PH Embassy in the Hague’s Economic Diplomacy Agenda Promotes PH Chocolates, Sauce Mixes at PH Food Festival

In aid of its economic diplomacy agenda in The Netherlands, colorful packs of Davao’s Malagos chocolates adorned by the country’s unique fauna:  tarsier, eagle and turtle and varieties of Mama Sita’s sauce mixes were distributed to visitors and diners during the Philippine Food Festival held on  21-23 June 2019 at Crowne Plaza Hotel in The Hague. (The Hague PE photo)

THE HAGUE 08 July 2019 — A Philippine Food Festival was successfully organized by the Philippine Embassy in The Hague from 21 to 23 June 2019, in partnership with Crowne Plaza Hotel and Filipino expatriate-chefs Maite Hontiveros-Dittke from Dusseldorf, Germany and Tani Morabe from Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Officially launched on 20 June during the Embassy’s National Day Reception hosted by Ambassador to the Netherlands Jaime Victor B. Ledda and Mrs. Gina Ledda, the three-day food festival featured an array of popular Filipino dishes tastefully and exquisitely prepared by the Flipino chefs using popular  brands, such as Mama Sita’s and Tanduay Rum.

These included cocktail drink Tanduay Rum Mango Blossom, paired with garlic peanuts for amuse bouche;  fresh lumpia, chicken sisig flakes and lumpia shanghai for appetizer with main courses of beef adobo, chicken inasal, steamed fish in banana leaves and pinakbet topped with popular desserts made up of ube halaya, biko and mango custard, mango zabaglione.

The food festival provided also the  opportunity for the Embassy to vigorously promote its over-all economic diplomacy agenda in The Netherlands.  For this purpose, the Ambassador and Mrs. Ledda hosted a table made up of  local businessmen together with Brussels-based Philippine Trade and Investment Commercial Counselor Benedict M. Uy and Agriculture Attaché Jose I.C. “Pit” Laquian.

Philippine music was also proudly presented by the Embassy during this food festival. A Filipino student doing his masters in classical guitar at nearby Maastricht University, Adrian (Adrik) F. I. Cristobal, was invited by Ambassador Ledda to perform on the first day  of the festival. Mr. Cristobal played timeless Filipino classicals and pop hits  that warmed the hearts of the Embassy’s  guests and hotel’s dining clientele as they feasted with delight on the festival’s  variety of Philippine  flavors.

The Philippine Food Festival was so popular that the Embassy’s partner-hotel had to “open”  one  day  early on 20 June 2019 to accommodate an exclusive group of 52 visiting  businessmen of the Dutch company Shell, who were all guests at the hotel and requested to be served Philippine dishes before leaving The Hague. END

Plated appetizers  of fresh lumpia, lumpiang shanghai, chicken sisig flakes, bowls of beef adobo and steamed fish in banana leaves and a trio of desserts ube halaya, biko and mango  custard, chicken inasal by Filipino chefs Maite Hontiveros-Dittke and Tani Morabe. (The Hague PE photo)

The Philippine flag is flown alongside Crowne Plaza Hotel’s colors during the three-day Philippine Food Festival. (The Hague PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.thehaguepe.dfa.gov.ph or  https://www.facebook.com/PHinTheNetherlands/.