Over 150 delegates from around the world joined the 15th conference of the Société Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (SIEF), hosted by the Folklore Studies Program of the University of the Philippines College of Social Science and Philosophy on Dec. 11 to 13.
The conference explores the significance of food within various ethnolinguistic groups, including communities from Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Lithuania, Japan, Argentina, Bulgaria, Greece, Korea, Turkey and the Philippines among others.
Professors, student researchers, and experts presented papers and abstracts that delve into the connections between food, history, traditions, folklore, and cultural practices worldwide.
Mama Sita’s serves meatless adobo and heirloom rice pinipig to international delegates. To celebrate the occasion, Mama Sita’s treated guests to tasting samples of classic Filipino favorites like pansit palabok, sisig, samalamig, and delicious innovations such as meatless adobo and bibingkrepe (rice flour and coconut crepe), and champorado with heirloom rice pinipig.
The meatless adobo consisted of chopped banana peels, mushrooms cooked with aromatics, and Mama Sita’s Mama Sita’s Oyster Sauce and Distilled Cane Vinegar, served with pandesal.
For years, the Mama Sita Foundation has made efforts to promote sustainable foodways to aid in food security by using ingredients that would have otherwise been considered waste, such as banana peel. The Foundation has also helped in raising awareness of Philippine heirloom grains to support farming communities in the Cordillera planting precious heirloom rice varieties like balatinaw, used in performing rice rituals in the region for centuries.
