Exploring Filipino Kitchens features culinary traditions and travel destinations in the Philippines, as told by a balikbayan. Stories include:

  • Agritourism/farm tourism experiences

  • Tasting and learning about regionally-produced foods or specialties

  • Classic Pinoy breakfasts at local accommodations

  • Kakanin-making demonstrations

  • Eating local snacks while on an island hopping/hiking/driving or motorbike tour

  • Eating at locally-owned restaurants and other establishments (e.g., karinderya, gotohan, street food stalls) where the foods are regional specialties or local favourites

  • Visiting producers who make foods sold at pasalubong centers

Exploring Filipino Kitchens aims to enhance cultural relations between those in Philippines and diaspora through immersive storytelling; introduce non-Filipino audiences to local food and drink; and inspire travel to the Philippines for culinary tourism experiences. All content is produced by food and travel writer Nastasha Alli.

 Follow @exploringfilipinokitchens on Instagram for the latest updates!

 
View fullsize Our visit to the T’nalak Gallery ♥️ Curated by Sir Reden Ulo, the gallery is located next to his home. In it there are hundreds of t’nalak weaves, produced by the incredible female artisans of Lake Sebu. On display are traditiona
View fullsize Hands down one of my favourite travel memories! For days, we stopped at every shop that had a colourful sign for buko halo-halo. But we were there in the off-season, so most shops that depended on visitors from local resorts were closed (as this wa
View fullsize Day to night on the shores of Lake Sebu 🌗 We passed a procession going to the centre of town one day. I asked what was happening and our guides, used to me asking to pull over, stopped by a shaded area. I remember that I asked if it was ok to recor
View fullsize Time for a hike!🥾 Love this pic with Kuya Mark and Kuya Justin, who’d been guiding us around Lake Sebu for a couple days by this point. We went up a dirt road and through a bit of forest to a jump off point for local paragliders. Would totall
View fullsize Time for a farm visit! ✨ We drove up the mountains to Sebul Cacao Farms, which also grew a host of other fruit and vegetables. But truly -this was easily the most beautiful cacao grove I had ever been in. IMO the view from that bench alone would sel
View fullsize Earlier that morning, we passed streams of students crossing a road to get to their motorbikes, parked in an empty lot nearly the size of a basketball court. There must have been at least a hundred bikes. Later, when we passed it again, I asked our g
View fullsize I have to admit it was little jarring to enter the resort complex through a very rural road in the municipality of Lake Sebu…I remember we drove down this steep, dusty hill, then turned into the parking lot. We had no idea what to expect. Dr
View fullsize Our guide had a contact at a local school that, we learned, was one of the first in the country to develop a curriculum dedicated to indigenous studies at the high school level. We visited and met some teachers on break in between classes. I remember
View fullsize Back in the land of the dreamweavers…this picture taken with the family of Barbara Ofong means everything. We may have been crying shortly before this was taken, it was hard not to get emotional in their presence. To simply be there, spend tim