Find the transcript of my interview with Alexandra Cuerdo below.
INTRO
Welcome to Exploring Filipino Kitchens. I’m your host, Nastasha Alli.
Welcome to a new season - and thank you for downloading this episode! It means a lot to know people are interested in the kinds of quirky but also thought-provoking stuff that I’m interested in - because these are honestly some of the best stories from the world of Filipino food that I think are a little under-represented.
As for me, the last couple months have been amazing. I spent some time in Europe - for those of you who follow me online, I’m sorry but not sorry for all the travel pictures! I joined this travel group, from G Adventures, called the “European Trail” - and, honestly the beauty of seeing so much else of our world, places I’ve never been to before, was incredibly inspiring and I came back from my trip just wanting to talk a little more about that because it’s something I know I’ve always wanted to do. The travel part is something that I know a lot of people feel is a very big part of them. As someone who grew up in the Philippines, not really expecting to be able to do all this, it’s really just something that gets to you in a very personal way.
When I was a kid, I remember my mom chatting away with my dad on MSN messenger. This was in the dial up days. She was a pro at this, I could never type as fast as her. We had this large computer that needed its own electric fan, squeezed in beside these tall filing cabinets and my grandma’s old desk. All of this was crammed into this house, that was really one of the first concrete structures in the neighbourhood. Kind of funny because that area now is quickly gentrifying, like a lot of major cities in the world.
02:40 A story about avocados
My mom and my sisters and I lived with my aunt and my grandma. My grandma loved to eat this dessert - ripe avocados mashed with milk and sugar. I know it’s a little weird to think of avocados as a dessert, but Filipinos totally consider it as such and I’m pretty sure other cultures do too. I remember eating bowls of this stuff. Like, I couldn’t get enough of these chunky, sweet, milky avocados. Somehow, they were always perfectly ripe, never like the ones I end up having in Canada. With my bowl of avocados, I’d curl up on this faded beige couch, eating them by the spoonful, waiting for my mom to finish on the computer so I could call my best friend and talk about Harry Potter.
Anyway, my folks always chatted after dinner. That would early morning in Vancouver, where my dad was at the time, working to get our Canadian visa and immigration papers going. As they talked, my mom, in particular, had this way of just finding the bright side to whatever came along.
There was this one summer that I guess stuck with me. It was the summer of 12th grade, or 4th year of high school in the Philippines. I honestly didn’t know if I was going to graduate because of something that happened then. And so one night, I was sitting in the living room eating this bowl of avocados - the only thing that made me feel better - and I remember my mom saying, “well, once you get to Canada - and you get your Canadian passport - you could travel to Europe! Oh, you know those trains? I’d like to ride those one day. And go to Paris, and Rome, and Venice…”
So believe me when I say this trip meant a lot - for a number of reasons. Not only did I get to visit Paris, Rome and Venice, but also the beautiful, gorgeous alps in Switzerland, where I went paragliding down the slopes of a mountain overlooking this crystal blue, clear lake. I walked through the medieval city of Florence, in Italy, where I tasted this olive oil that I still dream about. I went to Budapest and Prague, two cities along the Danube river that have so much history behind them. To Vienna, Krakow, and Berlin - places that surprised me at every turn, and along the cobblestone streets of Bruges in Belgium. And Amsterdam - oh my god, I loved Amsterdam. And I got to visit platform 9 3/4 in London, so that ticks off more than a few things on my bucket list.
Life has a way of turning things around, and the point of me telling you all this is because today we’re talking to someone who made a film all about people finding, learning and sharing their truths. The kinds of truths that I was looking for on my trip, and the kinds of truths that people really spend a big chunk of their lives still doing. And because you’re listening to a food culture podcast - are of course, basically about food.
Our guest for this episode is Alexandra Cuerdo, a California-raised and now New York-based filmmaker, who directed a documentary called “Ulam: Main Dish”. I am so excited that it’s finally getting ready to screen here in Toronto, this November, for the Reel Asian film festival - they’ve had sold out shows in San Francisco, New York, Chicago and more and we finally get to see it! I can’t wait.
Visit ulamthemovie.com to check out the full list of cities where you can catch Ulam this fall.
Let’s get to it.
INTERVIEW
06:45 About Allie
AC: I’m Alexandra Cuerdo, also known as Allie Cuerdo. I’m the director and filmmaker behind “Ulam: Main Dish”, which is a labour of love and a feature documentary on Filipino food crossing over to the mainstream, in both L.A. and New York. And that’s been going on now for the last three years.
