When you insult Filipino food, you insult Filipino culture

Kate Walton tweeted that Filipino food was "bland" and the "worst in the region". But what do Filipino's think about that?

Chicken adobo Source: Yasmin Newman

"Kumain ka na ba?" is one of the few Tagalog greetings I remember from my childhood, but it's an essential one. It means, "Have you eaten yet?"

It's a misleading question. Nobody cares if you've already eaten; Filipinos always insist that you have more.

"Everything is centred around food in the Philippines," food photographer Luisa Brimble tells SBS Food. "To get to know someone, you talk around a meal. It's a common language."

You can't judge an entire country’s food on a couple of dishes. Source: Luisa Brimble

If food is central to Filipino culture and identity, then insulting the food is like insulting an entire people.

That's why Cornell University instructor Tom Pepinsky's tweet ranking Filipino food last on a list of South East Asian cuisines stings so much. And that's why Kate Walton declaring that the food is "bland" and "the worst in the region" incited anger online.

Bland? Have they ever burnt their tongues on a chilli-laden Bicol Express? Have they ever eschewed vinegary sawsawan dipping sauce because a good Cebu Lechon is already so flavourful it needs no accompaniment?

It's hard to say what informed their opinions, but if they're based off an unfortunately dry pancit (noodle dish) or the strange mouth feel of balut (partially-developed duck egg), then the conclusions aren't fair. It’s like someone saying they don't like Thai because all they've had is takeaway green curry.

If food is central to Filipino culture and identity, then insulting the food is like insulting an entire people.

You can't judge an entire country's food on a couple of dishes, particularly when the culinary history is so diverse and informed by centuries of colonisation and trade.

If Filipino food is as good as we think it is, why hasn’t it taken off like Vietnamese or Thai? Source: Luisa Brimble

In an interview with Splendid Table author, Amy Besa puts Filipino cuisine into two categories: "food that was always ours" and "food we borrowed and made our own". In the first category fall the vinegar-dominated cooking methods of adobo (braised meat), sinigang (sour broth) and kinilaw (ceviche). In the second category, there are influences from China, Spain and America.

Rey's Place chef Nico Madrangca's favourite examples of Filipino food fall neatly in Besa's categories. "We've got siomai sa tisa, a pork dumping dipped in garlic sauce. And in Cebu ginabot is famous. It's vinegar-marinaded, pork intestine crackling. You dip it in sawsawan, which has soy, vinegar, tomatoes, onions and chilli."

Surely Walton doesn't really think food like this could be bland.

Let's play devils advocate for a minute. If Filipino food is as good as we think it is, why hasn't it taken off like Vietnamese or Thai (numbers one and four on Pepinsky’s list)?

Maybe Filipinos are uncertain that others will appreciate their food. I remember my mum eating bagoong (fermented shrimp paste) smeared on mango after the rest of the family had left the table. She thought the pungent smell might offend us and didn’t want our complaints to spoil her treat.

Rey's Place owner Jonathan Bayad understands this sentiment. "I think there's a bit of fear that people won’t like the food; there are some dishes that are an acquired taste."

Maybe Filipino food isn't popular yet because it's still in its first wave in Australia. Source: Luisa Brimble

But he also thinks proximity is a problem. "The stronghold for Filipino food in Sydney has always been out west. If the community was in Newtown instead, so many people would have tried Filipino food."

Will Mahusay, owner of Sydney Cebu Lechon, has broken the mould and opened in Newtown. "Sixty per cent of our customers are non-Filipinos which tells me that slowly but surely our food is getting recognised," he says.

Maybe it's just that Filipino food is still in its first wave in Australia, meaning it's mostly served the traditional way in the outer suburbs of capital cities. In America, the second wave has begun. People are comfortable enough to start riffing on the flavours and ingredients to create something modern.

"I went to LA where the Filipino food movement has blown up. It's not traditional anymore. If you want to mainstream Filipino food, you have to introduce it in a different way," says Brimble.

Filipina cultural historian Doreen Gamboa Fernandez , "Food to the Filipino is history. It is also bond, culture and identity."

Walton has since apologised for her tweet, but the online consensus is too little, too late. The next time she makes a throwaway comment that encompasses a country's culture and identity, I hope she approaches it with the sensitivity it demands.

Love the story? Follow the author on Instagram @cultofclothes