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‘Mama Sita’ heiresses hope to make PH cuisine big in Hong Kong

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Jan Yumul

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/06/06/20190606-mama-sita-1.jpg"/><figcaption>Taste Library curator Andy Lai (left) receives cookbooks donated by the Mama Sita Foundation, represented by Teresita &#x27;Mama Sita&#x27; Reyes&#x27;s granddaughter Cecile Pacheco-Morais (second from right), and Philippine Consul Robert Quintin (right) at PMQ, Central, Hong Kong on Wednesday.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- In a city widely known to be a melting pot, with Filipinos representing the largest foreign population of almost 200,000, it may come as a surprise that Hong Kong&#x27;s knowledge of Philippine cuisine has barely translated to established and reputable Filipino restaurants or merited mainstream conversations and features in a predominantly Chinese media.Even if Filipinos are thriving in Hong Kong&#x27;s food and beverage and entertainment industries, Filipino cuisine has struggled to make an impression on the local dining scene, unlike its Vietnamese and Thai counterparts.But a Philippine-based foundation, run by descendants of culinary pioneers, is hoping to change that. On Wednesday, a turnover ceremony of four Philippine cookbooks from the Mama Sita Foundation (MSF) was held at Taste Library in PMQ in Central, Hong Kong. The event was attended by around 30 people, wiyh a good mix of Filipino residents, including some members of the Philippine-Hong Kong tennis team, sponsored by the foundation. The donation was prompted by the discovery that the collection of the Taste Library did not include any cookbook about Filipino cuisine. The MSF wrote to the Taste Library, which warmly welcomed the donation. <div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/06/06/20190606-mama-sita-2.jpg"/><figcaption>The Filipino spread at the Taste Library during the turnover of the cookbooks.</figcaption></figure></div>In a phone interview with ABS-CBN News, Clara Reyes-Lapus, president of the Mama Sita Foundation, said she believes this has a lot to do also with the Filipinos&#x27; awareness. &quot;Hindi din kasalanan ng Hong Kong. Minsan tayo parang nahihiya ba?&quot; said Reyes-Lapus during a stopover on a flight to Honolulu where the MSF is participating in the Filipino Food Week Hawaii being organized there.The Mama Sita brand was founded by Reyes-Lapus&#x27; mother, Teresita &quot;Mama Sita&quot; Reyes, who pioneered Filipino sauces, condiments and spice mixes. She is also the daughter of the late Justice Alex and Engracia &quot;Aling Asiang&quot; Cruz-Reyes, founders of the 83-year-old Aristocrat Restaurant in the Philippines.&quot;We&#x27;ve been trying to penetrate Hong Kong. It was in 1985 when we first attended a food show there that I met a Filipino journalist who told me it was hard to find sauces from home, living there. Wala pang acceptance sa market (There was no acceptance in the market),&quot; recalled Reyes-Lapus.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/06/06/20190606-mama-sita-3.jpg"/><figcaption>&#x27;Mama Sita&#x27; (left most) with her daughters and granddaughters bonding over a cooking session.</figcaption></figure></div>Yet despite the decades-long challenges, she still sees &quot;huge potential&quot; for Philippine flavors to flourish in Hong Kong.&quot;I&#x27;ve been trying to push for exportation of sukang tuba (native coconut vinegar). If apple cider is popular, I&#x27;d like people to know more about the potentials of sukang tuba for its health benefits. I know for instance, 40% of our farmers in the Philippines can earn 20 times more than what they do from crops,&quot; said Reyes-Lapus. &quot;In general, it&#x27;s just a matter of a change in lifestyle,&quot; she added.‎Daisy Tam, assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University and who has done extensive work on urban food system and urban food security, noted that despite the Philippines&#x27; rich and diverse culinary history, it remains &quot;starkly absent&quot; in the restaurant landscape in Hong Kong, where Filipinos constitute a significant part of the population.‎&#x27;It is unfortunate that in the case of Hong Kong, Filipino culture is too readily associated with the migrant domestic worker population in the city. With 385,000 MDWs (migrant domestic workers) in Hong Kong, 1 in 7 households employ a domestic worker at home and 55% of them come from the Philippines,&quot; Tam said in an email response to ABS-CBN News.&quot;The official governmental terminology &#x27;foreign domestic workers&#x27; sums up the paradox quite well in my opinion. These employees are intimately associated with the household, yet they are not quite part of the family,&quot; she added.For MSF president Reyes-Lapus, Filipinos leaving the country to work as domestic helpers in Hong Kong should not only have basic cooking skills, but an appreciation of Filipino food so that they may introduce it to their would-be employers and friends. Tam, however, said Filipino cuisine might be more popular than we think as many domestic workers do cook Filipino food for their employers. &quot;Adobo seems to be one that many people recognize but this remains to be within the domestic/personal sphere. Our encounters with Filipino food (if any) seems to happen within a private setting, and not in the world out there,&quot; she said.&quot;Speaking to chefs, many would admit that they like cooking Filipino food at home, but that is for comfort and for nourishment (soul and body), but not a dish to present in a fancy restaurant or suitable for festivities. I read in an article a while ago that many Filipinos experience &#x27;hiya&#x27; about their food. I don&#x27;t necessarily agree with that,&quot; she added.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/06/06/20190606-mama-sita-4.jpg"/><figcaption>Cecile Pacheco-Morais (woman in white) with grandmother &#x27;Mama Sita&#x27;</figcaption></figure></div>For Mama Sita&#x27;s granddaughter, Cecile Pacheco-Morais, who is based in Hong Kong for almost 10 years now, &quot;elevating&quot; Philippine cuisine in the city would need support in targeting the right audience and market, as well as in the presentation.While she laments the lack of Filipino restaurants in Hong Kong in general, she said she has seen some improvements in terms of Philippine food exports and promotion. Notably, after President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s visit to Vietnam in 2016, they have been invited to prepare Filipino dishes there. Baggage fees for the sauces and mixes, according to Pacheco-Morais, were waived and collaborations with other Philippine embassies and consulates ensued.However, strategizing the promotion of Philippine cuisine may also need some tweaking.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/06/06/20190606-mama-sita-5.jpg"/><figcaption>Guests enjoy Filipino food at the turnover of the cookbooks at the Taste Library.</figcaption></figure></div>&quot;When the Department of Foreign Affairs invited foreign chefs to cook Filipino food in Europe, ang na-invite ay mga diplomats pero hindi naman sila nagluluto. Dapat may change in target audience ...wholesaler, importers, and distributors, so they can know more about Philippine products because they will be the ones selling them. How can they sell if they don&#x27;t know anything about the cuisine or products?&quot; Pacheco-Morais said.&quot;Sa Hong Kong, distribution ang problema. Also because it is so close to the Philippines, pwedeng idala sa luggage. Ang problema, hindi kami makapasok sa mainstream supermarket like Park N&#x27; Shop or Wellcome. They don&#x27;t realize the potential or it could be a threat, too. Medyo may protectionism,&#x27; she added.Currently, Mama Sita has 137 products under its belt. The MSF is looking to partner with Taste Library for cooking sessions for those who are interested, and is also open to other collaborations.

Even if Filipinos have been embedded in Hong Kong's food and beverage and entertainment industries, Philippine cuisine has struggled to make an impression in the local dining scene

Even if Filipinos have been embedded in Hong Kong's food and beverage and entertainment industries, Philippine cuisine has struggled to make an impression in the local dining scene