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At Jersey City picnic, FilAms’ last fling before the end of summer
By Cristina DC Pastor Imagine a Filipino party with trays upon trays of food, where the women are busy cutting, serving, tossing, fanning, and stirring the food, while the men are gathered around a fire pit. Transport this scene to Jersey City, a community with a large Filipino American population of more than 15K, and […]
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Australian-born Yasmin Newman publishes book on Filipino cuisine, culture
Despite the Philippines’ location right in the middle of Southeast Asia, most people know very little about the country and even less about its cuisine. For Filipinos, food is more than sustenance; it is their cultural language. Filipinos use food to apologize, woo a woman, ask a favor, or say thank you; it fills in […]
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There’s a Jollibee in the neighborhood!
By John Nicholson The Jollibee brand is familiar to the Filipino. The cheerful red-jacketed bee mascot presides over a growing number of outlets in Asia, and the brand is gaining a foothold in the American market. Typically located in places with a large Filipino population such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Hong Kong, the bee […]
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After the ‘balut’ comes the mainstreaming of the ‘bibingka’
By Cristina DC Pastor If the “balut” can do it, why not the “bibingka”? Go mainstream, or as Eileen Formanes, 39, said with a shrug and a smile: “Americanize it.” “I want it to be the next chocolate chip cookie,” she declared to The FilAm followed by sparkling laughter. Eileen has taken the rice cake […]
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Wayne Algenio keeps ‘balut’ crown: 27 in 5 minutes (or is it 37?)
By Cristina DC Pastor Waynewonder is back as 28-year-old Queens man Wayne Algenio wolfed down 27 ‘balut’ eggs in five minutes to win the Jeepney-Maharlika Balut-Eating Contest. But wait. Wayne told The FilAm that there could be a miscount. “I’m watching my footage,” he said. “I think they had a miscount. It’s actually 37.” He […]
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Who will break Wayne Algenio’s record of 18 ‘balut’ in 5 minutes? Find out this Saturday
Twelve contestants will compete in Jeepney’s Balut Eating Contest and will be consuming as much ‘balut’ — or duck embryo, which is a Philippine delicacy — as possible in a five-minute time period. This is not your typical Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest as you can imagine, but contestants said they are ready to […]
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Calamansi juice goes mainstream, now sold in Wal-Mart, Cost Plus stores
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5joe7jl8QFg&feature=youtu.be It takes a village to raise a child or grow an idea. Nothing can be farther from the truth for Victor Elizaga, founder and CEO of Pacific Fruit and Beverage of California. It was the Filipino community’s support for his All-Natural Calamansi juice drinks that got them on the shelves of major retailers, including […]
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At Jeepney, familiar dishes come with a side of ‘bomba’
“Excuse me, do you have patis?” After raving about the brunch at Jeepney Filipino Gastropub a few weeks ago, it should come as no surprise that we returned — this time for dinner — with another friend in tow. We were led farther inside the restaurant, past the kitchen, in a rather cramped room where […]
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How chocolate changed Melissa Alviar’s life
By Cristina DC Pastor On February 5th, Melissa Alviar will be opening her Upper West Side home to an intimate soiree of chocolate and wine lovers. There won’t be any self-inflicted hedonism, no whips and chains. While the match-up seems to suggest heart-thumping decadence, she swore everything that will be passed around is “healthy.” Welcome […]