PH named among ‘New Gastronomic-8 countries’ by HK-based agency

We’ve always known that Filipino dishes are a bit weird. It’s nothing like what our South East Asian neighbors offer. We use unconventional cooking techniques and unusual flavor combinations. After all, our cuisine is a result of colonialism, with Spanish, American, and even Japanese and Chinese influences. 

Well, now our weirdness in the kitchen is getting noticed in a good way. The Philippines has been included in the list of the New Gastronomic 8 (G-8) emerging markets of influence in world cuisine by the Hongkong-based marketing and communications agency, Catch On.

So what does that mean?

According to the report called the Future of Food, our dishes are included in a list of cuisines which “defies conventional classification, and where dishes are inflected by mismatched ingredients or prepared in ways that question traditional techniques.”

“There’s a growing movement to preserve and document culinary artisanal traditions that have survived generations simply because they came out of family kitchens. We’re seeing more self-trained chefs launching restaurants, more men cooking at home, the continued move away from any notion of fine dining, the growing influence of street food, and the popularity of culinary tourism. This is the new culture of food,” the report adds.

Aside from the Philippines, other countries included in the New G-8 are China, Iran, Israel, Korea, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam, the Official Gazette reports. 

Tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr.  is happy to see that the efforts of staging the Madrid Fusion and the World Street Food Congress are now bearing fruit. “The Philippines is now gaining more recognition as an emerging country, whose indigenous ingredients and culinary excellence are increasingly finding their way into world cuisine,” he said. 

Indeed it’s time the rest of the world takes notice of our adobo, sisig and dinuguan.

Watch out world, Filipino food is ready for the spotlight!

 



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