Filipino food featured in Washington Post

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A lengthy piece about Filipino food has been published in the Washington Post — or to be more accurate, a lengthy piece about the arrival of Filipino food in the US has been published in the Washington Post. Writer Tim Carman tracks down the history of our cuisine in that part of the world: From its early days, when Filipino immigrants felt ashamed of our food, to the slow burn of American acceptance of our cuisine, to finally them coming into the fold.

The article pays special mind to our ‘hiya.’ “When you’re a kid and your friends are grossed out by your lunch, or when you go to the office and see a sign on the microwave telling you not to heat your stinky food there,” Genevieve Villamora, co-owner of upcoming Filipino Restaurant Bad Saint is quoted in the article.

And then it zeroed in on Filipinos in New York like Nicole Ponseca, doing something about it. “Starting in early 2011, Ponseca and her partners hosted migratory pop-ups that eventually morphed into a hip Filipino restaurant in East Village,” continues the article. That would be Maharlika, which serves kare-kare and street food items like adidas, and its sister gastropub Jeepney. “It transforms hiya shame into a cacophonous ceremony,” which would eventually be ground zero of the Filipino food trend in the US.

Several other states have started to embrace our adobo, sisig, lechon, and the rest. Austin, Texas by way of James Beard Awardee, Fil-Am chef Paul Qui. New Orleans by way of Milkfish, and finally in DC, via Purple Patch, a Fil-Am restaurant, and soon-to-open Bistro 7107.

It’s a nice read, but for Filipino food pioneer in the US, Amy Besa of Purple Yam, it read like a eulogy. Check out her post on Facebook:

Photo: Network54.com