Delegates of the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Asia-Pacific 2016, the largest gathering of travel bloggers, writers, content media creators and tourism industry professionals, had a feast as they discovered Philippine cuisine.
Presented by the Department of Tourism (DoT) and Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), in coordination with NMX Events, their journey of discovery began with a 15-hour food tour where they traveled to Pampanga, “the culinary center of the Philippines,” to try iconic Filipino dishes such as lechon, sisig, chicken inasal, and sinigang. They then went to Binondo to experience the country’s Chinese culinary influence on food.
The contingent was served an array of grilled fish, prawns, squids and clams, and tasted some of the native delicacies such as barquillos, turones, kutsinta, halo-halo, and rice cakes including bibingka, cassava cake and puto.
The country’s tropical fruits were also a hit as the visitors sampled the sweetest mangoes, rambutan, lanzones and marang. Calamansi was a surprise to them for its versatility—from a refreshing fruit drink to an additional flavor to condiments.
To complete their Filipino food experience, they were served some of the country’s exotic foods including balut, pako or fern salad and sea urchin.
“I find it very interesting that the Filipino cuisine is influenced by so many other cultures and it creates a fascinating mix,” said Maria Haase who traveled all the way from Germany. “This food trip was very interesting and inspiring for me.”
Further making Filipino meals fun, the delegates experienced boodle feasts, which urged them not only to share their food but to interact and converse with one another. Trying Filipino dishes in this unique way was something the first-time visitors were able to enjoy. “This is such a simple pleasure to enjoy. It’s amazing that we get the time to eat together. I love this kind of culture,” said Chicago-native Rosemary Kimani.