To celebrate the rich cuisine and culture of the country’s highland provinces, the Department of Tourism–Cordillera Administrative Region in partnership with the City Government of Baguio recently held the fifth edition of the “Mangan Taku Cordillera Food and Wine Fair.”
Held at the Burnham Park’s Rose Garden, the six-day fair showcased 32 exhibitors of diverse food and beverage items, restaurants, hotels, culinary schools, and partner agencies and local governments.
A daily feature is the Provincial Hour which had live cooking demonstrations on select indigenous dishes of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province. Adding to the excitement were Cookfest contests and Cordillera Wine Mixology competitions which pit home-grown cooks, culinary students and baristas.
According to DOT-CAR regional director Jovita Ganongan, Mangan Taku is a culinary journey that celebrates the time-honored culinary traditions of the Cordilleras that must be appreciated, preserved, and promoted. She added that the event is also in line with the World Food Travel Association’s thrust of promoting food tourism to get a sense of place.
Mangan Taku, which literally means “let’s eat”, is a regional version of the DOT’s national food tourism program which highlights the diversity and uniqueness of heirloom dishes in the grassroots.
The fair also included the Indigenous Food Forum which served as a platform to delve deeper into indigenous and heritage food.
Featured guest speakers were food scholar Guillermo Ramos, Chef Waya Araos-Wijangco of Gypsy Baguio who talked on sustainable food production and mindful consumption, Slow Food International Southeast Asia and Pacific Regional coordinator Elena Aniere, Rowena Gonnay of the Slow Food Community of Pasil, Kalinga who shared on the town’s heirloom Rice, and Chef Chavi “Baguio Mountain Man” Romawac who discussed the revival of indigenous food and entrepreneurship.