{"id":14234,"date":"2022-09-17T06:41:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-17T16:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=14234"},"modified":"2022-09-17T06:41:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-17T16:41:27","slug":"generational-recipes-nourish-and-strengthen-filipino-families-and-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2022\/09\/17\/generational-recipes-nourish-and-strengthen-filipino-families-and-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Generational Recipes Nourish and Strengthen Filipino Families and Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chefs Motley Adovas and Danielle Soriano serve Filipino and Asian-fusion cuisine at their food truck, Merienda Maui.<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Jasmine Sadang

<\/em>Like important pieces of family heirlooms such as jewelry, antique furniture and homes, family recipes are invaluable treasures passed down from generation to generation.

All families have bonded from the common activity of cooking; and sharing menus with others is always a treat.

Filipino families are no exception, and both parents and children recall how the tradition of passing down family recipes from generation to generation not only provides nourishment for the body but also strengthens their relationships.

Ilocano Regional Cuisine
<\/strong>Renzelle J. Ponce, 20, a Hawaii Pacific University student from Ewa, is familiar with many of her family\u2019s recipes that her parents and family usually cook every night or on special occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Renzelle Ponce often cooks her family\u2019s Ilocano dish, lakdek<\/em>.<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActually, [we] have a lot of generational foods in our family. There\u2019s this one food [that\u2019s] really rare because I\u2019ve never met another Filipino who knows or ate it. It\u2019s pronounced like \u2018lak-dek\u2019,\u201d Ponce said.

It\u2019s a dish that Ponce\u2019s mom classifies as the Ilocano version of sisig<\/em>. She said, \u201cYou mince the pig ear, snout and other parts of the pig Then you want to boil them with a lot of garlic, pepper and bay leaf. It\u2019s just like adobo<\/em> where you stew it and get the fat to come out naturally.\u201d

Though Ponce faced obstacles with her parents because of cultural and language differences, cooking and family traditions kept their sense of togetherness and her own sense of culture.

\u201cSince it\u2019s such a region-specific food and my grandpa cooked it, it really helps keep the Ilocano culture alive and the remembrance of my grandpa. All of my family eats together when it\u2019s done,\u201d she said. \u201cWe [usually] make a lot in one day and we just freezer batch it to eat for future food or add to pinakbet<\/em> or any type of sinigang<\/em> as a filler for meat.\u201d

Bonding Over Bibingka<\/strong>
Another family has a recipe cooking up its own generational tradition. Christina Jayne Bayani, 18, a University of Hawaii-Manoa college student from Waipahu, has a baking recipe that she shares with her mother, Angelyn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Angelyn Bayani and her daughter Christina Jayne bond through cooking.<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy mom and I bond over a recipe for bibingka<\/em>. It was a recipe that I watched my mom write in her recipe book, and then baked,\u201d said Bayani. \u201cI remember helping her with mixing and not too sure how old I was, but it was before I was 10 years old.\u201d

Bayani\u2019s school and work schedule make it difficult for them to bond, but cooking is still their go-to leisurely activity.

\u201cI enjoy cooking with my daughter, but sometimes she gives me more work than help,\u201d Bayani\u2019s mother said. \u201cHowever, it gives us time to bond since she\u2019s not home as much anymore.\u201d

Since bibingka<\/em> is a recipe that her mom grew up making, the younger Bayani plans to pass down the recipe to her future children.

\u201cIt\u2019s already written down in my mom\u2019s recipe book, so it\u2019s something for the next generations to enjoy as well,\u201d she said.

Filipino Cuisine For Communities<\/strong>
Oftentimes, generational recipes are passed down to those who want to share their passion for cooking with everyone in their communities. Elena\u2019s Restaurant, known for its tagline \u201cHome of Finest Filipino Foods,\u201d is a staple in the Waipahu community that dates back to 1974.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Siblings Richard Butayan and Melissa Cedillo continue their parents\u2019 business by running Elena\u2019s Restaurant and food trucks.<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDuring this time, history was also being made in a small kitchen with a counter and six stools in the Nabarette Caf\u00e9 in Waipahu where Elena and Theo Butayan founded Elena\u2019s Restaurant,\u201d owner Melissa Cedillo said.

\u201cThe Butayan family immigrated from Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Philippines, in 1969 to the island of Oahu. The sugar plantation town of Waipahu, Hawaii, is where Elena\u2019s Restaurant opened its doors for business. Elena and Theo expanded Elena\u2019s Restaurant to two lunch trucks, where it received additional accolades at food truck rallies and many local events.\u201dThe Filipino dishes served at Elena\u2019s Restaurant are dishes that their family grew up loving together.

