Lunch & Language: The Philippines

The first Lunch & Language of the year featured The Philippines. It was held on January 24th at the Louis A. Simpson Building. 

The presenters were Ma. Florevel (Floe) Fusin-Wischusen with the Princeton Institute for Computational Science & Engineering and Marie Burke with the School for Public and International Affairs. Both were born and raised in the Philippines— Floe is from the Province of Iloilo and Marie is from the capital city of Manila. 

The presentation started with the singing of the Philippine National Anthem titled “Lupang Hinirang” rendered by the presenters. It was followed by a discussion on the Philippine history, its pre-colonial alphabet and writing system, cultural traditions and famous Filipino and Filipino-American artists. 

The highlight of the talk was a visual tour of the Filipino cuisine which is quite unique due to the strong Spanish influence. Floe featured the most popular dishes in Iloilo and Panay island which has rich and eclectic flavors influenced by neighboring Southeast Asian countries as well as Spain. Filipino food and desserts from “Kusina ni Inang“ were enjoyed by the attendees who asked plenty of questions about the Filipino cuisine and traditions.