TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

San Marcelino Street cor. Ayala Blvd., Ermita, Manila 1000

College of Liberal Arts
Department of Hospitality Management
Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management

KainCon Conference
“Shaping the future of Philippine Culinary Heritage and Gastronomy”

Reaction Paper

Name: Bregildo, Renalyn Ann D.

Year and Section: BSHRM 3A
Date Submitted: 12/04/2023.

Our professor in the department gave us an opportunity to gain knowledge in terms of

the gastronomy industry last Wednesday. The event was entitled KAINCON," which
means Kain Conference, an academic research conference under the national
celebration of Filipino food month that brings together Filipino farmers, culinary
historians, chefs, and gastronomic experts from the local food industry. In celebration of
the month of Filipino food. This event is in partnership with the Jose Rizal University,
and just to share an insight about the event, it was magical and full of knowledge
because of the respectful and great speakers. Starting and speaking with the first
speaker, who is from Zamboanga City, undersecretary of the Department of Tourism,
and many more achievements and experiences mentioned in the event. She is Myra
Paz V. Abubakar. She presents the Philippine Halal Cuisine, rediscovering the flavors of
Mindanao's culinary heritage. She introduces the meaning of "halal, an Arabic term that
means "lawful or permissible." I am familiar with Halal foods, which do not contain pork
and are generally permitted for Muslims. I’ve been seeing a lot of restaurants that offer
Muslim foods or are Muslim-friendly, and personally, I want to try their cuisine. As far as
I’ve known, the trending "Pastil" came from the Muslim cuisine, and it is such a tasty
and satisfying dish. I agree and am convinced that Halal food is not just for Muslims,
and their foods are clean, hygienic, without any foreign processes, healthy for our
bodies, and they give a glimpse to the tradition, culture, and heritage of our brothers
and sisters. I’ve learned a lot about the video she presented at the event. It is more
about presenting the Muslim culinary heritage in the hotels.

Introducing the second speaker, Mr. Raymond Macapagal, a professor at the Center for
International Studies, University of the Philippines. He started with the story about the
globalization of Filipino food. He introduces how some of our Filipino foods travel to their
countries and are eaten the way we eat them here in the Philippines. Then the next
concept is Filipino food culture, which is about the cultural practices and everything from
how it is cultivated to how it is cooked, eaten, and shared. The Filipino diaspora; familiar
fusion dishes; flexible recipes; (trans) portable ingredients; features on popular food
shows; trendy ingredients: ube; awards on accolades for Filipinos; and beyond food:
camaderie and community in meals. In 1521, there was already globalization of Filipino
food. "Tuba" is also mentioned in the presentation, where people drink it in any place
without having a specific place; it can be drunk anywhere and anytime. In The Filipino
Global Diaspora, he explains that what we eat at home is also what we eat wherever we
go or travel, no matter what happens. Filipino food is shared with foreign family,
neighbors, colleagues, and even wards. Filipino food spaces were established and
flourished. Filipino food pride developed in succeeding generations. The Manila-
Acapulco Galleon Trade (1565–1815) was where different food cultures started to mix
and were introduced. The Galleon trade brought Asian goods to Europe through Mexico
and introduced many of the fruits, vegetables, and dishes we know today. Our fruits like
pineapple, guava, sugar apple, and many more are not native to the Philippines. Iberian
and Latin American origins of many food plants and dishes, and the Maritime Silk Route
This is the pre-colonial history of China's trade with other Southeast Asian countries.

The global in the local: indigenous dishes "Menudo" is one of the pictures; here in the
Philippines, we use pork and liver, while Mexican menudo uses the internal organs of
pork, cows, or some other meat with corn. That is why it is very interesting—it has the
same name, but the process and ingredients used are different. The Indigenization of
Foreign Food (Fernandez 1994). The processes of borrowing names and recipes,
substitution of the exotic with the local, adapting flavor to local tastes, and personalizing
through "sawsawan" Filipino food seems less exotic and more familiar to foreigners.
The fact that the food is so much more nutritious makes it easier to digest for many
foreigners. The speaker uses and explains the differences between Afritada, Kaldereta,
Menudo, and Mechado. There are differences and perspectives from other countries in
Philippine cuisine. Features on Popular Shows Food documentaries or travel vlogs are
the trend today. It started with looking at Filipino cuisine as exotic because we eat
"balut," which is disgusting to other people, especially foreigners. But the time has
evolved, and people have accepted this kind of food. Cooking competitions locally and
internationally, Filipino life abroad, and Pinoy-baiting online content

I really learned a lot about KAINCON." I get more interested in food. I want to explore
and gain more experiences about foods not just in the Philippines but around the world.
Additionally, I get more challenged, which makes me think critically about our research.
Specially our category is product development, and it takes too much time, effort, and
financial resources to conduct this research. Overall, I gained more knowledge and
inspiration about my passion and, at the same time, about my academics. I am grateful
that our professor introduced this conference because the speakers are truly
knowledgeable and a model for us students.