Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program Blog

In celebration of Filipino American History Month, a hundred intent listeners gathered for an evening discussion on “Filipino American Culture and Cuisine” at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s Ring Auditorium on October 30, 2008.

Moderating the discussion was Martin F. Manalansan IV, an associate professor of Anthropology and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Cultural Compass: Ethnographic Explorations of Asian America and is currently writing a book entitled Altered Tastes: Beyond a Palatable Multiculturalism, an ethnography of Asian American immigrant spaces, fusion and ethnic cuisines, and olfaction in New York City.

Manalansan began the discussion with almusal, or the first meal of the day. His PowerPoint presentation on “Searching for Filipino Cuisine or, ‘Where is my almusal?’” highlighted the characteristics and influences within Filipino cuisine. As a former colony, the Philippines endured “300 years in a convent” under the Spanish and spent another “50 years in Hollywood” under the Americans. This blend of tastes and flavors has created a unique Philippine cuisine filled with pan de sal bread, chorizo sausages, and other breakfast foods.

Manalansan also noted that the Philippine diaspora has made significant contributions to the U.S. agriculture and economy. In the early 1900s, the manong generation tilled the asparagus fields of California and worked seasonally in the salmon fisheries of Alaska.

Joining Manalansan were Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan, owners of Cendrillon, an acclaimed restaurant in Manhattan’s Soho district since 1995. Chef Dorotan’s cooking has been featured in and praised by Gourmet, New York Magazine, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. The husband and wife team are the authors of Memories of Philippine Kitchens, an award-winning cookbook.

Besa explained that cooking Filipino food in the U.S. is like cooking from memories of the homeland. She noted that Filipino American cooking is “authentic” because the older generations in the States have preserved the traditional recipes. In contrast, the contemporary population in the Philippines has transformed the local cuisine into something different over the last half-century.

Dorotan discussed his experience as a French cuisine chef before tackling the restaurant business. When Cendrillon first opened, Besa and Dorotan were hesitant to market it as a Filipino restaurant because of the lack of mainstream visibility. They have expanded the typical menu of pancit and lumpia to fine dining Filipino cuisine. As forerunners in the chic restaurant business, they have helped Filipino food become more visible in the U.S.

Jennifer Aranas added her perspective on Filipino American cuisine as an accomplished chef, teacher, and writer of The Filipino-American Kitchen: Traditional Recipes, Contemporary Flavors. After years of cooking in restaurants in Chicago and Napa Valley, she opened the critically acclaimed Rambutan restaurant in 1998 and later sold it in 2002. She currently works as a Corporate Chef for Sysco Foods in Chicago and is a culinary instructor at Kendall College.

Aranas’ parents immigrated from the Philippines to Chicago where she was born. Her experience in preparing Filipino American cuisine is a little different because fresh Philippine ingredients are not readily available in American supermarkets. Although some of the ingredients may not be as “authentic,” the Filipino dishes she prepares are still “genuine.”

Aranas also cited some challenges on why fine Filipino dining has not broken into the mainstream. When most Filipinos think of Filipino food, they think of it as homestyle or how their nanay or lola has prepared it. Aranas also explained that most Filipino parents think of the restaurant business as being “blue collar” and do not encourage it as a career for their children. Our palates are thankful that this image is changing with stalwart restaurateurs who are paving the way for Filipino restaurants.

The night ended with a lively talkback session with the audience and book signings with the authors. Check out their cookbooks – you too can make these fabulous Filipino dishes at home!