The United States is seeing a rise in Filipino Cuisine in the mainstream restaurant scene; however, Filipino-American writer and director Alexandra "Allie" Cuerdo refuses to anoint the food she's been eating all her life with the "trendy" moniker.
"Some people say Filipino food is 'trending', which really means it will come and go," Allie shares, adding, "I grew up eating Filipino food. I know it's good. I've been eating Filipino food before it was cool."
What's also cool is the fact that this 20-something filmmaker will be going to Australia to showcase her passion project, 'Ulam: Main Dish' - the first-ever documentary film about the Filipino food movement in the United States. The film aspires to not only redefine the space the cuisine occupies in the world, but what it means to her as a Filipino.
Alexandra "Allie" Cuerdo Source: Allie Cuerdo
It's about who I am and where I came from
Allie, who used to work at Columbia Pictures and Participant Media in Los Angeles, shares that she has had a "very lucky career for someone my age". But while she has had remarkable luck in California, it was in New York while working for BuzzFeed that she began production for the film that would catapult her already-surging career.
This Southern California native says the idea for 'Ulam' - like a lot of great ideas - was shared during a meal.
"I started doing videos for BuzzFeed. It was an awesome time. I actually ended up doing a Filipino food episode on the show, Worth It." Source: BuzzFeed (Youtube)
"My dad [who is also in film] had said [over dinner], 'You know I have this idea. Me and my college friend, we wanted to do a Filipino food movie but it’s never gotten off the ground.' I said, 'Would you be willing for me to kind of take a shot at it, to put my own spin on it?'"
Her dad agreed and soon after, Allie put her first pitch together, began visiting Filipino restaurants all over the US and approached Filipino chefs to be part of her movie.
Now her movie has become the first film of its kind to get a worldwide distribution - and its all thanks to the diaspora that Allie's Philippine-born parents were part of, the curiosity around the cuisine and, Allie's persistent need to promote it.
"My parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines and they met at UP. That was their meet-cute." Source: Allie Cuerdo
"I grew up in a very what you would call puti (white) area. It was a very Caucasian area. I had Filipino friends growing up, but most of them were family; so I was really sort of the evangelist for Filipino food even as a kid because I would always bring it to school in my lunchbox. I always felt like I was repping our culture through our food," Allie recalls.
It's about what I need and how I adapt
And when it comes to representation of culture, Allie also believes that food is the embodiment of the Filipinos' proficiency to adapt and, the knack to find what they need.
"Something that we’ve seen in the States is that Filipino food is so dependent on the ingredients that are available; so if you can’t get fresh calamansi, what do you use? Now you’ll see people put kale in sinigang. There are new ways in which our cuisine is being adapted all over the world," she shares, adding, "We are a people of necessity. We are really good at working with what we have."
Allie cites kare-kare (a stew made of ox tail, tripe, veggies and peanut sauce) as an example of Filipino ingenuity.
Kare-Kare Source: Jonathan Valencia (Pixabay)
"Kare-kare is really curry-curry; but spices were extremely expensive. So what do we have that almost mimics the look and the colour and the feel of it? We ended up with this dish that is totally bananas and totally awesome called kare-kare - and it’s not curry at all," she laughs.
Allie says that her lola's kare-kare as well as other Filipino dishes were her first connections to her culture, compared to other Asian-Americans who connected with their heritage through language first.
"That was sort of the point of entry for me to understand this whole other world, this whole other country that my parents are from."
"As somebody who grew up with my lola’s cooking, of course, I would always say that her cooking is the best." Source: Allie Cuerdo
Allie isn't alone in this connection. Many children of Filipino migrants in the United States feel the same way. Some of them go to culinary school. Several of them are chefs in Allie's film.
"A chef friend of mine always described the first wave of Filipino restaurants being the places that opened up in front of the hospitals. Filipino doctors and nurses could go and get their chicken adobo and pancit across the street," she shares, adding, "Now there's this generational shift where you have the children of those immigrants starting to go to culinary school. That's where we are now - the second wave of Filipino and Filipino-American kids opening up their own spots."
Chefs of Lasa are featured in 'Ulam'. Source: Kidlat Entertainment
It's about who is family to me
Allie believes that this second wave will soon be arriving on Australia's shores as well, sharing, "It's only a matter of time. When I was growing up, there weren't many mainstream Filipino restaurants in the States. The ones I went to growing up were [considered] just ethnic restaurants. It was always an awesome experience but I never went with non-Filipinos."
Times have changed though and, slowly but surely, non-Filipinos have become more interested in the cuisine.
"It’s been a neat way to introduce people to our culture because food is never really just food. For Filipinos, it’s kind of like us on a plate. It’s us welcoming you into our home, our community and our culture and sharing a little bit of ourselves with you."
So ultimately, what does Filipino cuisine mean for Allie Cuerdo?
"There's this communal aspect...anytime you have Filipino food, you are part of the family." Source: Allie Cuerdo
"I think any cuisine is more than just a collection of dishes. It’s really about an approach. A way you look at the world," Allie shares, adding, "Yes, Filipino food is absolutely chicken adobo. It's sinigang and kare-kare and lechon and all of these great dishes. It's this amazing blend of flavours and influences. It's salty, sour, umami, rich, fatty and delicious. And it's also this communal feeling, this communal aspect of anytime you have Filipino food, you are part of the family."
All screenings of will be hosted by The Entree.Pinays. They are now sold out. The film can now be preordered as a rental or purchase.
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