Preserve Kapampangan culinary culture: officials

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Province of Pampanga will soon have its first culinary ordinance that seeks to protect, preserve, and promote the province's rich culinary history and tradition.

The ordinance is also expected to institutionalize a provincial committee that will recommend actions to be taken on issues of culinary heritage in the province.

The proposed ordinance filed by 2nd District Board Member Mylyn Pineda Cayabyab and 3rd District Board Member Ananias Canlas is now its third and final reading at the Pampanga Provincial Board.

The proposed legislation will institutionalize a Kapampangan Culinary Heritage Committee.

According to the proposed ordinance titled

"An Ordinance Safeguarding the Status of Pampanga as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines", the committee shall endeavor to "sustain, strengthen, and deepen the status of the Province

of Pampanga as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines and develop, promote, and preserve the Kapampangan heritage the Provincial Government of Pampanga through the Kapampangan Culinary Heritage Committee."

The committee can recommend to the Pampanga Provincial Government culinary preservation initiatives like "all towns and barangays to collect, document, and revive traditional recipes and cooking practices" and "upgrading of standards of public health and hygiene in public markets and safety in the production, preparation, and delivery of food."

The committee is also mandated to work on the inclusion of the teaching of "Kapampangan cuisine in the public school syllabi and curricula, and enjoin ask Commission of Higher Education and Department of Education to lead the preparation and publication of reading materials promoting traditional Kapampangan cuisine."

The committee will be headed by the Governor with various representatives from government agencies like the Department of Education as well as sector representatives from

Pampanga's culinary sector.