Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Slow food and Kaimunan
By Marissa S. Te Eng Fo
THE founding father of the slow food movement was Carlo Petrini, which he started in Italy in 1986. The membership has long since spread out in different parts of the world from Paris, France to Nova Scotia, USA, Netherlands, Vancouver, Canada, Alberta, Singapore and Manila to name a few.
As documented in the slow food movement, Mr. Petrini one day just got tired of what the fast food was doing to the health and gastronomique traditions, that he decided to call on his friends who also shared his views. Fast food, he said, were destructive because it emphasized the beauty on the plate not its safety to health. So much so that the pleasures of the table are forgotten. He further urged everyone who joined his movement to protect preserve the world's heritage of agricultural biodiversity and gastronomique traditions, the health of the individual and taste not haste was what the pleasures of the table was all about.
On a recent trip to Manila, I went to the Manila Polo Club along McKinley Road in Forbes Park upon the invitation of Luigi Bernas and Ipat Luna (an environmental lawyer). There I got educated in the slow food movement. Luigi, who became interested in my work of bamboo cooking, believed it as a road leading to the preservation of gastronomique traditions, the very foundation of slow food.
And truly Pinoy! Truly Davao! In bamboo cooking, food is cooked in its natural flavors using Mt. Apo grown herbs and spices, no oil. The process is lengthy because of the ritual that follows, the gathering ritual is called the Kaimunan.
Amazing how we do things that we should be proud of. Bamboo cooking from the highlands of Davao to the rest of the world! Touche to DOT 11 regional director Sonia Garcia.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (October 3, 2006 issue)
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