College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (CTHM) professors on Saturday, Nov. 21, called on various stakeholders to preserve the country’s culinary heritage by patronizing Filipino cuisine, especially stir-fried noodles served at “panciterias.”
The culinary stakeholders comprise the government, traders, farmers, non-government organizations, historians, and people in the academe who play a vital role in extending the country’s culinary traditions.
“Stakeholders participation is another dimension na kung saan hindi lamang mga panciteria ang merong provision for creating programs on how they can continue,” CTHM research coordinator and cultural and tourism heritage professor Jame Monren Mercado said.
According to CTHM Community Development Coordinator Avi Ben Andalecio, higher education institutions (HEI) are crucial in aiding local government units in coming up with “evidence-based” policies to protect Filipino cultural dishes.
“Hindi tayo basta basta gagawa ng isang polisiya ng wala pong ebidensya galing of course sa mga tulong ng mga HEIs natin, ng mga universities and colleges around the Philippines,” Andalecio said.
“Napakadami po natin[g] [mga universities] bakit wala tayong magawang polisiya na mag pro-protekta sa kanya kanyang intangible cultural heritage such as pansit?” he added.
Global marketing
Andalecio highlighted the difference between the “momentous” marketability of foreign cuisines such as Thailand’s culinary heritage that coined them the term “Thainess,” which contrasts the inexistence of “Filipinoness” in our food culture.
“[I]f you’re going to look at Thailand, bakit ba sobrang kilala ang Thai Food? Bakit ba hanggang dito sa atin nakakarating ang Thai Food? It is because of their marketing,” Andalecio told TomasinoWeb.
According to him, policymakers and the Department of Tourism (DOT) play a critical role in globalizing the Filipino pancit and other cuisines.
DOT’s Office of the Secretary is mandated to formulate policies, plans, programs, rules, and regulations, as well as advise the president regarding the Philippine tourism program, while its Tourism Protection Sector augments the country’s tourism development internationally through marketing and promotional activities.
Mercado sees the importance of including the context of the country’s culinary and cultural traditions in subjects taught in basic education, college, and even post-graduate studies.
“Dapat alamin mo muna that this is your heritage. This is our own taste [and] how we developed an acculturated dish coming from Chinese [na] nilagyan ng sarili nating panlasa,” Mercado told TomasinoWeb.
According to him, the matter stands with “viability” along with familial and community “transmission” as primary steps for the Filipino “culinary values” to be expanded.
The webinar, titled “Tambay sa Pancitan: The Luzon’s Ysla de Panciteria Project,” was spearheaded by the Intramuros Administration in partnership with the University of Santo Tomas – CTHM, Research Center for Social Sciences and Education, UST Graduate School, and Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and the Environment in the Tropics.
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