EP 19: Pulutan With Marvin Gapultos

This episode, we chat about “pulutan” - a Tagalog word that broadly refers to bar snacks or drinking food - with cookbook author Marvin Gapultos and some friends from the Pluma Writing Collective. We talk about the culture that surrounds drinking, and the sheer variety of ingredients turned into tasty treats that pair so well with a cold beer and native liquors from the Philippines.

I had no idea I could make “grilled” chicken adobo, Bicol Express meatballs and lemongrass-infused mushrooms in my apartment in Toronto. No better time for a Filipino dinner party!

Show notes

01:25 On Filipino drinking food
04:45 About Marvin
05:45 What does pulutan mean to you?
06:45 Great Uncle Nick and his buddies
08:50 Doreen's advice
09:50 Papaitan (a bitter Ilocano stew with innards)
11:40 Highlighting flavour profiles
12:20 The Cicerone Program
12:55 How it led to "Pulutan"
13:45 Beyond ties to San Miguel
15:25 Filipino food and a world of beer styles
16:05 "It just clicked"
17:15 Moving up the ladder
18:55 Cooking is a process of discovery
20:15 We all evolve as we grow
21:15 Chicken wings with fish sauce and calamansi
22:25 Mind-blowing vinegar
23:55 What should we take away?
25:45 Dinner party #1!
28:15 One of Jennilee's favourite words
30:20 Eric on sacred pulutan
32:00 Jaisa and connecting through food
33:40 Justine's fam jams and university parties
36:25 Jennilee's pet peeve
37:00 Celebratory vs solitary drinking
38:45 Justine on a certain kind of western freedom
40:20 Why Nastasha loves bars

FIND THE FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE.

Links for this episode


Subscribe and share your feedback below!