FEATR rediscovers the diversity of Filipino culture through food

THE WHOLE IDEA BEHIND FEATR, SAYS ITS FOUNDER ERWAN HEUSSAFF, IS TO MAKE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S NO ONE WAY TO MAKE FILIPINO FOOD.

- By OLEEN FLORENDO

When Erwan Heussaff transitioned his food-focused YouTube channel into the media company FEATR, it came from a vision that the stories of our cuisines and culture deserve to be truly understood by more Filipinos.

"The whole idea was to make people understand that there's no one way to make Filipino food," says Erwan. "It was important for us to be able to do that right."

By traveling to local kitchens, salt flats, coastal drying stations, and small islands, FEATR invites people to see Filipino food in its fuller, more nuanced context. "I always say Filipino food runs the spectrum — from karinderyas, to Jollibee, to the toyo restaurants, all of that is Filipino food, and it's all different facets and variations of it."

That same philosophy applies to our food in the regions. Erwan emphasizes that Filipino food is hyperlocal, just as it is hyperseasonal. "Because we all live in regional silos, we all think we're experts until you're confronted with another culture from a different island."

A Manileño's memory of sinigang can be largely different from a person who lived in Iloilo, whose sinigang's pampaasim is made out of batuan. These regional variations are inevitable outcomes for a country made up of over 7,000 islands.