Cuisine-nera looking for the 'Kusinerong Bakal ng Pinas' ....ikaw ba yan?

While the whole of America was busy watching Superbowl last Sunday,  I was doing apostolic work by watching over my ‘apos’ (grandkids).  After a game of junior monopoly and  that american version of ‘sunka’ with them,  my eldest grandchild then played with her mom’s  i-pad, while the other one was tinkering on her dad’s laptop.

As for me, I was watching the Filipino Channel with it’s various talk shows.  I was entertained by that immigration show wherein a lady kept on referring to the emcee as ‘ Attorney Gar-pang kehl‘ otherwise known as Mr. Garfinkel.  The show was very informative as well as amusing considering that many Filipnos would like to  hold on to the ‘American Dream’.  

The preceeding show  called the  Kulinarya tours  shocked me when the announcer said that the culinary capital of the philippines was Pampangga?...Where did that come from?...No offense to my sister in law who is a Pampangueno --but I don’t see how that came to be because all I know of their food are the unhealthy cured meats of tocino and longanisa.  Unless of course they might refer to specialties of bitute tugad which are frogs and the kamaru which are mole crickets.  But then again, it takes a strong stomach to take in the unknown.

But regardless, the cured meats of Pampangga can not even equal a small percentage of  the jamons (Iberrico or Serrano) of Spain or the Prosciutto and Pancetta of Italy.  However, let me remind you that Cebu lechon has been acclaimed as the ‘best pig ever’ by the renowned travelling chef Anthony Bourdain. ‘Anong say nyo?’

If not for that acclamation , our filipino cuisine is as mixed as it’s asean neighbors. And unless we reinvent, develop or recreate our gustatory palate into a healthier yet appealing one, then we are what we eat.  The adobos for instance is either dried and oily (known as pina-uga)  or too salty because it is swimming in its soy (with sauce). And as far as those noodle dishes are concerned, every Filipino family has it’s own version.  From the famous Cebuano Bam-i to the orange Pancit Palabok.

So.......am wondering, if we ever have a food challenge among the different foods in the Philippines, what region will reign supreme?  I’m up for that challenge as a Cebuano, any takers?

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