Filipino Food Month: Celebrate the flavors of our culture

Filipino food is a real buffet of flavors as it is a collection of cuisine from 17 regions where flavors have been blended by culture, tradition, and indigenous ingredients. It’s a fiesta every time Filipinos get together for meals with family and friends because it’s part of our culture to show hospitality and respectfulness through food. Note that a still practiced respectful gesture by all Filipinos is the open invitation of “kain po tayo” (let’s eat!) before one starts a meal, or even when a stranger passes while one is in the middle of a meal. It’s a very charming gesture that distinguishes a Filipino anywhere in the world.

All the flavors that compose what is known as Filipino food is celebrated every April which had been declared as Filipino Food Month or Buwan ng Kalutong Pilipino by Presidential Proclamation No. 469 signed in 2018.

Leading the celebration are the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA), in coordination with the Department of Tourism (DOT), and the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement (PCHM). The government agencies have prepared various activities to present a truly flavorful journey that will promote Philippine culinary heritage and gastronomy around the country.

The month’s celebration which focuses on the theme — Kalutong Filipino, Lakas ng Kabataang Makabago (Filipino Cuisine: Strength of Innovative Youth) – is particularly aimed at the youth, to empower them to be leaders in promoting Philippine culinary heritage and gastronomy.

It opened in Pampanga, regarded as the country’s culinary capital, last April 5, and will close in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique on April 30.

Many food events are now happening in many parts of the country, each one offering the many traditional Filipino delights. In Manila, the DOT has started the Philippine Eatsperience, a fieta-themed food fair offering a wide variety of regional cuisines at Rizal Park (Luneta) and Intramuros. It will be open throughout the year.

A three-day academic research conference – Kaincon – will be held starting April 15 hosted by the Far Eastern University, Manila. Students, academics, and industry professionals will gather and learn from the discussions around the theme “All things Filipino Food: Community, Culture, and Economy” which will especially discuss local food cultivation and preservation initiatives.

In several cities around the country, the food month celebration is presented by NCCA’S “Hapag ng Pamana Philippine Food Festival” which promotes regional culinary heritage through trade fairs, cooking demonstrations, food symposiums, conferences, workshops, cultural shows, and food competitions.

In Iloilo City, and Roxas City, Capiz there will be food festivals to explore local cuisine from April 22 to 30. Iloilo City was recently named the UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the UNESCO Creative Network 2023.

The list of food-themed activities is long and these were held in various places to create a deeper awareness and appreciation for Filipino cuisine. After all, that’s the reason why a Presidential proclamation has declared a month to celebrate Filipino food: “To appreciate, conserve, and protect culinary traditions; to establish Filipino culinary traditions as an art form and ensure its transmission to future generations; and to support the farmers and agricultural communities” from where our food comes from.

Do something special today to celebrate Filipino food.