From the article in Saveur:
Los Angeles County is home to the greatest population of Filipinos outside the Philippines, but their cuisine still struggles to win over the mainstreaming dining public. Now, a growing community of ambitious young cooks is starting to change Angelenos’ minds about adobo and kare-kare
Read the whole article here.
I could never figure out why Filipino food is not that popular . If you have ever been around the families , it’s all about the food . The only people ever to serve me lunch everyday while working on their house . Some really amazing food . Friends would drop by and bring food also . I also live next door to a Filipino family .The smells that waft off their grill and drift into my yard are mouth watering . I do love their food . Thanks Ipse for the article .
You can’t understand why it is not popular?
Because it is ugly, it has a great personality and all.
“Hey I know this awesome girl, she has a wonderful personality and…”
“So she’s not hot huh?”
That’s Filipino food. She is not the prom queen
Pretty much. When I go to red ribbon only the pastries look enticing.
Looks like you have just had the restaurant garbage . Home cooked is so much better .
Wrong.
It’s not that Filipino food is ugly per se it’s that no one (yet) has tried to make it Instagram-worthy.
Few, if any, cuisines are inherently pretty to look at. You think a lobe of foie gras is pretty? Untweezered it’s essentially a close cousin of cow dung, looks-wise. And natto? Pretty much like regurgitated vomit. Or guacamole? Refried beans? The former is like something out of Ghostbusters and the latter pretty much a replica of that cow dung we were just talking about, except chewed up and spit out.
Every food item can be made to look nice, it’s just a matter of whether someone will have the gumption and time to do it.
Perhaps now is that time for Filipino food.
there’s something in the opening statement that makes me itch - an implication that places offering authentic filipino cuisine should be started to appeal to mainstream america - as if it needs acceptance. but it doesn’t work that way. by and large, when you see new places producing authentic versions of asian ethnic cuisine, it’s typically driven by an expectation of appealing to an ethnic demographic for the bulk of their business. the majority of mainstream america seldom catches on.
it’s my take that there hasn’t been many places offering authentic filipino cuisine in the past since there’s relatively little demand for it from the filipino demographic - mainly because nobody makes filipino food better than filipino grandmothers who love to cook for their clans. the only ‘ethnic’ places that get any traction with filipinos are fast food,places like jolibee.
Good points. And personally, I don’t think it is ugly. Filipino food was my vote in the “What would you like to see?” thread.
i have heard this about nearly every if not all cuisines on the planet.
Not sushi
having said that, i acknowledge the existence of: http://j-goods.us/ a japanese food mag that’s published not in japanese but in chinese, and this reflects how japanese places are catering to the ethnic chinese demographic. the best japanese food outside japan is still found in LA, but the scene has begun to dissapate as a result of the auto manufacturers nissan (2006) honda (2013) toyota (moving to plano in 2017) abandoning the south bay. there’s maybe 60k ethinic japanese remaining in LA vs. 800k ethinic chinese - and a lot of the most recent influx having serious disposable income. so these places ARE still targeting an ethnic demographic but not necessarily the native one. and i expect the number of good japanese places in the SGV to continue to grow, but they may become less authentic as they elect to cater to that chinese and in some cases korean demographic.
So true. The only sushi I’ve had in a home (as recently as last week) was a variation of tamago, spam and carrot w/store bought teriyaki sauce. I love it… but just sayin’.
well played. hadn’t thought of that one.
I’ll give you that one . Kind of like pocket tens .
Sushi - a cuisine? A subset IMHO.