Media, Bloggers Get Special Introduction to Filipino Cuisine 

Berlin-based media personalities, bloggers, and some of the city’s top food critics at the Christmas dinner hosted by the Philippine Embassy on 10 December 2019 at the Waldorf Astoria. (CRH Malasig photo)

BERLIN 10 December 2019 ––  Berlin-based media personalities, bloggers, and some of the city’s top food critics received a special introduction to Filipino cuisine through a Christmas dinner hosted by the Philippine Embassy on 10 December 2019, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

The four-course dinner, prepared by Filipino culinary expert Maite Hontiveros-Dittke, consisted of appetizers and entrées that represented Filipino cuisine’s main flavor profile – sweet, salty, and sour.

In her remarks during the event, Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Theresa Dizon-de Vega described Filipino food as one of the original fusion cuisines with layers of influences from East and West.

The dinner started with chicken binakol soup, elegantly served in a young coconut shell, followed by lumpiang shanghai, lumpiang sariwa, and chicken sisig as appetizers.

The main course included chicken inasal (grilled chicken with special marinade) and pinais (presented in a crab shell wrapped in banana leaves), accompanied by adobong kang kong (water spinach cooked in soy sauce and vinegar) and pinakbet (a vegetable dish from the northern Philippines), respectively.

For dessert, guests enjoyed biko (sticky rice) and the Philippines’ famous carabao mango, with a sweet syrup called latik.

Dishes were served at a table setting using Philippine handicrafts like abaca and capiz plate chargers.

Before taking their places for the dinner, the who’s who of the Berlin food scene had the opportunity to sample Filipino cocktails made of Destileria Limtuaco Dark and Mango Rhum products paired with fishballs, liempo (deep fried pork belly), longganisa (Filipino-style sausage), and adobong tokwa (tofu) prepared by Chef Bulawan Callanta of Ayan Filipino Streetfood Restaurant. 

The guests were delighted by the new flavors that they were able to try and the warm Filipino hospitality extended by the Embassy Team that night. Each one went home with a bottle of Don Papa rum, and Malagos and Georgia Ramon Philippinen chocolates – Filipino products that continue to gain popularity in other countries, including Germany. END 

Taggespiegel Editor Kai Röger (left) interviews Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Theresa Dizon-de Vega during the dinner. (CRH Malasig photo)

Philippine Ambassador to Germany Maria Theresa Dizon-de Vega (second  from right) with Berlin Food Week chief executive officer Alexander van Hessen (center), Maite Dittke (leftmost), Chef Bulawan Callanta second from left), and Embassy Cultural Section Head Alvin Malasig (rightmost). (CRH Malasig photo)

From left: Food blogger Gesa Noormann, Deputy Chief of Mission Lillibeth Pono, and Consul Catherin Rose Torres.

The dished prepared by Chef Bulawan Callanta of Ayan Filipino Streetfood Restaurant. (CRH Malasig photo)

The dished prepared by Chef Bulawan Callanta of Ayan Filipino Streetfood Restaurant. (CRH Malasig photo)

The dishes prepared by Chef Bulawan Callanta of Ayan Filipino Streetfood Restaurant. (CRH Malasig photo)

“Biko” serves as dessert prepared by Chef Bulawan Callanta of Ayan Filipino Streetfood Restaurant. (CRH Malasig photo)

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