I grew up in southern California. My parents are from the Philippines, they were protesters during the Marcos era. My mom specifically, so she kinda had to leave, at a certain point - which makes sense, as a lot of people did. So they came to the States. They both met at UP (the University of the Philippines). They were both the same batch. My dad was a DJ, and my mom was an actor. So you can tell, that’s where my love of film and music kinda came together. So they met in the Philippines, came to the States, and then had me, in southern California. I went to UCLA (the University of California - Los Angeles) for film school, and that’s kind of where it all started. But initially, I wanted to be a journalist. So that’s also where my love of documentaries came in.
You know, I never thought I was going to be making a food documentary. For a really long time, I hadn’t connected to my Filipino roots. I grew up very Fil-Am, so I would go back to the Philippines to visit lola, all the family. But I grew up, you know, speaking okay Tagalog. I understand but I don’t speak. It’s the Fil-Am conundrum.
NA: It’s a very common thing to happen, absolutely.
AC: Exactly. And so, it was a long process for me, sort of, figuring out what it means to be Filipino. Growing up in mostly white, Catholic schools. You don’t see yourself anywhere. And I grew up not having any Filipino restaurants to go to. We would always have church socials. My parents ran the Filipino food booth, which was really the asian food booth, for 10 years, but it became the Filipino food booth. So it was asian food, but it was pancit, you know what I mean?
So that was my experience of Filipino food. Very [much like] home, community, in that sense. But it was never like, oh, let’s go on a special occasion to this Filipino restaurant - which is more what I’m seeing today. Which is what led me, actually, to want to document this amazing movement that’s been happening, in both my hometown of L.A. and New York, which is becoming my new home.
NA: As I was watching the trailer for Ulam, you really walk away with the sense that the people you speak with…it’s a marker of their identity. These are the restaurants they run, the kitchens they work in, the food they produce. It’s very much an extension of trying to…I don’t know if define is the right word, but really just explore it, and see what that means for them. So I was wondering if you could share - how did you pose that particular question to people? When you wanted to interview them, how did you ask, “how would you define Filipino food?” or “how does this relate to you?”
10:30 A longing for home
AC: It’s an interesting question, because it’s hard for people to pinpoint, you know. Where did it all start, right? That’s always the question. Where did you start finding your love for cooking, where did you start finding your love for Filipino food? Or being a business person? Because restaurants are a business. I think the interesting thing that everyone came back to was this idea of memory. What do you remember growing up? A lot of these chefs came up through French training, or cooking in Italian restaurants, cooking great food, but it wasn’t Filipino food. And something that I remember Charles Olalia said, and I’m gonna paraphrase it now, he was saying: you know, I’d talk to these chefs and [they’d] say, this is what I remember from my summers in France, or this is what I remember from my grandmother growing up in Italy. And [Charles] would make that food, and he was excellent at it. But he never lived those summers in France. He lived summers in the Philippines. So that kind of memory, that longing for what I guess we consider home - is really what drove a lot of people, and what I think continues to inspire people, to open these restaurants in a climate that is very unforgiving.
The New York and L.A. restaurant scene is very difficult. As you know, a lot of Filipino restaurants open and close within six months. That’s been this sort of terrible thing that we’ve seen over and over and over again. But these are the ones that are making it.
So long story short - memory. [I asked about] memory, what is home? And that question is different for each person.
NA: It plays into your identity, really.
AC: Exactly. It’s part of who you are.
NA: What’s interesting as well, with different people I’ve spoken to, is that it really does mean something different, slightly, for each person. But the really cool thing about it, and the lovely thing about documenting how this plays out for different people, is that it really shows their character, and their individuality because they just like…I don’t know, people are just able to put their unique stamp on it.
13:00 The question of authenticity
AC: Yeah, it’s brave, you know. Because you kind of get it from all sides right. You get [the question of] is this authentic? Is this traditional? And then the idea is, well what is authentic? What is traditional, in this new space? Can we push Filipino food forward, and still be authentic to our core values and our core beliefs? That’s something, again to paraphrase, something that Chase Valencia from LASA said. It’s what’s authentic to you, and your experiences and memories, your influences? That’s gonna be something different for each person. And that’s good. That’s great, actually. We want that diversity.
I feel like I’ve heard this from people who don’t understand a lot about Filipino food, and they ask, what is Filipino food? Is there one Filipino food? And I think at the end of the day, there isn’t one Filipino food. That’s a wonderful thing, to have that diversity, to have that breadth. There should be many kinds of Filipino restaurants, and we should eat at all of them.
NA: It’s those stories that you tell. What’s really great about having this variety now of different restaurants, pop-up venues, dinners that people do, is that it’s a way you can deliver that experience, in a new way.
