“Flavours of the Philippines” Launched in Berlin

15 June 2017 BERLIN — The Philippine Embassy in Berlin launched “Flavours of the Philippines,” a month-long Filipino culinary festival, on May 30 at the Ambassador’s official residence with a dinner for media friends.

“Flavours of the Philippines,” which is part of this year’s Independence Day celebrations, will also include a cooking demonstration and a photo exhibit on Filipino food in Germany’s premier port city, Hamburg, and a lecture for culinary students in Berlin to be followed by a traditional Filipino merienda. The highlight of the festivities is a formal Independence Day dinner on June 22 to be prepared by the renowned Kulinarya Team led by Chef Myrna Segismundo.

The event was attended by Ingrid Müller, Editor-in-Chief of Berlin Tagesspiegel; Franz Michael Rohm of Berliner Morgenpost’s Culinary Section; Diplomacy and Business Magazine Publisher; Frank Schüttig and Editor, Rainer Schubert; and The Filipino Channel Germany correspondent, Ms. Grace Pickert. Featured for the evening were a variety of traditional home-cooked meals and more modern versions of Filipino food prepared by Berlin’s Filipino restaurateurs.

Popular Filipino beer chow or pulutan and streetfood like fishballs, liempo (grilled pork belly), inihaw na manok (grilled chicken), tuna kinilaw (raw tuna salad with greens), manok chicharon (crispy chicken skin), and lumpia (crispy rolls), were served to beer-loving Germans as starters from a vintage food truck. Kalamansi juice was served with the starters.

The main dishes paired with servings of white and garlic rice included beef tapa (stir-fried beef with soy and pepper), pancit (stir-fried noodles with meat and vegetables), and of course, chicken adobo (meat braised in vinegar and soy sauce) – widely-considered as the Philippines’ national dish.

Sisig (crunchy pork bits), a staple Filipino pulutan uniquely presented on a sizzling plate, was the evening’s favorite dish, with its flavourful sour-spicy taste.

The guests’ sweet cravings were also satisfied with traditional desserts like halo-halo (a concoction of beans, sweet fruits topped with shaved ice, milk, yam, ice cream, and custard), cassava cake, and turon (banana fritters with jack fruit) with pinipig (rice crispies) ice cream.

The meal ended with a serving of the world-famous ripe Philippine mango.

“Berlin, with its multi-culti, open and vibrant atmosphere, has always welcomed elements that are different, that are new, and this is true even for food. It is about time that the German palette get to know more about Philippine food…,” Ambassador Melita Sta. Maria-Thomeczek said.

For more information, visit  www.berlinpe.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippine-embassy.de or https://www.facebook.com/philippineembassyberlin. END