EARLY this year, I had a sibling reunion who are scattered around the world. The occasion to get together was the presence of our eldest brother Erik who seldom got to visit his home country.
Now a retired civil engineer, he and his wife Lyn are relocating back come winter time in the U.S. To pass their time during the cold months in Baltimore, U.S.A, they planned to go around the Philippines savoring local culinary traditions. Talk about being slow food aficionados.
For Negros Occidental, the come on is chicken inasal. I assured them that not all inasal are made the same. Here in Bacólod, some are delicious, others are more delicious, and the rest is simply muy delicisoso.
But there are to slow food in the province than chicken inasal. And Metro Manila got to savor the local variety of Negrense cuisine during the three-day International Food Exposition (Ifex) Philippines 2018 held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.
Some of the local participants in the Ifex 2018 are my former colleagues in the Organic na Negros!, Producers and Retailers Association (Onopra) including Fresh Start Organics, Alter Trade Corporation, Organic Producers in the Island of Negros Multipurpose, and Jarvis Gourmet Foods.
Overall, participating Negrenses producers and local government units (LGUs) generated P18 million in sales. The figure is five times higher than last year’s sales of about P3 million with 12 participating micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Reports the provincial government of Negros Occidental, further showed that participants from the province raked in P110,000 and P2.34 million in direct sales and bookings. The remaining 15.6 million is accounted for the negotiated sales.
Among the buyers of Negrense products include those from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, United States, New Zealand, Australian, Qatar, Cyprus, Korea, and Singapore.
María Arleen “Joy” Ogan, former Onopra board member and a current executive assistant to the governor, told SunStar Bacolod said of the 26 local participants, four are exporters who showcased their products at the international pavilion.
Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr., for his part, said aside from bookings with buyers in Dubai, four Negrense exporters also facilitated transactions for dried fish products like herring, brown scad, sea bream, threadfin, shrimps, and seaweeds, among others, with various foreign investors.
The UNWTO Second Report on Gastronomy Tourism put it this way: “We can expect slow food tourism to shoot up in the coming years. By combining travel with these edible experiences, food tourism offers both locals and tourists alike an authentic ‘taste of place.’”
In a survey, the World Food Travel Association noted that travelers take photos of their food (think free advertising), for posting on social media. In addition, 81 percent believe that eating and drinking help them to understand the local culture.
Bon appetit! Guten appetit! Buon appetito! ¡Buen provecho!
(bqsanc@yahoo.com)