In a nutshell, ecotourism is sustainable tourism that involves every entity within an ecological system coexisting for the benefit of its biological community in general. Needless to say and to simply put it, that includes the interaction between tourists (as one entity) and the tourist spot (biological community) wherein there’s mutual gain while balancing the ecology.
And to rather “echo” that panorama for a viewpoint, we are to view it beyond the plain scenario (pun intended). What needs to reverberate is a “resounding” consistency of concept analysis and application. Keep ideas flowing. Let those popping “light bulb moments” sound off (“ding!”) and let it resonate with the changing tourism landscape. What should any land escape from though is the monotony of a filled and satisfied standard sans the appetite for new flavors. There’ll be nothing new to look forward to or a taste to crave for… Cook up recipes for supplemental attraction.
Ding! 🛎 Then there’s food tourism… and out of the box, “lunch box” if you may, is what should be on top of the “tourism food chain”… Accordingly, it’s a call to action for the different regions through its Department Of Tourism’s regional offices by DOT Secretary herself, Ms Christina Frasco, to promote tourism through their respective regional cuisines and signature dishes. Echoing this portioning of tourism ingredient for a program, we believe it’s to nourish the tourism hierarchy in a way that it correspondingly tops the food chain. And by food, we’re referring to that of what’ll feed our ecosystem objectively and by necessitated consumption. Complementarily, what better way to satisfy a tourist’s heart than through one’s stomach so to speak. We can very well promote other tourist attractions with a photogenic nature induced by a fulfilling gastronomic experience. One thing we don’t want to see is a tourist promoting a supposedly Instagrammable spot with a “hungry-looking disposition”. Also, we don’t want a potential draw withdrawn from a tourist’s itinerary for all its mileage’s worth due to an upset stomach. Thus, food as the most consumed, being the most important of all the basic necessities as much as it’s what nourishes and sustains other undertakings, food tourism should be more than its main ingredient’s objective as it’s meant for… It should also be like a craving that’s sought-for not only as more than a run-of-the-mill (make that beyond run-of-the-MEAL) experience for tourists but also a complementary serving of an encompassing subsistence for the whole of the local tourism industry.
For a melting pot of a place backed by a picturesque historical background like Baguio though, the lack of a signature dish on account of cultural appropriation as much as its fusion-enriched environs, how can food tourism possibly thrive? A cuisine however, in all its likeliness, is a concoction of influences from its region’s days of yore. Baguio, through its geographical orientation, was established as a mountain resort eventually gaining the distinction as Philippines’ Summer Capital. From having been engineered as an American recreational facility as part of its history to being a popular tourist destination, it has transformed into its concurrently developing state. Much like a flavorful cuisine, Baguio is a fusion of varying ingredients. And even before this call, the Cordillera region through its regional DOT office has had the foresight to already cook up “a taste of Cordillera” for a gastronomic attraction through their “Mangan Taku” (Let’s Eat) culinary showcase for an event. Chefs and cooks, foodies and food enthusiasts from all over the Cordillera region get to showcase not just the “mettle behind the kettle” but also the “man behind the pan” as much as the “scene behind the cuisine” so to speak. Indeed, Cordillera through its regional DOT office is right on the DOT. And the good thing about food being the most basic of necessities as continual provisions, Ms Franco’s nourishing concept is likewise a constant sustenance… Indicative of ellipsis, “DOT DOT DOT indeed, there’s more to come…
Previous Mangan Taku entries (entrées, to tastefully put it) featured a fusion of cuisines much like how this part of the country has been influenced by various flavors through discriminating palates of different nationalities…
There was the “Cordilleran Ramen” of Chef Cee Jay Reinoso back in 2021 which is an integration of Japanese cuisine and the smokiness of a Cordillera’s smoked meat. Just last year, Mangan Taku featured Bleu Carrot Food Truck’s Kiniing Longganisa Taco and the Smoked Beef Nachos. These and the like pave the way for a regional heirloom recipe/cuisine that could be passed on as one’s signature dish. It may be more of a tweaked cuisine yet still identifiable to that of the influence, it’s the flavor that sets it apart. Nevertheless, Baguio and the Cordilleras could rather be attributed with much more than its own. Its ingredients however and as to how it blends well with other integrants to form something as flavorful, these are elemental factors that lives up to Cordillera as homogenized and intermingling…
~ To be continued
