Connected by taste

By Ted Aldwin Ong

Conversations over food are always enriching, especially when shared with culinary professionals, gastronomy practitioners, and food writers from our ASEAN neighbors through the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

During the Filipino Food Month gastronomy symposium held at UI-Phinma, I found myself gathered around a table for lunch with our guests in the nearby Iloilo Central Market upon the invitation of Iloilo City’s focal person for gastronomy, Leny Ledesma. The spread featured chicken barbecue, kaldereta (goat stew), bangus sisig, and KBL (kadyos, baboy, langka).

Seated along our side of the long table were Dr. Thadthong Bhrammanee (Phetchaburi, Thailand); Chef Sao Sopheak (Cambodia); Chef Hok Chong Cheong (Macau), and our very own Chef Tatung Sarthou, known for popularizing SIMPOL cooking, along with book designer and author Ige Ramos, and Iloilo City MICE Director, Lea Lara.

The conversation over lunch centered on the ingredients of the dishes we were enjoying. We discussed the souring agent “batwan” (Garcinia binucao) used in KBL, as well as “istiwitis” (annatto seeds), which give chicken barbecue its distinct color and flavor, and accompanied by “sinamak,” served as a “sawsawan,” or dipping sauce, used to enhance and adjust the taste. We also talked about the different cooking methods employed and the presentation of the food, appreciating how each element contributed to the overall dining experience.

The conversation gradually expanded to explore the similarities in ingredients, cooking methods, and the unique characteristics of different food cultures. It became clear that we are, indeed, “connected by taste,” as food and gastronomy link us in more ways than one—through shared histories, enduring traditions, and diverse cultural expressions.

Culinary and food historian Felice Prudente Sta. Maria articulated this connection in her talk, “Eating Our Roots: Tracing Pre-Colonial Cuisine.” She explained that the foundation of Filipino cuisine is Malesian, rooted in a biogeographical and cultural zone known as the Malesian Floral Subkingdom.

To clarify this concept, Sta. Maria presented a map of the region, showing the Philippine archipelago at its northernmost edge. The western zone includes Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore, while Indonesia stretches southward and Papua New Guinea, along with its surrounding islands, forms the eastern zone. This geographic framing illustrates how interconnected the region has long been.

She further explained that this shared Malesian origin helps account for both the diversity and the underlying similarities among Southeast Asian cuisines. While each culture asserts its own local identity, these culinary traditions remain closely related, shaped by geography, climate, and centuries of migration and exchange across the region.

According to Sta. Maria’s working chronology, ancestral Filipino cuisine can be traced back to around 1565 CE—approximately 461 years ago—predating the arrival of Iberian, Mesoamerican, Continental European, and North American influences. She noted that early inhabitants primarily relied on hunting and foraging for sustenance before the eventual development of agriculture, laying the groundwork for what would later evolve into Filipino culinary traditions.

Building on this ecological perspective, Sta. Maria highlights the Malesian botanicals that grew in Philippine archipelago: tree crops and forest fruits; palms, starches and botanical foods; leafy greens, shoots and vegetables; and nuts and seeds.

This insight drew reflection on the coconut, a staple used in various forms: oil (mantika), milk (gata), and grated flesh (ginkudkod nga lubi), all of which are widely utilized across many Asian dishes.

An example from Ilonggo cuisine is “tambo sa gata,” a coconut milk-based dish made with young bamboo shoots. It is often prepared with ingredients such as okra, tugabang (saluyot leaves), and pasayan (shrimp), each contributing richness, texture, and depth to the dish.

This example reflects the broader point of Sta. Maria that ancient ecological systems continue to shape everyday cooking, linking present culinary practices to deep environmental and cultural roots.

Beyond coconut-based dishes, a wider culinary pattern emerges across the region. Rice remains the central staple, while root crops such as taro and yams, along with bananas, point to an older pre-rice food system that still persists. Aromatic spices like ginger and turmeric form the foundation of many flavor bases, while fermented ingredients such as fish sauce and shrimp paste (ginamos) are also found throughout the ASEAN.

Rather than being one-dimensional, the regional flavor profile of Asian dishes is distinctly layered, built on aromatics and deepened by fermentation, creating a balanced interplay of salty, sour, and subtle sweetness. In Ilonggo cooking, for instance, chicken and pork adobo are sometimes prepared with muscovado sugar to temper saltiness and produce a richer, thicker sauce.

Cooking techniques further reinforce these shared traditions. Grilling food over charcoal and wrapping delicacies in banana leaves are widely practiced across the region, while sun-drying remains a common preservation method that enhances flavor and longevity, and minimizes food wastage.

Taken together, these ingredients, flavor profiles, and techniques reveal a culinary system that transcends modern borders. They point to a shared gastronomic heritage that continues to connect the Philippines with its neighbors, rooted in the Malesia region and carried into the present day.

Ultimately, this is what it means to be “connected by taste”: a recognition that despite cultural and national distinctions, and even across vast bodies of water, our cuisines are shaped by shared environments, histories, and enduring culinary traditions that continue to bring us to the same table.