As if DTI doesn’t have more urgent things to do, it has embarked on a mission to produce a national standard in cooking adobo, sinigang, sisig and lechon. A press release announced DTI has formed a committee to tackle adobo first.
In a statement last Friday, the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS), an agency under the DTI, said a technical committee (TC 92) has been established to develop Philippine National Standards (PNS) on native dishes.
“Standardizing the basic cooking technique for Philippine adobo will help ordinary citizens, foodies, and food businesses determine and maintain the authentic Filipino adobo taste,” BPS director Neil Catajay said.
“Authentic Filipino adobo taste…” Who has the right to say a taste is authentic Filipino? The taste of adobo in Aling Nena’s carinderia may not be like Via Mare’s, but is the taste of her adobo less authentic?
According to BPS, benchmarking the cooking technique for Philippine adobo will help preserve the country’s cultural identity despite the variations made to it.”
I think the bureaucrats at the BPS have gone mad. They were probably given too much budget that they can’t use up before yearend.
Now Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the standards they are formulating will not be compulsory. Sounds like an obvious “palusot” after the plan received quite a bit of negative public reaction.
If it is not compulsory, why use the BPS as lead agency? BPS is an agency charged with implementing compulsory standards on various products like steel bars, Christmas tree lights, etc).
And if as Secretary Lopez claims their aim is to define what will be promoted internationally, the proper agency if at all, is the Department of Tourism which has a culinary tourism program.
The fact that they even thought of doing this is ridiculous. As Apa Ongpin pointed out in a Facebook comment, “adobo is NOT a product that you can standardize. It is a way of cooking that involves millions of possible variations.”
Here’s a thought from a Rappler article that support’s Apa’s view: “adobo isn’t a dish, per se; it’s actually a ‘way of cooking,’ according to resident ‘adobo Queen’ Nancy Reyes-Lumen, home cook, author, restaurateur, and Filipino food advocate.”
Philippine adobo is like the Philippine jeepney. The beauty is in the diversity. The cultural value is enriched by the variety. The artistry of the Filipino is it showcased in both the adobo and the jeepney, and trying to standardize it is a tragedy.
Look what happened to the colorful jeepneys when LTFRB started imposing rules on how they should be plainly painted for color coding. The so called modern jeepney is tall, ugly, and looks unstable. The old jeepneys tell a heartwarming story of grassroots success: “Katas ng Saudi” it announces.
It is horrible that there is now an effort to come up with a state-approved standard for local dishes.
Nothing should stop the chefs on DTI’s adobo technical committee from publishing their guidebook or cookbook to preserve cultural nuances in recipes. But this should be a private effort, not requiring the state to approve any standard.
The claim that standardization will help preserve cultural heritage is hogwash. Felipe Mendoza de Leon, who once headed the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, posted his reaction on Facebook:
“DTI DON’T YOU HAVE anything better to do? Standardization goes against the very grain of Philippine traditional cultures, where every person or community has the creative freedom to make its own version of a dish – resulting in great richness and variety. You are going to kill this communal creativity.
“Whose chef’s recipe will you base your standard on? There can be hundreds of recipes for every dish. There is no such thing as a generalized recipe, like there is no generalized human face. Every recipe is unique…”
Amy Besa, a classmate at UP Mass Comm and a successful restaurant entrepreneur with her husband in New York City, had this comment:
“… that will be the death of our cuisine. But don’t you worry, ‘experts’ telling Pinoys how to cook our traditional food will be like herding cats. People who think they transcend the organic and creative forces of how people eat will fail miserably and fade into oblivion.
“… it’s not like there are no Filipino food cookbooks available and the government and some ‘experts’ have to step in not just to teach, but to CODIFY our culinary heritage. This brings to mind all those cookbooks from Enriqueta David Perez, Maria Orosa, Nora Daza, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, etc. They will always be the best source material along with our families.
“The question is WHO owns our foodways? We all do. The best way to preserve our food is when families pass down their heritage recipes to the next generation. The operative word is SHARING recipes to show the depth and richness of our culinary heritage.
“To standardize and codify means to EXCLUDE infinite ways of reimagining our food. INCLUSION and EMBRACING regional differences should be the spirit in which we learn about our food.”
I love eating adobo and the best test is in the eating.
The shredded adobo at Via Mare is not bad, but not as good as the one in Gerry’s Grill. Still, the best adobo I have tasted was in a private house, using I guess, some heirloom recipe. That’s not standard adobo, thankfully.
The other good adobo on restaurant row is the lamb adobo of Kettle. It is so good I sometimes think it is worth the additional blockage in my arteries. But it is not made of traditional pork or chicken.
Also, very good is the adobong Batangas sa atsuete and the adobong baka sa bawang at XO46 bistro of fellow PhilStar columnist Andrew Masigan. Truly memorable.
My point simply is, matters pertaining to art – and that includes culinary art, should be left alone. The artist must have maximum freedom for creativity. Standardization is called for commodities like steel bars, milk, flour, that are used as raw materials and demand uniform high quality.
Respect the artist in the Filipino. Let a thousand adobo recipes bloom. Government has better things to do than messing with our adobo.
Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco