The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) showcased its rich cuisines at the Pakaradjaan Food Festival on July 26.
The Pakaradjaan food fest is among the highlights of the annual celebration of ARMM’s 29th anniversary. Each of the five provinces exhibited delicacies and cooking during the event.
The unique foods from each of the five ARMM province were critiqued by well-known food enthusiasts namely certified foodie and blogger Erwan Heusaff, celebrity chef Boy Logro, actor-restaurateur Diether Ocampo, Becoming Filipino blogger Kyle ‘Kulas’ Jennermann, Anak Mindanao Executive Director Djalia Turabin Hataman, and local chef Ivana Karla Valerie Sol.
The chieftains of the different ARMM villages were also present during the activity and led the presentation of the foods to the judges. There were three sets of food presentations: appetizer; side dish; and dessert.
The judges were surprised and amazed by the unique tastes of the delicacies from each province.
Blogger Heusaff said the food is so important because it could be the gateway to discover more about the culture.
He said he was happy that he was invited to the event to learn more about the region’s different peoples and their culture.
“It was good, everything was really surprising, most of the dishes. I wasn’t familiar (with these dishes) and these were really tasty and delicious and I’m glad I was able to taste these foods,” he stressed.
Chef Logro said the food festival helps promote Bangsamoro cuisine and culture to the rest of the country. “Masarap at malasa ang Moro foods. Common ang lasa ng anghang sa bawat province. Pang-international level ito at pwedeng pwede kong dadalhin sa show ko,” he added. Logro is known for his television cooking shows Idol sa Kusina and Chef Boy Logro: Kusina Master.
Celebrity guests laud traditional cuisines in ARMM
As the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) showcased its traditional Moro cuisines in a food festival, celebrity guests lauded the region’s unique food and delicacies noting they would promote ARMM in many ways they can.
The ARMM food fest puts the spotlight on culinary delights of the region’s five provinces as part of the 29th founding anniversary celebration.
Certified foodie and blogger Erwan Heusaff, celebrity chef Boy Logro, actor-restaurateur Diether Ocampo, BecomingFilipino blogger Kyle ‘Kulas’ Jennermann, and Anak Mindanao Executive Director Djalia Turabin Hataman were among the event’s judges. Chieftains and representatives of each village wore their traditional attire during the event.
Compared with the cuisines of other regions, which tend to be sweetened, the Moros’ cooking remains strongly ancestral utilizing a good deal of coconut milk and rich in ground spices. Typical ingredients include chili, turmeric, sambal, coriander, lemongrass and peanut butter. Because of Islamic laws, pork and alcohol are absent in the native cuisine of the Moros.
“It’s amazing, the culture and beauty that is here in the region, from the people to the colors to the music to the dance to the food; these are incredible,” Canadian blogger Jennermann said. “It is so much hard to promote the food here because you don’t even know how to describe how amazing it is, so everybody in the Philippines should see this and understand this,” he added.
Promoting the culinary delights in the ARMM through his blog, Heusaff said: “I do videos and I think I just want to focus on the food and culture here in ARMM and I will put it into video and hopefully people will get curious and actually realize that they can travel here and experience it for themselves.”
“Food here in ARMM is really good, everything was really surprising, actually most of the dishes I’ve tasted I wasn't familiar (but those were) really tasty and delicious and I’m glad I was able to taste the food here and looking forward to joining more (events),” he added.
The food festival marks the celebration of the region’s diverse flavors reflecting its culture and a celebration of cuisine and culinary talents of the Moro people.
Popular actor Ocampo noted that joining the food festival is a great opportunity to share the good news not only to Filipinos but also to the world.
“It’s about time to recognize (our own) – the culinary expertise in our country, something I’ve always been looking forward to. Now that I have the chance to have a great experience with them, I think we should definitely continue doing this in the next couple of years,” Ocampo said adding that experiencing the food in the region is a great surprise for him.
He also suggested that each village should share their recipes so they can share these delights in other parts of the country. (Bureau of Public Information-ARMM)
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