29 September— The Philippines successfully participated at the “First Traditional Cuisine Global Encounter” (Primer Encuentro Global de Cocina Tradicional) at the installations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) of Mexico in Mexico City from September 23 to 25.

Representing the Philippines at the event were Ms. Marianne Gomez, a Filipina-trained chef residing in Mexico City;  Mr. Christian Peter Clay Mendoza, former Deputy Chief of Mission of the Mexican Embassy in Manila, whose mother is a Filipina living in Mexico;  and the Philippine Embassy in Mexico’s First Secretary and Consul Mr. Angelo V. Amonoy.

The country´s representatives conducted an integrated presentation on traditional Philippine cuisine on September 24, before students, academics, culinary experts and food enthusiasts at an event salon in the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

During the event’s opening, Mr. Clay discussed the strong influences which the respective gastronomic traditions of Spanish colonial-era Philippines and Nueva España (present-day Mexico) exerted on each other, and whose interchanges were facilitated through the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade.

He discussed how Spanish and Mexican culinary influences were transmitted to the Philippines by the religious missionaries, soldiers and bureaucrats who came to the Philippines from Nueva España.

Consul Amonoy led the audience through a PowerPoint presentation that substantiated on the cooking ingredients, products, and practices that were introduced to the Philippines from Mexico and vice versa.  To illustrate, he conveyed that Filipinos came to know about Mexican delicacies such as tamales and barbacoa while Philippine products like the Manila mango and the tamarind or sampaloc reached Mexican markets through the Galleon Trade.

Filipina chef Ms. Gomez showcased her culinary skills through a practical demonstration of the cooking techniques as well as the ingredients involved in preparing three Filipino dishes, namely fried lumpia, beef adobo, and turon. END