I READ from Gerwin Co’s (a former ace student of mine from 1992-1996, who is now based in Hong Kong) entry in his blog - an interesting observation about Filipino food. Here goes:

“I’ve always wondered why Filipino food never attained the acclaim reserved for other Asian food. It’s always Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese. But never Filipino.

I’ve always held the belief that the reason Filipino food is not popular outside the islands is because it lacks a singular, catch-all word that will define it. Think Indian - and it’s spicy. Think that - it IS spicy. Think Vietnamese - and its pho. Japanese - raw. Korean - kimchi.

No single word can be associated with Pinoy food. Exotic? Spicy? Sweet? Hodge Podge? Probably it’s our being tribalist that is to be faulted…

Here in Hong Kong, there seems to be a lack of decent place to have Pinoy food. Sure there’s the requisite ‘carinderia’ (Mang Ambo has probably the best barbeque in the territory) but HECK Indonesian restaurants abound here and not just the ‘carinderia’ setting but all out - prime location, good service, tables numbering more than three. Now, if you equate how people value the presentation of food with national pride, one would easily see why the Filipino race is as is right now. (Then again it maybe capital).”

I agree with Gerwin’s point. Filipino food lacks self-identity - which is sadly much like us Filipinos. Look at our food recipes - hardly can we see something which we can truly call our own indigenous concoction. Most of our dishes have names of Spanish ‘descent’ - like - paella, adobo, afritada, menudo, embutido, morcon, arroz caldo, mais con hielo, jamonado, pastillas, leche flan, torta, pochero, relleno … the list is almost infinite.

But of course, we take pride in our own pinakbet, sinigang, pangat, kare-kare, pinaupong manok, pinikpikan, inasal, tinolang manok, dinengdeng, bagnet, papaitan, dinuguan, balut, tapa, daing, laing, Bicol express (?), halabos na hipon and lumpia. It is sad, however, that with the increased foreign influence in our kitchens and consequently, on our taste buds, these local foods are often given secondary preference.

Take a look at the fast food chains, for instance -  Jollibee, MacDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Greenwich, Kenny Rogers - these restaurants offer mostly westernized foods, with a little Filipino twist by including dishes like palabok and halo-halo. And look at the long queues that seek their services everyday.

Maybe the reason why Filipino food doesn’t receive the same acclaim as do Thai, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian foods, is that - we Filipinos do not give it much acclaim either.