Sisig on "No Reservations"

“Every chicken only has one ass”
My sister sent me a link of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” episode of the Philippines. An ethnic Filipino American fan named Augusto Elefano “compelled” the world-reknowned American chef, writer and TV host to come to the Philippines and have a taste of what we have to offer.
The show is so timely for me. Yesterday in my Korean language class, we were talking about the different sections of department stores. At the “food court” one could find Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Western and even Vietnamese dishes. While our teacher and classmates were familiar with East Asian and Southeast Asian dishes, they didn’t know anything about Filipino dishes. My Filipina classmate asked why this is so and why it’s so difficult to find Filipino restaurants in Korea whereas there’s a great number of Indian, Thai, Vietnamese restaurants in Seoul.
One of the places that Anthony Bourdain visited is Angeles City – my hometown! I just longed for the “sisig” from Aling Lucing’s streetside store. I used to go there with my classmates in college. My sister’s sisig is delish and I truly miss it! When I went home last year, I gained 5 kilos in one month just eating sisig, sinigang, bulalo, alimango, pinakbet, kare-kare, sisig na puso ng saging and so on. (Appetite suppresants anyone?)
Anthony Bourdain raved about the sisig and the lechon Cebu calling it “the best pig ever!” He also had a taste of papaitan and he thought it was good. He didn’t dissed any of the food he had and I believe he truly liked the ones he had.
Going back to Augusto Elefano. I admire the guy that he was truly interested in discovering his parents’ culture. He may be ethnically Filipino but he was brought up as an American. That reminds me that it’s really important for Filipino parent/s to introduce their culture to their children even though they live in a different country.
You can watch The Philippines on No Reservations part 1 (of 5) on everybody’s favorite channel.
I think the producers did a great job showcasing Filipino food. I just wish that other Filipino viewers would appreciate it rather than count what the show missed.