Kahit nauuso sa Estados ngayon ang pagkaing Pinoy, ayon sa manunulat at direktor na si Alexandra "Allie" Cuerdo, ayaw niyang maniwala na panandalian lamang ang kasikatan nito.
"Some people say Filipino food is 'trending', which really means it will come and go. I grew up eating Filipino food. I know it's good. I've been eating Filipino food before it was cool," saad ni Allie.
Ang isang tagumpay din ni Allie ay ang kanyang nararating na screening ng 'Ulam: Main Dish' - ang kauna-unahang dokumentaryo ukol sa Filipino food movement sa Estados Unidos. Hangarin ng pelikula na ipakita ang estado ng pagkaing Pinoy sa mundo at bigyan ng kahulugan ito para kay Allie bilang isang Pilipino.
Alexandra "Allie" Cuerdo Source: Allie Cuerdo
The film aspires to not only redefine the space the cuisine occupies in the world, but what it means to her as a Filipino.
Tungkol ito sa kung sino ako at saan ako nanggaling
Naging maswerte si Allie sa kanyang karera. Dati'y nagtatrabaho siya sa Columbia Pictures at Participant Media sa Los Angeles. Pagpunta naman niya sa New York, inumpisahan niyang gawin ang 'Ulam' habang nagtatrabaho siya sa BuzzFeed.
Ayon sa Southern California native na ito, ang ideya para sa 'Ulam' ay napag-usapan nila apat na taon ng nakakalipas ng kanyang ama na nagtatrabaho din sa industriya ng pelikula.
"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?'"
Sumang-ayon kay Allie ang kanyang ama. Pagkatapos niyang gawin ang kanyang pitch, nagsimula ng bumisita si Allie sa mga kainan sa Estados Unidos at kumausap ng mga Pilipinong chef na maging bahagi ng kanyang pelikula.
Ngayong, may worldwide distribution na ang kanyang pelikula - at dahil ito sa diaspora ng mga Pilipino, ang interes ng ibang lahi sa pagkaing Pinoy at, ang patuloy na adhikain ni Allie na i-promote ito.
"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," aniya.
Tungkol ito sa paghahanap ng kailangan ko
At pagdating sa kultura, naniniwala rin si Allie na ang pagkain ay ang sumasakatawan ng abilidad ng Pilipino na umangkop sa kung saan man siya mapunta.
"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. We are a people of necessity. We are really good at working with what we have," saad ni Allie.
Binigay ni Allie ang kare-kare na halimbawa ng ingenuity ng mga Pinoy.
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," aniya.
Saad ni Allie na ang kare-kare ng kanyang lola at ang iba pang pagkaing kinalakihan niya ang unang koneksyon niya sa kanyang kultura.
"That was sort of the point of entry for me to understand this whole other world, this whole other country 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
Hindi nag-iiisa si Allie sa koneksyong ito. Maraming mga anak ng mga migrante sa Estados Unidos ang nakakaramdam din nito.
"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. 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," saad niya.
Chefs of Lasa are featured in 'Ulam'. Source: Kidlat Entertainment
Tungkol ito sa pagiging bahagi ng komunidad
Paniwala ni Allie na malapit na ring dumating ang second wave sa Australya.
Saad niya, "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."
Iba na ang panahon ngayon at, dahan-dahan, nagkakaroon na ng interes ang mga non-Filipinos sa pagkaing Pinoy.
"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."
Sa huli, ano nga ba ang pagkaing Pinoy para kay 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. 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," aniya.
Ubos na ang tiket para sa '. Maaari ng mag-preorder ng kopya ng pelikula.
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