ARMM chefs’ challenge fires off Cotabato

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Iranuns emerged victorious in Wednesday’s ethnic cuisine contest among chieftains of villages inside the compound here of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The ARMM chefs’ challenge was part of the preparatory activities in line with the November 19 commemoration of the 26th founding anniversary of the autonomous region.  

The mock tribal villages were built last year as part of the efforts of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman to educate the public on the ethnicity of the region’s tri-people, which groups together the local Muslim, Christian and Lumad communities.

The cooking contest here Wednesday night involved the designated chieftains of the scattered Iranun, Tausug, Samah, Maguindanaon, Yakan, Maranaw and non-Islamic Teduray model enclaves inside the 32-hectare compound southwest of Cotabato City.

Iranun leader Engineer Maritess Maguindra, tourism secretary of ARMM, received a trophy for having cooked the best native foods during the event.  

The traditional Iranun Tuna kinilaw, heavy in spices and herbs commonly found in kitchens of Iranuns, Sininang Kambing, made up of chevon sautéed in oil mixed with grated burnt coconut and hot pepper, and native desserts were all voted as best native foods prepared during the two-hour cooking competition.

The regional tribal chefs’ challenge was held at the parade ground of the fenced regional government center in Cotabato City.

The entries were judged on-site by chefs from different popular restaurants in Central Mindanao.

Hataman, as part of the cooking event, also showed to spectators and his subordinates in the ARMM government his expertise in cooking chicken curry Yakan style.

Hataman is an ethnic Yakan from Sumisip town west of Basilan, one of the five provinces of ARMM.

Besides Basilan, the autonomous region also covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, the island provinces of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan.

Each of the Muslim groups in the region has unique centuries-old recipes, made so distinct from one another by Indian, Arab, Malay and Indonesian influences and the availability of herbs and spices that grow endemic only in certain areas.