Filipino Food, Values & Culture: PH Embassy Hosts Book Reading of Nina Daza-Puyat 

Philippine Embassy officials led by Ambassador Junever Mahilum-West with Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat and participants

PARIS 10 October 2024 - The Philippine Embassy in France collaborated with Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat, children’s book author and former editor-in-chief of Appetite Magazine, for a reading of her work Ang Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai on 4 October 2024. Attending children and adults both enjoyed the audio-visual spectacle accompanying the usual storytime.

Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat, daughter of culinary icon Nora Daza, opened her lecture with a brief introduction of her childhood memories in Paris and her family’s ties with the city’s gastronomic culture. Her mother opened in 1972 Aux Iles Philippines, the first Filipino restaurant in Paris, and it became known for its Filipino popular dishes and desserts including sans rival, ube and leche flan.

Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai is a fictional folktale which tells the story of how the popular dish came into being. It explores how two opposing families were united by an unexpected tragedy. It demonstrates important values such as charity, respect for the elderly, and bayanihan which are innate in Filipino culture. It also teaches kids the value of food by stirring their curiosity and giving them a deeper appreciation of the cooking process and the preparation of the ingredients.

Paris-based children’s literature advocate Margaret Gerner also read a story for the kids. An interactive session followed where they shared learnings and asked questions about the story. To wrap up the event, the classic lumpiang shanghai was served among the refreshments.

During the food month celebration, the Embassy launched a directory of Filipino restaurants in Paris to promote Philippine cuisine in the gastronomic capital of the world. Visit the food site here:

https://sites.google.com/dfa.gov.ph/filipino-food-in-france/home  END.

Parents and children enjoyed the audio-visual storytime of Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai.

Kids engaged in an interactive exercise after the story where they experienced balancing the bilao with vegetables on their heads, as practiced in the Philippines.

Following the event, guests browse Filipino children’s books and partake the celebrated lumpiang shanghai.

For more information, visit  https://www.parispe.dfa.gov.ph, http://www.facebook.com/PHinFrance, https://twitter.com/PHinFrance  or https://www.instagram.com/phinfrance/ .