Anthony Bourdain - Philippines

The show was about the Philippines which was never been shown ever before as part of Asian/Pacific cuisine since the show started. Other Asian countries was documented but the Philippines. And finally this one Filipino New Yorker named Augusto got Anthony Bourdain's attention from one of the many audition tapes. I say Augusto was a bit naive for he only been in the Philippines for about a week. Few things I notice about Augusto that he lacked about the Philippines. Which is, theres a difference between visiting and settling among the natives. Depends on how stable you view yourself coming from abroad. And how long that would last to their knowledge. Unless if you speak their languages real well, play their games, dance their music, then you get the pinoy pass. Don't just take my words for it because it all depends where you are with the natives.

The show was actually cool. There was no tourist attraction joints, it was basically the every day life of where people usually get their cooking ingredients and where most people eat at. Lots of Mamas Papas Restaurants, Street Vendors, and big to small Markets. The show journeyed from Manila to Pangpanga to Cebu. Most of the ingredients that was shown are most likely from Up North. The Ilocos regions. The south have more spices and coconuts than the Northern Area of the Philippines. I think Pangpangan cooking are better or targeted the real essence of Filipino Cuisines than any other regions. Perhaps Pangpangan Folks are just more vocal about their cuisines.

The show ended with a Lechon (roast pig) at Cebu where Augusto's and his family visited. Lechon is typical for Filipino Feast. Most of the cuisines showed in the program were traditional home food for Filipinos like Adobo, Tinola (chicken stew), Bulalo (bone marrow stew), Papaitan (bile and guts stew), Penakbet (vegetable stew), and Sinigang (like gumbo = crabs, mussels, shrimps, fish, pork, veggies, and etc.).



About Gumbo - maybe the Filipino settlers of Louisiana in the 1600 brought Sinigang in the US and then later became known as Gumbo. After blending in with the African Americans and the French came the Cajun Culture. Based from watching the Food Network, Sinigang in the Philippines was probably a Filipino version of Paella which is from Spain. The ingredients is pretty much similar except Paella has some rice added to it.

Here is Anthony Bourdain's blog about the show.