Philippine Ambassador to Germany Theresa Dizon-De Vega joined the Lord Mayor of Osnabrück, Germany Wolfgang Griesert and Bürgermeisterin Eva-Maria Westermann in launching the Kulturnacht (Culture Night) of Osnabrück, Germany on 31 August 2019.

Lord Mayor Wolfgang Griesert who welcomed Ambassador Dizon-De Vega as the first Filipino dignitary to officially visit Osnabruck. The City is now known as an industrial base with many companies in the automobile, paper, steel, and grocery-retail sectors. Ambassador Dizon-De Vega also met officials of Systemgastronomie, a leading company in the city in the course of her visit.

The opening was witnessed by members of the Filipino-Germany Community in Osnabrück including Ms. Maria Malaca, Proprietor of the top Spa-Wellness Center in Osnabrück, Mari-Jing Spa. The members of the Filipino Community took part in the Kulturnacht with a free Hilot massage service, a sampling of Filipino cuisine, and introduction to Filipiniana attire and dances like the popular Tinikling. The event takes place in the historic center of Osnabrück to mark the end of summer. Attracting several thousand visitors from the city and nearby areas, the event further promotes Osnabrück’s reputation as a City of Peace and Multi-Cultural values.

The active participation of the Filipinos in Osnabrück in various cultural, gastronomic, and economic events was lauded by the city officials.  End

 

METRO, one of the largest supermarket chains in Germany and Europe held its Metro Cup Young Chefs Competition in cooperation with the Brillat Savarin Culinary School on 23 August 2019 at the Metro Cooking Academy in Berlin.

 

This year’s competition focused on a five-course challenge featuring international street food and snacks. The six (6) young German chefs were tasked to prepare Lebanese, Argentine, Japanese, New Zealand, and Philippine street food or snacks.

 

The street food chosen by event organizer, Chef Niklas Siebecke, for the Philippinec course was Binaki und Latik (Binaki and Latik), a popular corn-based snack in the Visayas and Mindanao, in particular in the provinces of Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, and Iligan.

 

The adjudicators are all active chefs in Germany, including for the Philippine course, Filipino-German Chefs Bulawan Callanta of AYAN Street Food restaurant and Maite Hontiveros-Dittke, a Dusseldorf-based Chef and food advocate.

 

Philippine Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega lent her presence to the occasion and awarded young German Chef Caroline Glusa with the award for the best Binaki und Latik and a native Philippine bag with Philippine cookbooks and food items.

 

Asked what was the most challenging part of preparing the sweetish Southern Philippines snack, Chef Glusa mentioned that getting the sweetish corn meal consistency right was most trying because they had never attempted to prepare or tasted Binaki before.

 

The Embassy of the Philippines continues to have a full slate of culinary-related activities for the remainder of the year as part of its Culinary Diplomacy thrusts.  END