DFA Launches Philippine Culinary Tours to Europe and North America
03 April 2017 MANILA – As a country’s cuisine serves as a tool for better understanding and communication among peoples of different cultures, the Cultural Diplomacy Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) launched its 2017 European and North American culinary tours at Purple Yam Malate Restaurant on March 28. The culinary tours aim to contribute to the myriad of efforts to present the best of Filipino cuisine internationally.
The first culinary tour, Kulinarya: A Guide to Philippine Food, will be in London, Brussels, The Hague/Amsterdam and Berlin from May 26 to June 24 led by Chef Myrna Segismundo, who is known for her passion for traditional Filipino cooking. She will be accompanied by Chefs Raul Ramos and Jill Sandique, and Ms. Michaela Fenix, a prolific food writer and regular columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The culinary tour includes photo exhibits on Filipino food from the book “Kulinarya: A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine”, talks, cooking demos with food-tasting and features the preparation of a full-course Filipino dinner.
The second culinary tour, Hidden Flavors of the Philippine Kitchen, will be in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto and Philadelphia – from September 15 to October 10 led by Chef Romy Dorotan and Ms. Amy Besa, owners of Purple Yam, a Filipino restaurant with branches in Manila and New York. They will be accompanied by Chefs Raphael Cristobal and Alvin Ralph Cruz of Purple Yam Manila.
As the story of Filipino food comes from both our history and our local environment, the culinary tours will make use of home-grown, traditional, and artisanal ingredients from the various regions of the country.
“Food has the inherent ability to bring people together,” said Assistant Secretary Maria Teresa C. Lepatan of the DFA. The Department hopes that the 2017 Philippine Culinary Tour will introduce Filipino cuisine, cooking traditions, and mainstream Philippine flavors to the world. END
Ms. Amy Besa of Purple Yam
Chef Myrna D. Segismundo