There
is a large expat Overseas Filipino population—an estimated 10.2 million, or
roughly 10% of the 106 million in-country population. As a result, you would
expect to find a growing international market for Filipino cuisine, but it might
also morph and evolve as Filipino chefs incorporated other local culinary
elements. It took a while, but both trends are finally coming to fruition,
judging from the success of the Filipino restaurateurs profiled in Alexandra
Cuerdo’s documentary Ulam (Main Dish),
which premiered yesterday at the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival (trailer here).
As
many of Cuerdo’s interview subjects note, there were always a number of
Filipino head chefs overseeing high profile restaurant kitchens, but they were
still cooking in French, Italian, or Continental styles. Most Asian cuisines
were readily accepted by American patrons, but there was still a dearth of
Filipino restaurants. However, the success of several new elegant but
accessible Filipino fine dining establishments has led to a boom in interest
among the culinary press.
Cuerdo
is quite fortunate most of them are young and eloquent, especially on the
subject of food. Amy Besa & Romy Dorotan, from Purple Yam in Brooklyn, are
the veterans among the film’s participants, with twenty years of New York restaurant
experience, but the camera loves them. Nicole Ponseca (from Jeepney) is
probably the most sensitive to issues of authenticity, since her chef and
partner, Miguel Trinidad, is Dominican, but they convincingly argue nobody
applies such purity standards to the chefs at Italian restaurants (and besides,
no Filipino chefs were willing to join her when she first struck out on her
own).
In
fact, Ulam is not just about food. It
also pays tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit, which is very cool. Perhaps
nobody better illustrates that than Alvin Cailan, who started working multiple
kitchen jobs (often for free experience) but has since parlayed his Eggslut
food truck into a mini-empire that includes “incubator” space for up-and-coming
chefs. Of course, family is also critically important to these success stories,
especially for Johneric Concordia and Christine Araquel-Concordia’s restaurant
The Park’s Finest, where nearly every employee was a relative (often “drafted”),
in its early days.
Cuerdo
maintains a mostly upbeat, breezy tone, as most viewers would prefer when it
comes to their food docs, but there are plenty of positive lessons to glean
from it. Along the way, her interview subjects revisit some rather touching
memories. They make it very clear that food, family, culture, and honest hard
work are all closely intertwined in the Philippines.
The
dishes we see all look delicious too. Ironically, in some cases they have taken
roadside Filipino food and turned it into haute cuisine, but it is still more
substantial and flavorful than most of what you might find in trendy Soho
spots. Recommended as a low-stress, pleasantly engaging celebration of Filipino
cuisine, Ulam (Main Dish) screens again
today (4/8) and Tuesday (4/10), as part of this year’s SFFILM.