Oct. 08--People hungry for Filipino food and history should circle Oct. 10 on their calendars. The Culinary Historians of Chicago will sponsor a talk and tasting on Saturday morning while, a few hours later, Filipino Kitchen will host a pop-up dinner featuring chef Rob Menor of Papa Urb's Grill in Stockton, Calif.
October is Filipino American Heritage Month, says Sarahlynn Pablo, co-founder of Filipino Kitchen, which is both a blog and host of various pop-up events to promote awareness of Filipino food. What does she hope these two events will do?
"I guess I keep hearing Filipino food is the original fusion food, a fusion of Spanish, Malay and Chinese -- which is true -- but there is also its own native, indigenous cuisine,'' she replied. "There's more than just these outside influences, we have our own culture and cuisine."
"Philippine Cuisine: A Plateful of History" is the title of the historians' session, taking place from 10 a.m. to noon at Kendall College, 900 N. North Branch St. A selection of rice dishes will be presented that illustrate the various cultures that have influenced Filipino cuisine. Speaking at the event will be Pablo and Natalia Roxas, also a co-founder of Filipino Kitchen; Caitlin Preminger, project manager for Filipino Kitchen, and Menor.
Cost of the lecture program is $5, $3 for students and no charge for CHC members and Kendall students and faculty. To reserve, email your reservation to: Culinary.Historians@gmail.com
The Saturday pop-up dinner will explore the culinary traditions of Ilocos region in the Philippines. The five-course dinner is being called Atang, which, according to Filipino Kitchen, is the Ilocano word for a "food offering to the spirit world."
Among the dishes to be served are kilawin baka, a beef carpaccio cured in citrus; pinakbet, vegetables sauteed in bagoong, a fermented shrimp paste; pinapaitan, a beef offal dish; dinengdeng, a vegetable stew, and tupig, sweet sticky rice cooked in banana leaves.
The dinner will take place at Locallective, 1257 N. Milwaukee Ave., beginning at 6 p.m. Tickets are $65 a person, $85 with alcohol pairings. To order, click here. A portion of dinner proceeds will benefit the Little Manila Foundation in Stockton, Calif., which works to preserve the Little Manila historic site in that city and does outreach in the Filipino-American community.
