Here I am, writing “backwards,” i.e., documenting my work for KULINARYA 2011, A Filipino Culinary Showdown in San Francisco, California. The event was held on January 21, 2012 at the Carnelian by the Bay Restaurant (Behind Ferry Building at The Embarcadero), San Francisco. The PILI nut was the food ingredient that took center stage and the Philippines’ KULINARYA TOURS were also highlighted.
Of course, I am “drooling” over the prospect of KULINARYA 2012, the 3rd Filipino Culinary Showdown, being convened later this year — but I promised to keep my mouth shut until the organizers make their official announcements.
I am making more time to document some of my written works and audio-visual creations in this personal blog. I keep reiterating to my nieces and nephews that all I can give them are my experiences (through this blog) and sharing my memories and learnings, whenever we reconnect… I miss them! Fortunately, nowadays, I interact with three of my nephews almost every day — and sometimes, in between my viral marketing and public relations work, I get to share my culinary experiences with them.
FOR EXAMPLE: Last night, it was all about PASTA. I taught Christian that the only way to learn if his spaghetti noodles are cooked “al dente” IS to actually taste them, semi-raw — and then done to perfection. Of course, I did not teach him how to throw a spaghetti noodle against the wall to see if it would stick or not. And yes, I also taught him how to “refresh” his refrigerated noodles inside a colander — over hot running water in the sink.
I hope to share more of these culinary experiences with my nieces and nephews.
In the meantime, this is what I did for our hardworking professionals at the Philippine Department of Tourism in San Francisco. Thank you, Rene de los Santos, Debbie Gallano, Gabby Agcaoili, and the rest of the team for giving me this opportunity to sharpen my culinary writing skills and PR capabilities.
FIRST, here is the promotional video that I created for the event. There is also a youtube video: http://youtu.be/QEa5FTfHRUw
SECOND, I was given the writing assignments on a Friday — and I had to turn all of them in on a Monday. It was quite an exhilarating writing adventure for me with this KULINARYA magazine BUT I had my recent 3-month trip to the Philippines that helped me with some of my writings as well as the permissions of my friends in the Philippine tourism industry for their photos, words, etcetera.
The KULINARYA Magazine was a supplement inside the San Francisco Examiner Magazine on its Thursday, January 19, 2012 edition. More than 80,000 copies were distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and copies were also available at The Examiner racks on the same date.
I wrote and I edited the following:
1. About the 2nd Kulinarya (summary, a mash-up; the “higher notch in the culinary world” didn’t come from me; whoever edited this, thank you! You made my original “higher good” relevant and meaninful to foodies)
2. The Pili Goes Gourmet! (article based on research and mash-up; I didn’t write the top portion or recipes in this page)
3. Philippines: Where Green Cuisine Means A Healthier Lifestyle (article)
4. TRENDING: “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!’ (article; the original article went viral on youtube by pinaswatcher6, who had uploaded a GMA News broadcast re: the new slogan on January 8, 2012, and had asked my permission to use my article — after I asked their permission to quote them; see http://youtu.be/kkbW-w5UkMI). As of today, August 25, 2012, this video, with my accompanying article has 8,574 hits on Youtube.
5. Top 10 Things to do in the Philippines (edited from Gab Agcaoili’s beautifully-written 2,000+ words to a precise 500 words)
I am looking forward to KULINARYA 2012!
For those foodies who want to learn more about Filipino cooking in conjunction with all the good, the “bad” and the healthy cuisines, here are some blogs for you to consider:
Lorna Lardizabal Dietz’s Diabetes Life Notes
Noemi Lardizabal Dado’s Pinoy Food, Pinoy Cooking, Filipino Food Recipes and Photoblog
Noemi Lardizabal Dado (mother) and Lauren Lardizabal Dado (daughter) in Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine: Food PhotoBlog and Events
I also have some content curations that you can embed in your own blog or save in your foodie archives.
Cake Decorating Ideas for Nilda Tudtud Abellanosa and Nardith Obera Fuentes
The KAPUSO’s Sweet Taste of Success: Ice-Cream and Desserts in the Bay Area
