and cooked out there. If we really want to bring out food onto the global dining room and into the mouths of non-Filipinos, then we have to spread our wings and be fearless.

When it comes to the names of our dishes, its time to stop beating around the bush. Call a kaldereta a kaldereta. Mr. Jones should start ordering kalderetang baka, instead of “Filipino beef stew in a savory tomato sauce”. It may seem like nitpicking, but calling a dish by its real name is the best way to keep it honest, and give it some respect. When in France, eat boeuf borguignon, when in Japan eat okonomiyaki, when in the Philippines eat pesang dalag.

One thing we have to face is that our food is really very simple, not along the lines, say, of something from a temple of haute cuisine.. but so what? We have to celebrate it in its simplicity, its purity of flavors and its authenticity.

Classic Pinoy breakfast fare: good ol' tapsilog. See SPOT.ph's list of 10 Best Tapsilog in Manila

Authenticity is, after all, one of the things that people who love food these days have come to expect. I am almost certain that travelers who come here would like to be fed the good stuff, in all its glory. Fine, maybe it’s prudent to “go easy” on them, but nonetheless be true. Personally, when I travel, I want to eat what the locals eat, arguably one of the best ways to learn about their culture. I’m not saying that I won’t look for my tapsilog fix, but that’s for when I’m really craving or homesick. Besides, I am still of the opinion that Pinoy grub is best eaten here.