If we look at all the great cuisines of the world we find that these great classics all started out as conquering empires that developed their economies by plundering or colonizing their erstwhile weaker neighbors. The great cuisines flourished basically because such rich societies could afford more esoteric pursuits because they had the leisure time having exacted tribute among the others countries they annexed. Such were the mother cuisines that dynamically developed like China, India, Italy and France which later influenced the other cuisines of countries in their empires.
Today the emerging great cuisines do not really need to wage war or plunder. All it takes is a fuelled economy, thus you have the cuisines of Japan and United States that took the world for its money through its technology trade and exports. When the standards of living are raised and business is strong then the affordability of leisure, comfort and pursuits of good living become man’s eventual priorities. Existence and basic needs of living are given a more luxurious twist and thus cuisine is uplifted.
Recently, active economics based on tourism and a stable peace and order situation conducive to foreign investment have been part of these emerging cuisines such as Thailand and Vietnam.
It’s a pity that for all the efforts (effective and ineffective) our government and private sector have employed in the past three decades (We were the first country in south east asia to have a Ministry of Tourism).
Our country’s cuisine has stood and at a snail’s pace improved it’s acceptability in the international scene. Alas, one variable which we have failed to control is the role of our country’s economy in the development of our Filipino cuisine. Yet as a chef, it becomes difficult to swallow the reason that we are more concerned with our subsistence rather than improving or adding more libido to our cuisine. Eating’s roots is founded on subsistence and as chef’s it becomes our very purpose to add luster to an otherwise boring or "subsistence" recipe. Once this is achieved then the experience of eating is elevated to dining and subsistence is raised to living.
During the dark moments of the Napoleon campaigns the French chefs created recipes for "Cheval" or horsemeat thus elevating subsistence fare or war casualties into gastronomic innovations. This can be achieved with our own Philippine cuisine.
There is really nothing new in Filipino cuisine. The ingredients have always been there yet it is our basic ignorance, lack of initiative and regional boundaries that hide these ingredients from us. The challenge is for the young Filipino chefs to discover these ingredients now that technology, better transport and information are at his beck and call. Here lies the discovery of new dishes as we learn from our classics.
I remember working with chefs who had this drive. Many familiar names, but very young then, that for a short while did give our Philippine dishes a mark even for such an experimental age in the eighties. Chefs such as Henry Canoy, Bambina Herbosa, Louie Llamado, Ed Quimson, Gabriel and Rafael Limsoon, Noel Silverio, Beth Romualdez, Jill Sandique, Ronnie Alejandro, Rainie Santos, Joey Pratts, Mon Castillo to name a few who put their time and create a fresh new Filipino cuisine dubbed by its late patroness Doreen Fernandez ad Alta Cucina Filipina. The sparks are still present and evident in restaurants such as Centro, Mama Rosa, Gerry’s, Trellis, Via Mare, etc. all probably pregnant with a ready trove of new offerings yet afraid of a non-receptive audience of diners.
A next step or challenge is now to those who can or have the ability to bolster dynamic movement and interest in Filipino food.
A collective effort of writers and media people who can continue the effort and foundations, laid down by our Doreen Fernandez.
Anyone for the challenge?
