MANILA, Philippines - One of the things we learned from last year’s My City, My SM road show was that although the Philippines, as an island country, has a lot of diversity, there are three things that every city shares in common: a deep faith, a love for good food, and a strong sense of family.
And food will be the focus of SM and the Philippine Star’s “My City, My SM, My Cuisine” contest beginning this April. SM shoppers and Philippine Star readers can join by submitting recipes of some of their hometown’s favorite foods. By sharing with us your special version of your city’s selected cuisine, you have a chance to win P5,000 of SM gift certificates.
“My City, My SM, My Cuisine” makes a stop in 14 cities around the Philippines, each stop timed to coincide with major festivals in the city. Corazon S. Alvina, our culinary adviser, has helped us select signature food from the different cities where SM has malls for the competition.
“People with a proud sense of regional identity have brought forth Philippine regional cuisine,” says Alvina, who is vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. With her extensive culinary research as production manager of GCF Books, which published The Culinary Culture of the Philippines, as well as her participation in books like Food of the Philippines by Periplus Editions and Slow Food published by Anvil and the International Food and Wine Society, Alvina is an authority on our country’s regional cuisine.
“Culinary styles evolved from the major regions of the archipelago,” she adds. “The variations are traceable to our rich natural resources, and to the gustatory tendencies and communal practices of families and communities. Contact with foreigners also flavored native cooking practices.”
Alvina helped us select the entrees and desserts from each city that will be part of the “My City, My SM, My Cuisine” contest. SM shoppers and Philippine Star readers can submit their recipe of their city’s selected entrée or dessert along with their name, address, and occupation to sm_starculinary@yahoo.com . They can also mail these to the Publicity Department, Building C, SM Corporate Office, JW Diokno Boulevard, Pasay City, or the Lifestyle Section of the Philippine Star at R. Oca, Jr. and Railroad Streets, Port Area, Manila.
Ten finalists will be selected from the recipes submitted, five for entrees and five for dessert. Two winners — one for entrée and one for dessert — will be selected from each city during the culinary contest that will be held in time for the city’s festival. The two winners will each receive P5,000 in SM gift certificates, while finalists will receive gift packs from SM Homeworld.
“My City, My SM, My Cuisine”’s first stop will be in Santa Rosa, Laguna, where food enthusiasts can submit their recipes for puchero or yap yap for the entrée and puto maya with kilawing puso for the dessert. During the cooking competition that will be held at SM City Santa Rosa on April 13, last year’s My City, My SM honoree Chit Lijauco will take us around food stops in her hometown and share with us heirloom recipes from prominent family’s in Santa Rosa.
It will then make stops at in Lucena in May, Cavite in June, Batangas in July, Cagayan de Oro and Davao in August, Marilao and Naga in September, Bacolod in October, Pampanga in December, Cebu and Iloilo in January and Baguio and Clark in February.
“‘My City, My SM, My Cuisine’ is SM’s contribution to ensure the survival of Philippine food stories,” says Alvina. “By identifying, collecting, retrieving, preserving, and promoting traditional recipes and culinary techniques, this is food heritage conservation at its best.”