Over 12,000 visitors had a great time during the first “Taste the Philippines: DC Filipino Food Festival” recently held at the District Pier at The Wharf in Washington, DC.
The event, which was organized by Filipino restaurant Kaliwa, Mindset Communities and the Philippine American Foundation for Charity, highlighted Filipino dishes from Kaliwa and other participating restaurants such as Purple Patch, Daikaya, Tigerfork, Kuya Ja’s, Ekiben, The Game Sports Pub and Timothy Flores, among many others.
Adding to the fun were the various activities and cultural presentations that included dance and musical performances as well as martial arts demonstrations that thoroughly entertained the visitors.
Chef Jojo Valenzuela’s The Game Sports Pub’s spicy sisig was a hit among visitors.
The festival was also a great opportunity to showcase the best of Philippine coconut products that were displayed at the booth put up by the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC. These included Magnolia macapuno ice cream, coconut water, coconut wraps, coconut jam and buko pancit. Virgin coconut oil samples in ready-to-go packs were also given out, much to the surprised appreciation of visitors.
Coconut Day is actually celebrated in the US towards the end of June. And as pointed out by our Agriculture Attaché Dr. Josyline Javelosa, the DC Food festival was an excellent platform to raise awareness and promote Philippine coconut products and other agricultural exports that are readily available in the US, which can support some 3.5 million Filipino coconut farmers.
Chef Timothy Flores, who flew all the way from Chicago to join the DC Filipino Food Festival, prepared the popular Filipino comfort food chicken arroz caldo.
The success of the food fest, as displayed by the overwhelming reception of visitors for the Filipino products and the dishes presented, underscores the growing popularity of Filipino cuisine in the United States. No less than the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain noted that Filipino dishes are among the most delicious — albeit underrated — and pointed to the street food sisig (chopped pig’s cheek served sizzling with an egg on top) as the gateway dish that would attract the interest of people with no prior experience of Filipino food.
Cultural assistant Maya Cruz (left) served coconut wraps with coco jam to festival visitors.
Kaliwa — whose owners were encouraged by Bourdain to open up the restaurant — is also contributing to the increasing buzz surrounding Filipino food, along with such popular restaurants like Bad Saint in DC whose chef Tom Cunanan recently bagged the Best Chef Mid-Atlantic Category award during the 2019 James Beard Awards. Then there is Ma’am Sir located in Los Angeles by chef Charles Olalia that was included in GQ Magazine’s “Best New Restaurants in America for 2019” list. Indeed, great things are cooking for Filipino food in the US.