DFA Promotes Home-cooked Filipino Cuisine through Online Show “Simply Sarap”
02 September 2020 MANILA – Filipino cuisine will be making its way to the screens of Filipinos and foreigners all over the world starting 3 September 2020 as the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), through the Office of Strategic Communications and Research - Cultural Diplomacy Division, launches its online cooking show series, "Simply Sarap.”
The online cooking show series, which aims to promote Filipino cuisine especially that more people are staying in their homes and cooking their own food because of the health protocols enforced both locally and overseas, will be hosted by Chef Louise Mabulo.
Chef Louise is a “Young Champion of the Earth” awardee of the United Nations Environmental Programme and an honoree of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2020. She is also the CEO of The Cacao Project, a social venture which capacitated local farmers in Bicol with agroforestry techniques that enabled them to plant climate-resistant cacao trees. Filipinos in the Philippines might also recall the 21-year-old entrepreneur chef as one of the finalists in the 2011 cooking competition, “Junior MasterChef.”
In the 10-episode series, Chef Louise introduces Filipino ingredients and cooking techniques while dishing out informative trivia on the Philippines and its history as well, all under five minutes. The episodes are “bite-sized” to cater to busy people who juggle both domestic as well as professional responsibilities as they work from home.
On the pilot episode of “Simply Sarap,” Chef Louise takes viewers on a trip to Camarines Sur and introduces the history and flavour of “Chicken Tinutungan” (Chicken Cooked in Toasted Coconut Milk), a classic dish of the Bicol Region. Viewers will be treated to nine other delicious Filipino recipes in the following weeks as Chef Louise takes them on a culinary tour through the show.
The series will be broadcast on the DFA’s official Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram accounts (@dfaphl) as well as the official social media accounts of its Foreign Service Posts every Thursday at 11:00 a.m. (Philippine time). END
Chef Louise Mabulo introduces Filipino ingredients such as “gata” or coconut milk in her recipes.
The first episode features the classic Bicolano home-cooked dish, “Chicken Tinutungan.”
Aside from delectable Filipino dishes, Chef Louise Mabulo also serves interesting historical tidbits in the show. On this first episode, Chef Mabulo takes viewers to Camarines Sur.