\u201cAll the dishes at Elena\u2019s are my mom and dad\u2019s recipes,\u201d Cedillo said. \u201cMy parents [have] retired since 2004. [Now] me, my brother and my husband are the owners, with 20 employees. The restaurant is an integral part of our lives. We live and breathe Elena\u2019s,\u201d she said.

Passion For Pinoy Food<\/strong>
Filipino food truck chefs and owners Motley Adovas and Danielle Soriano of Merienda Maui have a mission to carry out during their service to their community.

\u201cFilipino tradition plays into my passion for cooking by retaining my cultural identity. People from different cultural backgrounds eat different foods, and I believe that\u2019s the beauty of our heritage as well. The areas in which our family lived and where our ancestors originated influenced the passion Chef Danielle and I have for our cuisine,\u201d Adovas said.

The two chefs had very different introductions to cooking and different paths to finding their passion. Chef Danielle Soriano grew up in a family that loved to eat and cook.

\u201cWhen I was young, I remember a dish that we love to eat and cook as a family, and that is kare-kare.<\/em> It is a thick savory peanut-based stew. I learned how to make it from scratch through my grandmother. This dish isn\u2019t on our menu. But from time to time, we feature this dish in our specials, but with our own interpretation to it,\u201d Soriano said.

\u201cHer grandparents were mainly the reasons why she was exposed to the kitchen and grew her love for food and cooking. Now that she\u2019s in the culinary field, she wants to pay homage to her grandparents and introduce the food that was shared on the same table with them and recreate them for people [who] aren\u2019t too familiar with Filipino cuisine yet,\u201d Adovas explained.

\u201cOn the other hand, I began when I was a mentor by a chef from Seattle while I was doing my senior project from high school. Chef Rod introduced me to garde-manger who deals with cold food in a culinary term.\u201d

Although Adovas grew up with his family and eating foods that they cooked for the comfort of their family, his inspiration to become a chef himself comes mainly from the art of cooking that was demonstrated by other talented chefs around him.

\u201cOften times when you come across chefs and you ask them the same question, they would automatically tell you a whole story about their grandmother or mother. My mother was the head cook at our home, but mainly because of comfort. The food that she creates gives us comfort, but the art of cooking was adapted by the chefs that mentored me as well as the people that I\u2019ve worked with for the past six years in the industry. I went to this field mainly to help people by providing soulful food,\u201d he said.

Adovas said his passion for cooking began when he was an apprentice for a local chef in Maui.

\u201cA specific dish that I remember that began my passion for cooking is one that Chef Jojo [Vasquez] cooked for me when I was his apprentice back at the Plantation House restaurant in Kapalua,\u201d Adovas shared.

\u201cIt was Kauai prawn a la plancha with corn risotto and tomato salad. It was a simple dish, but it hit the soul. It\u2019s the process and finished product that I enjoy most when in the kitchen. The orchestrated environment and seeing people happy when they eat the food that I cook for them.\u201d

This brings them here today with their popular food truck, Merienda Maui, where together they are sharing the joy and love for cooking and Filipino cuisine that they grew to love.

\u201cThe creation of Merienda is always rooted down to the food that Chef Danielle and I grew up eating. Just like Hawaii, it has its own similarity to the Philippines. It\u2019s also a melting pot for diversified cultures and is heavily influenced by traditions. You have the pre-Spanish era and the southeast Asian cultures,\u201d he said.

\u201cWe want Merienda to be known and be the outlet here on Maui that showcases Filipino cuisine. Merienda and its philosophy through food is a glue for togetherness regardless of lifestyle differences. As for Chef Danielle and me, what we have in common is our lineage and we will continue to recreate and elevate dishes that we\u2019ve experienced growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Jasmine Sadang Like important pieces of family heirlooms such as jewelry, antique furniture and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=1973%2C1975&ssl=1",1973,1975,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=640%2C641&ssl=1",640,641,true],"large":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1",640,640,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=1534%2C1536&ssl=1",1534,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=1973%2C1975&ssl=1",1973,1975,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&ssl=1",1200,800,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=870%2C570&ssl=1",870,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=600%2C900&ssl=1",600,900,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1",600,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=1077%2C715&ssl=1",1077,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=522%2C500&ssl=1",522,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C1025&ssl=1",1024,1025,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=540%2C285&ssl=1",540,285,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?resize=375%2C250&ssl=1",375,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Features<\/a> Hawaii - Filipino<\/a>","tag_info":"Hawaii - Filipino","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MeriendaMaui-1.jpg?fit=1973%2C1975&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14238,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14234\/revisions\/14238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}