Heirloom dishes will take centerstage in the three-day “Buwan ng Kalutong Pinoy” culminating activities at Abreeza Mall in Davao City, which runs through the weekend.
These heirloom dishes will be presented through cooking demonstrations by various local government units and organizations in Davao Region. On the opening day, the highlight was the B’laan dish presented by the local government unit (LGU) of Saranggani Balot Island for Davao Occidental and Piaparan A Manok, a Maranao dish, presented by the Institute of International Culinary and Hospitality Entrepreneurship (ICHEF).
On the second day, heirloom dishes to be featured are Kagan cuisine and paykot dish, which is unique in the municipality of Cateel, will be presented by the LGU Davao Oriental and the Mansaka tribe of Davao de Oro respectively; and a Kalagan dish to be presented by the Hagonoy Tourism Office of Davao del Sur.
On the third day, Chef Ed Tuazon will present dishes in an activity titled “Davao Cuisine Beyond Borders.”
“Heirloom dishes often tell us a lot about a place’s history, resources, and identity. The beauty of drawing tourists to our destinations with food is that we can empower our communities in becoming guardians of our cultural heritage. It also affords us to engage our agricultural communities – from farmers to fisher folks – in creating opportunities and livelihood, specially in our rural destinations,” said Tanya Rabat-Tan, regional director of the Department of Tourism 11 (DOT 11), in her opening message.
Tan said in the celebration of the “Buwan ng Kalutong Pilipino,” it is the goal of DOT to pursue its duty in ensuring the transmission of the knowledge of the unique cuisines for generations to come, and to continue to support industries, food tourism stakeholders, and most especially the agri-communities, who all play vital roles in the culinary tourism ecosystem.
DOT has partnered with the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) in celebrating local gastronomy with the “Buwan ng Kalutong Pilipino,” where it promotes and endeavors to preserve heirloom and homegrown dishes that the people have learned to love and appreciate through generations.
