7.27.06 kulturnatib

Not hot

Recently, I heard that, of Canada's population, 1 percent are of Filipino origin and that the Philippines is the number 4 source immigrants into the country, behind China, India and, not too far ahead, Pakistan.

I heard this among a multinational group of friends, of whom only one was a native Quebecoise, two were Colombians, another one was French from Paris, then myself.

The conversation circled around travel and immigration, subjects not far off in any casual conversation with such a group that also gets together for another of their favorite subjects -- food.

In fact, we were waiting for food. Or, more correctly, the food was waiting for us in buffet-style trays for buffet only meals, we found out, with the 'only' turning out to be, in true Pinoy style, conditional but which conditions it was impossible to ascertain.

I remember that this conversation echoed a much earlier one in a group in which two of us were non-natives. There was another Filipina, who, not long ago, had become an immigrant and in whose house we had this reunion of erstwhile colleagues -- her husband among them -- from a long time ago in the far off place of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In that conversation food also figured prominently. It was not only that which we were eating -- the friend's lumpia was getting snapped up as soon as it was cool enough to handle -- but of the Filipino restaurants and groceries and in which neighborhoods they could be found.

None could be found in our neighborhood, we said. There is probably not enough Filipinos in Ottawa to sustain a Filipino restaurant, we reasoned. Ottawa is not Montreal, no one disagreed. Montreal, where all of them are from or now live in, is the most multicultural city in the world. There, at any given time, the subway train is a veritable Tower of Babel on rails.

However, after our return we found out that we were wrong, though we couldn't have known at that time. Somebody said that, driving from her house recently, she saw what looked suspiciously to be a Filipino restaurant. Its sign said, Manila hot, or something, she said.

Ok, we thought, lets get together some friends and check this out. Next time we see our Montreal friends we will have some bit to contribute to the conversation about the continuing Filipino food experience in Canada.

And so there we were; a quintet, at this obviously new Filipino restaurant in Ottawa that this friend who alerted us about must have misread or, I must have misheard about.

It wasn't Manila hot or something. It was Manila Hut or . . . yes, something. But something that one doesn't get too hot about, especially with what restaurants should be hot about for anyone to consider eating or invite other people to eat there -- food.

The food, it must be said, wasn't all that bad. It was acceptable. It compared favorably with some Colombian dishes, the Colombians said. Yet, mostly in the manner of its cooking -- home style. Meaning, -- in any language -- that it's your mother's cooking, you better eat it.

More substantially though, while I can also go for fusion cooking, for reinterpreting a classic dish in a new light, there has to be something that remains of a classic dish to be called so. A Dinugoan dish, for example, that is not cooked with pork is not Dinugoan no matter how many gastronomic medals it earns and even when, I realize, chicken has become the national pork in the Philippines.

But as a visual artist, what immediately caught my attention was the symbol or drawing that went with the name. It was more like an African hut and nothing like the traditional Philippine Bahay Kubo, if that, indeed, was what it was trying to be.

And then, thinking more about it, I wondered what is this animal called the Manila Hut? That animal is surely now extinct. They have since been replaced by squatter's hovels, boxes and beggar bags.

Hut might have a nice, native, ethnic ring to it, but it takes more than the right spelling to make it hot, especially for a restaurant.

Too bad for our Montreal friends, we will have nothing new to report.