Welcome to Exploring Filipino Kitchens. I'm your host, Natasha Alli.
It's hard to believe I started the podcast eight years ago. And several jobs have passed since, you know, friendships and relationships have been built and explored, and I've gone on all kinds of adventures, including a really epic one across the Philippines, that I started and, uh, put on hold for now.
While life in Toronto continues, Exploring Filipino Kitchens has always been a very personal creative pursuit that has become really a significant part of my life. And I'm always gonna be interested in discovering what exactly Filipino people eat across the world and across the country's vast islands.
In September 2022, I got to the Philippines with a ticket back to Toronto, returning in exactly one year. And I was determined then to travel as far as I could, you know, to visit places that I had dreamed of and saw online and really to eat as many foods as possible. Meet, to me, people who I really believed had a lot to teach me, whether that was through cooking in the kitchen directly, or them teaching me something about the foods that they grew and harvested. All of this was like incredibly exciting and something that I had really been dreaming of for like a long time. By April, I went to Lake Sebu, South Cotabato through an invite from a friend in Toronto and we spent a week at the School of Living Traditions Homestay, which is run by members of the T’boli indigenous community there.
We trekked to waterfalls and visited the dreamweavers, who are textile artisans who specialized in weaving, and they made these items that held honestly this like intense power from within, it felt. Later that week we met the musicians and artists of Gonoyebong, which is an ensemble of musicians and artists who are all from the T’boli community.
We had dinner at a home in the mountains and we celebrated our visit with a little feast. We had some native chicken cooked in bamboo, made with lemongrass and some spices, we had grilled tilapia, some steamed rice and boiled cassava. And after the dinner, my friend and I watched and listened to the artists of Gonoyebong perform traditional music and dance.
But perhaps the biggest lesson really that I learned from spending a year traveling across the Philippines was realizing that, I mean, not only would I love and care a lot more deeply about the country and its food culture, I totally expected that. I guess that like with life in general, there's this like innate curiosity about the world we live in that could actually get you places.
And I don't know, I just, I met so many amazing people who simply inspired me by doing what it is that they did. I met tour guides who brought their absolute best every time, seeming to never run out of patience or like a desire to show people what made the places where they live really special. I met cooks and eatery owners and people in restaurants who made fantastic meals from the foods that they had access to.
And that includes, you know, street vendors and roadside eateries across the country. So many of my favorite meals came from these roadside places. Honestly the best. I met a handful of farmers and their advocates who talked about some of the challenges they faced, who kind of had the odds stacked against them, it felt like.
And I met even teachers and educators. I met people in local government. I met content creators and YouTubers, and people who owned these Airbnbs and hostels and local inns. Even the countless transport drivers, whether that was in jeepneys, buses or motorbikes, to ask them for directions. And honestly, they saved me from getting lost or stranded probably at least once in every city or town I visited, because of course not everything is online.
And I guess I kind of feel like as the time passes, it really just gives me a different perspective on things. Travel really is, without trying to sound super cheesy, the thing that saved me. It’s a luxury, of course, not to me because of the places I stay, they’re not luxurious by any stretch, but sometimes, you know, if I've got a little bit of extra cash, I'll splurge for it.
But I think it's a luxury because having the time and the resources and the ability to wander and explore are experiences that are not everybody gets to enjoy. And I know that I'm lucky to have experienced that. I'm determined to share what I've learned about traveling and eating in the Philippines with people who understand that food is really more than just a cultural touchstone for us.
It's something that our lives literally revolve around. It's what we need to sustain us physically and socially and spiritually, and it's how we show our love for others. And honestly, too, sometimes it's what breaks families apart when you realize that there's the breadwinner who has to put food on the table. And if the only way to do that is to leave for someplace far away, that is often really what happens. And realizing that I think is really one of those things that that gets to you.
So with this change of seasons, I guess what I'd really love is a chance to ask questions from people whose stories and perspectives I think could really change you too. Hearing from other people is really the thing that sticks to me. And at the very least, I hope they're gonna shape and build your knowledge of the history and the heritage and traditions and the diversity of all these regional cuisines across the Philippines.
Because our food culture is just so vast. So incredibly delicious. They reflect the lands and the waters and the hands that turn agriculture into food that, you know, harvest the riches of the seas and the rivers that connect communities and our foodways are reflective of the people who live across the country across many islands in places that are still really always at risk of great change in upheaval.
The Philippines is so full of these amazing storytellers who welcome actual strangers to their tables, without hesitation, to eat with them. I've experienced that firsthand, and I know anyone who's spent any time in the country can attest to the fact that that's true. And I don't know. It's just, I guess another truth that that's kind of been hard adjusting to for me is this other reality I live in, which is a city where it feels like, I don't know, half the year gets dark by 4:00 PM and overwhelmed is just the natural state of feeling for me. But even then, I guess I still feel really deeply about the richness of those travel experiences that I had, and I really appreciated most the perspectives and the humility checks that it's brought me.
And I've grown to understand why I feel like I need to achieve so much while I'm still here. Not comprehensively, but I get it. And I kind of understand how ambition really drives so many people like me. So what I wanna do is get back to what really matters. I wanna talk about stories about food and people and the ability for us to celebrate that, to find commonality in it. It means something to us, you know, to find refuge and to find comfort in them and the people who make them, especially for the nourishment that it gives to your body and your soul. And to realize that despite how easy it is to kind of live independently today in the modern world, having that community and that family that you feel a part of is still so important, so powerful.
And I say this knowing full well that I am one of those people who kind of tends to forget all of this. But stories of food and the traditions that are preserved through it have been going on for centuries, and it's continued because of people who wanna share this experience around food with other people when they eat.
So in the interviews for this season, I wanna ask things like, where do you call home? Because for me, that's one thing that I still often struggle with. I don't know exactly where home is. Is it in Toronto? Is it in the Philippines? How much of it is half and half? And I wanna ask questions like, what's your favorite memory or experience of eating Filipino food, and why does it mean a lot to you?
I wanna ask, what's the most interesting thing you've learned or the most interesting thing that you wanna learn about food across the Philippines and the diaspora? And I wanna find out what you're excited to cook or eat next. Good things to share because I'm always, always curious about things that I don't know and tastes I haven't tried in foods I haven't sampled yet.
So I'm really looking forward to starting this journey again with you. If you've listened to the episodes before, thank you and welcome back, and I am looking forward to Exploring Filipino Kitchens more in the coming year.
Exploring Filipino Kitchens is produced and hosted by me, Nastasha Alli. Segment. Music for this episode is by Wave Master, and of course, the amazing music you heard at the start of the program was by Gonoyebong, a collective of musicians based in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato You can follow the show on Instagram @exploringfilipinokitchens, or visit the website exploringfilipinokitchens.com. Thanks so much and see you soon.