14:25 Food as the gateway to culture
AC: I agree. I think it’s a little bittersweet in some way, right. There are a lot of articles written now about how Filipino food is this hot new trend, which people are obviously and rightfully upset about. Because this food has existed for us since the day we were born. It’s not a trend that can come and go. It’s who we are. And so to phrase it as such - to phrase it as a fad is, you know, pretty ridiculous. I think the thing is…that’s the negative side [of the idea]. The positive side is that now, people are interested. It is a gateway. The restaurants that are here now, are opening the doors for so many people who have never had Filipino food. That’s the exciting part. And that’s what I choose to focus on. At the end of the day, like, that’s just somebody being excited. That’s my personal interpretation of it. And I think that the more light we can shine on Filipino restaurateurs, and chefs and people that are interested in cooking the food and really learning.
15:50 Social dynamics around shared meals
NA: So I’ve been reading this book called “Eating Culture: An Anthropological Guide to Food” from the University of Toronto press. It’s really more a college textbook than casual reading, but if you’re anything like me, it’s still a great read. I was definitely reading this chapter about gastropolitics while I was on a train to Vienna - which, you know, I just found really funny.
In the book, the author talks about the shared patterns of meals, about the social dynamics that are at play when you sit down to eat with people, about the shared origins of everyone across the world cooks and prepares food a little differently, about how things like gender or economic and social status affect how cuisines, as a whole, develop. Amazing stuff, that really weaves together a lot of these concepts arout food and culture that I’ve been thinking about lately. About how we live with it, how it ties us together. It helped give a lot of context for me, for me especially - that there’s legitimacy to these perspectives about food, beyond the stuff that sustains us, beyond stuff that’s trendy, beyond stuff that only people in North America talk about. So I asked Allie about an experience she’s had, that sort of aligned with this idea.
17:15 "Amboy"
AC: One night that I think was particularly awesome was we had a pop-up dinner for Alvin’s Filipino concept, Amboy.
NA: That’s Alvin Cailan, who started off with Eggslut in California…
AC: …which I think is a great name, because that’s what we’re seen as - Filipino Americans. Hey. amboy! You know, that’s the way. And so we had a pop-up dinner and we invited all these people, friends mostly. The funny thing is, we thought it was just gonna be like four tables, maybe. We [ended up] having to book the entirety of Chef’s Counter. The whole restaurant was packed of people who’ve never had Filipino food before. Eating chicken inasal, mung beans, just like getting into it.
It was so cool because it was majority non-Filipinos experiencing it for the first time, and the people making the food were majority Filipinos, and so it was this really amazing sharing that was happening, and learning that was happening. And it was surreal. We were looking around like, we’re serving Filipino food in SoHo. This is amazing. This is so fantastic. Other people that are [also] doing amazing things, like the Filipino Food Movement, serving Filipino food at the James Beard House. Things like this can’t be taken lightly. They’re huge accomplishments, and it took years to get to this point.
19:00 A need to keep building
AC: So I feel like whether it’s my documentary, or the Filipino Food Movement [events], I think that the bottomline is that we all need to support each other, and we all need to bring each other up, because that’s the only way we will succeed, is if keep co-signing each other, and keep building the community.
NA: The reality is that crab mentality is definitely still a thing. Filipino people have tons of food-related sayings. One of the most popular ones is crab mentality. Basically, it describes the behaviour of live crabs in a basket, where crabs try to claw their way to the top, even if it means pushing other crabs down to the bottom, so they can get ahead. And, for better or worse, this has come to signify a large aspect of Filipino culture. And I mean, you can attribute it to this very hardscrabble, sort of fight-for-your-own life kind of world. Like in a lot of places. But, and this is something every person can act upon - changing that mindset you have to develop, if you live in someplace like the Philippines. But I like to believe that it’s something that can change, within a generation.
20:15 "Will Filipinos go to Filipino restaurants?"
AC: Ulam to me, you know that’s what it was really about. It’s figuring out, is there a community? Will we support each other? Some of those are questions still up in the air. Will Filipinos go to Filipino restaurants?
NA: It’s a matter of…I guess, almost coming to terms with it ourselves. Because it’s not gonna get to where it should be, or where we think Filipino food on the map of the world stage should be. Until Filipino communities as a whole, across the world, find a way to like, own it, and not be shy or “hiya” about it. Which also kinda leads into historical [reasons], all these bigger topics around colonialism and all that. But at the end of the day, it is about a personal story, and that’s the thing that really resonates with people. I’m so glad that you’re able to do that through the documentary.
21:15 The power of personal experience
AC: And we’re all learning, right. That’s the thing. I think, no one’s an expert, I certainly don’t consider myself an expert. I’m but a student in this situation. The reason why I wanted to do a documentary was because I wanted to ask people to tell their stories. I wanted it to be direct, to camera. This is what I live, this is what I experience, this is what I’m experiencing now. It’s really hard in this day and age to figure out what is true. There’s a lot of, I don’t know how to say this, ‘spin’ happening, mis-speaks happening. I think something that’s really hard to refute is personal experience, and I think it’s really powerful.
Something I didn’t want in the documentary from the beginning, is [that] I didn’t want a narrator, and I didn’t want anyone other than the chefs really talking about the food. Because I don’t think it’s necessary, personally. I think that the food stands out on its own, I think the chef’s words stand on their own.
NA: I like how you described that, where everything’s kind of just like melds together. Because it’s true. It’s a matter of the work of so many people and organizations kinda building upon each other. It’s this whole, kind of like, ecosystem.
AC: Exactly.
23:05 Letting people tell their stories
AC: That was always the goal, to let people tell their stories, to give them a platform upon which to let people be honest, and just say hey, this is what I went through. It’s not always easy, a lot of times it’s not. The thing that’s interesting is, when I first started I thought the documentary would be more about the Filipino food. In the end, it became about Filipino food and the community and the business of being a chef, you know, of having a restaurant. It’s tough, and all those things are wrapped up with each other. It helps explain I think, why there are so few Filipino restaurants.
NA: You gotta have that ballsiness to do it.
AC: Yeah, and it takes time. It takes passion, and a lot of sweat and tears. It’s like every restaurant I think that exists is like it’s own miracle.
NA: I like Alvin’s quote, where he was like, if I tried to explain to my mom like how much work exactly is going into this…that’s the thing with immigrant parents, I guess, is that they leave their homeland for the idea of this big, bright future, and wanting to provide more for their family. Obviously, that’s a very good driver for them, but when it comes to [the question of] what’s worth it, when you branch out on your own, or do your own thing, decide to go down this path that hasn’t been crossed before…
25:00 Supporting a new, creative generation
AC: It’s tough, you know. I think for me, I felt that listening to what all these chefs went through, made me feel, in a parallel industry, the film industry…it’s also not a mainstream thing to do. And it’s not a money thing to do. So it felt inspiring, honestly, to me, as a filmmaker. I’m not a chef, I cook at home but it’s nothing like what these guys do. It was so inspiring because it was like wow, not just one of us made it. All these people made it. How incredible is that. Like I wanted to just shout that to the world, because I was so excited. And I was like, man. If I think to myself, that night before I went to prom, where did I go? I barely even remember. Probably like the Cheesecake Factory, you know. Something you do when you’re in the suburbs. So I’m like, if I could have gone to LASA, you know. So I’m excited because there’s a whole new generation of people that are gonna be able to experience these amazing places, these miracles, these gifts. So you know, I can’t stop talking about how amazing everyone is, I’m like their biggest fan. Because I wanted these restaurants growing up.
26:25 "Food is a personal subject"
NA: It totally comes down to like…it’s very personal. Food is a very personal subject. It can be political, it can be a community connector, which it is. But totally, at the end of the day, like it matters to you. And if it makes enough of an impact on you, after visiting one of these restaurants, and being able to experience everything as a whole, then you always walk away with the stories more, you know, rather than [just] the actual food. It’s great, but at the end of the day, that’s what sticks with you more. Remembering the story, and what went on behind it.
27:05 An introduction to who we are
AC: I’ve filmed the documentary [now]…and when you’re watching the movie, it’s not like you can have the food. It’s a movie where you definitely get hungry after watching it. I think the big thing is that I just want to drive people to try these places. Because at the end, it’s an introduction, right. Filipino food is an introduction to Filipino people, to our culture, and family. To Filipinos as successful, bright individuals, which we are. It’s just a way to give people a handle, I guess, on who we are as a people.
And I think that’s the reason why I chose food, because I think it really is the great crossover. It’s the thing that everyone can understand. It’s sort of beyond language.
WRAP-UP
Thank you, thank you to Allie Cuerdo for this interview, that we did in New York City earlier this year. Please check out ulamthemovie.com for dates to November 2018 screenings in places like Vancouver, Denver, the Napa Valley, San Francisco, Philadelphia and in my home base, Toronto, as part of the Reel Asian International Film Festival. Trust me, you’re gonna want to see this if you can!
Our opening theme is by David Szestay, music is by Eric and Magil, Komiku and Blue Dot Sessions. Visit exploringfilipinokitchens.com to check out past episodes, and to the folks who’ve left reviews on Apple podcasts - thank you so much, I’m definitely back for season 2! Follow “Exploring Filipino Kitchens” on Facebook and Instagram and learn about some other really cool Filipino podcasts - there’s a number of us out there and you all should listen.
Until next, maraming salamat - thank you, for listening.