Explore Filipino food and culture from home this week with these Puget Sound chefs, DJs
Last year’s Kain Tayo!, a Tacoma festival showcasing Filipino food and art, sold out. This year’s will be virtual, but the organizers have curated two nights of talks, demos and live DJ sets.
The event name translates to “let’s eat,” which obviously won’t be the same through your computer screen. But local chefs — led by Jan Parker, known for her pork belly adobo and ube pancakes served at area farmers markets and the Tacoma Night Market — will share stories of their favorite family recipes, an integral element of Filipino cooking.
“We didn’t think it would have a huge turnout,” Parker told The News Tribune of the 2019 event at RAIN Incubator, attended by more than 300 people. “It ended up being a total success. So many people showed up.”
She and arts organizer Clarissa Gines collaborated on the project to share their culture with the broader community and to build a stronger community through this connection. They received a Spark Grant from the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, a program built specifically for that purpose.
The pandemic has undoubtedly dampened what likely would have been a rousing second edition of Tacoma’s own fiesta, which in part aims to replicate the lively street parties of the Philippines filled with feasts, music, dancing and — alas — socializing.
Towns big and small throughout the archipelago of more than 7,400 islands in Southeast Asia all have their own fiestas, often tied to patron saints. Panagbenga in Baguio, Luzon, highlights the “season of blooming,” for instance, and Sinulog in Cebu City the Santo Niño. Kain Tayo! brings Filpino-Americans in the greater Tacoma community together to showcase their art and culture.
Friday night will be dance night. From 10 p.m. to midnight, join the Zoom party to enjoy live sets from DJ K aka Special K, who was born in the Philippines and raised in the Bay Area, and DJ Epaulets. Frequent Night Market visitors might recognize Special K’s style, which has evolved from one rooted in hip hop and R&B to a blend with world, Latin and Afro beats.
On Saturday from 5-8 p.m., a group of chefs will gather on Zoom for a “showdown” and Pagkain and Kuwento, or “food and story.” That panel includes Lumpia Love owner Lynette Boado, who serves frozen lumpia at farmers markets and, during the pandemic, has been delivering to whomever has caught her updates on social media.
Chef Irbille T. Donia will cook against Marlon Bautista, who runs Lola’s Cuisine, a Seattle-based food startup also specializing in frozen lumpia. Donia started cooking Filipino food at pop-up dinners in Seattle a decade ago when the cuisine was still flying under the radar.
The virtual event is free to attend, though donations are welcome to support Yakapin PC Mutual Aid, a Pierce County nonprofit Parker and friends formed as a result of COVID-19.
Parker, who will return to her farmers market posts beginning June 6, began cooking for neighbors once her regular business at markets ceased in March.
The group focuses on helping the elderly learn how to use technology, for instance, “to give them agency to acquire basic needs in the safety of their own homes, such as grocery delivery and banking online.” They also work with Filpino youth in teaching culinary skills, financial literacy, as well as lessons of their heritage.
Kain Tayo!
Part 1: May 29, 10 p.m. to 12 a.m., Friday night DJ sets
Part 2: May 30, 5-8 p.m., Friday night DJ sets
Details: RSVP online to receive the Zoom invitation, kaintayo.space
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This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 11:56 AM.