TACLOBAN CITY – In celebrating the Filipino Food Month, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in this region in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT) hosted a food exhibit featuring traditional and local dishes from various parts of the region.
The food exhibit was part of the Kadiwa ng Pangulo participated by 15 exhibitors from the provinces of Northern Samar, Samar, Leyte, Biliran, Southern Leyte, and from this city.
As part of the Filipino Food Month, local delicacies such as suman, binagol, sagmani, sarungsong, keseo, puto, and kutsinta, among others, were displayed and sold in the exhibit.
A cooking demonstration showcasing how the process of making suman of Leyte, mango maja ala cheesecake of Biliran, sarungsong of Eastern Samar, bagoong alamang, kinagang, and pinangat of Northern Samar.
DA-8 Regional Executive Director Andrew Rodolfo Orais said that they have planned this collaboration with the DOT since last year.
“(Tourism Regional) Director Karen approached me and said that we should partner to help increase the income of our farmers, which led us to combine forces in this celebration,” he said.
“This is a good opportunity because we have been looking for partners to expand our reach and value of agriculture,” Orais added.
For her part, Tiopes encouraged everyone to patronize Filipino cuisine, saying today’s generation is no longer familiar with them anymore.
She emphasized the importance of documenting heirloom dishes in the region for the preservation of its process and to ensure that this will live on and the future generation will have a chance to taste the food that the ancestors of Eastern Visayan people had created and enjoyed.
“This is not the end of the partnership. We will continue to partner with the DA, especially in the agri-tourism sector”, Tiopes said.
Aside from local and traditional dishes, the food exhibit also sells root crops, fresh vegetables, fruits, black rice, and other products of local farmers at affordable prices.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
