Keeping Up with the Philippines
Fil-Am chefs are also trying to keep pace with how cuisine is evolving in the Philippines. “The crossover or gap in between Filipino American and Filipino is starting to lessen,” said Monsod. She points to Manila, where Wildflour Café + Bakery—co-founded by République co-owner Margarita Manzke and her sister Ana Lorenzana de Ocampo—now has multiple locations.
Cosmopolitan Manila is an extraordinary place to eat and to learn to cook, and—as with any diasporic cuisine—its evolution can surprise those who left long ago. “In terms of the trajectory of Filipino food in America, it’s about creating more avenues for different types of folks to explore and enjoy it. To see it as bigger and not smaller. This is a challenge for immigrant communities like ours, where our parents moved here in the 1970s and didn’t go back to the Philippines for a very long time,” said Bailey.
“We have aunties who come in and say, ‘Oh, this isn’t really Filipino.’ And then I’ll ask, ‘When’s the last time you were in the Philippines?’ Because Filipino food in the Philippines continues to evolve. And a lot of our food at Kaya looks similar to what you see in Makati,” said Bailey.
“If I have a hamburger, I don’t expect it to taste the same everywhere I go. But for some reason, everyone wants chicken adobo that tastes just like their mom’s. Us being on this stage and having the space to share Filipino food is to tell the story of how Filipino food can be just as diverse as other cuisines,” said Bailey.
“It starts with getting people to the table, making them comfortable, then making them see Filipino food in a different way,” said Lalicon.
Where Do We Go from Here?
“There’s so much more to our food than lumpia,” said Monsod. “I think we, as a [wider Asian] community, assimilated a lot in the 1980s. For instance, you could have a Lao restaurant, but still serve Thai curry in order to be approachable. We’re now exploring our own selves, our own cultures, and putting that on the plate.”
With the Philippines’ unique position as a country whose primary export is its labor, it’s tempting to see the global diaspora as an unofficial “18th region” of the Philippines—stretching wherever Filipinos have landed. In Filipino American chefs’ search to honor their roots, they’re developing a hybrid cuisine—often lighter and more seasonal in ways that suit their surroundings. In San Diego and Orlando, for example, chefs Tara Monsod and Lordfer Lalicon are finding those roots far from their ancestral homes.
They’re also departing from the notion that Filipino food must use exclusively Filipino ingredients—whether certain vegetables or pantry staples like Jufran banana ketchup or bagoong. “We have the opportunity now to make our own versions of those. Will it hit the same? Maybe not. But take something that you wouldn’t normally mess with, and make it your own,” said Monsod. “The fun part of being a chef is making something just as good, if not better.”
More and more Filipino American chefs aren’t dependent on imports because they’re making their own mother sauces. And yes, they taste different from what many grew up with. They may even be better.