Meals have long been a way to bring Filipinos together.
As a first-generation Filipina American, I belong to a community shaped by fellow children of immigrant families attempting to assimilate into American culture while simultaneously remaining connected to our Filipino roots.
Family gatherings were ritualistically centered around large amounts of food. Rarely would we leave hungry or without several containers of leftovers — which our Tita (aunt) would insist we take home.
Lasita’s chefs preparing the “Fili Bistek Cheesteak” at their Baryo HiFi vendor. Photo: Julianna Lozada The “Ube Cheesecake” from Sampa’s vendor at Baryo HiFi. Photo: Julianna Lozada A Filipino jeepney — a common form of public transportation in the Philippines — on display, welcoming attendees to Baryo HiFi. Photo: Julianna Lozada Lasita’s chefs preparing the “Fili Bistek Cheesteak” at their Baryo HiFi vendor. Photo: Julianna Lozada The “Fili Bistek Cheesteak” from Lasita’s vendor at Baryo HiFi. Coffee pop-up LOMA selling Filipino-inspired drinks and pastries. Photo: Julianna Lozada Show Caption1 of 6Lasita’s chefs preparing the “Fili Bistek Cheesteak” at their Baryo HiFi vendor. Photo: Julianna Lozada ExpandI grew up eating traditional Filipino dishes. Chicken adobo, sinigang, champorado and ginataang bilo-bilo, often prepared by my Lola (gandmother), who lived with us, were mainstays in my household. I loved my Lola’s cooking, but I was also embarrassed by it. The food we ate made me increasingly conscious of my differences from other American kids, so I preferred to keep that part of my identity private.
But after leaving my hometown for France, where I attended university, I began to embrace those differences instead of being ashamed by them. Living thousands of miles away from Southern California, rife with homesickness, I craved my Lola’s cooking and the familiar essence of home.
Filipino food not only tells a history of the relationships our ancestors had with the land and climate, but also the imperialist and colonialist legacies left behind by Spanish and American settlers. In Southern California, that relationship continues to evolve, creating a unique subset of Filipino food altogether and ultimately revealing the nuances of the Filipino American identity.
Kicking off Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I attended the Baryo Hi’Fi celebration in LA’s Historic Filipinotown on May 3, driven by the amount of food I was planning to eat. The event, which inaugurated last year, featured nearly 20 food vendors, including the Historic Filipinotown establishment Dollar Hits, an art exhibit curated by Kristofferson San Pablo, local vendors and several live performances.
This year’s celebration in particular felt more meaningful. Just two weeks ago, at an event similar to Baryo HiFi in Vancouver, Canada celebrating Lapu Lapu Day, a driver rammed his vehicle into the crowd, killing 11 people and injuring many more. It not only felt important, but necessary to be in community with Filipino Americans and celebrate our cultural heritage, especially when other Filipino diaspora were mourning a ways up north.
I felt a sense of pride as I combed through the wide selection of Filipino American vendors with other Fil-Ams. To be seen and celebrated right here in Southern California felt like a homecoming — a total 360 from how I felt growing up.
Several buzzy Filipino restaurants in Los Angeles, including Lasita from Chinatown, Sampa from the Arts District, and Spoon & Pork from Silverlake, offered their own spin on traditional Filipino foods while drawing on American influences.
My cousin and I opted to wait in line at Lasita for their “Fili Bistek Cheesteak,” which fuses the Filipino beef stew dish with the traditional Philadelphia sandwich. While waiting, we ate the ube cheesecake from Sampa, who were also selling their famous kare-kare tamales and melon pandan cooler.
Sampa’s founder and head chef, Josh Espinosa, says his cooking is informed by his Filipino American upbringing in Los Angeles and its multicultural identity.
Many vendors at the sari-sari style market sold goods with specific Filipino American references. At ceramic artist Germin del Carmen’s vendor, I immediately recognized her pots, which were mini balikbayan boxes. As a kid, I have memories of my Lola filling these large boxes with American goods to send back to the Philippines — an act of generosity commonly practiced by Filipinos abroad. It’s a result of many Filipino nationals choosing to leave the country to serve as Overseas Filipino Workers in order to provide economic assistance to their relatives back home.
Some references were more local. Though basketball is a beloved sport widely embraced by Filipinos, that’s especially felt here in Los Angeles with the Lakers and their most famous player, Kobe Bryant. Manila-Los Angeles streetwear brand Isla Project sold t-shirts of Bryant sporting a barong (traditional Filipino garb) while spinning a basketball— a reminder of how Filipino Americans continually shape the history and culture of LA, and vice versa.
And it’s not just with the Lakers. Down Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, where Baryo Hi’Fi took place, is the heart of Historic Filipinotown. It’s a neighborhood that was once home to many Filipino immigrants who arrived from the 1920s to 1940s and flourished with many Filipino businesses, churches and organizations, ultimately contributing to the multicultural makeup of Los Angeles. Baryo HiFi, the event’s organizers say, is a reclamation of Historic Filipinotown.
It’s events like Baryo Hi’Fi, centered around a joyous celebration of sharing food and community, that continually nurture my relationship with my cultural heritage. As it was when I was a kid and still is today, food continues to be a vessel for staying connected to my roots and the ongoing construction of what it means to be Filipino American.
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