Though more and more foods from around the globe are making their way to the U.S., there's one kind we haven't seen too much of yet: Filipino food. Anthony Bourdain thinks that'll soon change, though. He's predicting that the Filipino dish Sisig is going to be the next big food trend, and he plans to help it catch on among Americans.
Given the dish's ingredients, he may have a hard time with that endeavor. Sisig is made of all the parts of a pig Americans try to avoid (at least knowingly) eating, like the snout, the ear, the jowl, the tongue, and the liver. But if we give it a chance, Bourdain thinks we'll find it "casual, accessible, [and] exactly what you need after a few beers," he told CNN Philippines.
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He called Filipino food in general "underrated" and had a theory about why we don't hear about it that often. "I think Filipinos embraced America and were embraced by America in a way that other cultures might not have been," he said. "I think Filipinos in America maybe underrated their own food. They used to be mocked for balut." (Balut is hard-boiled duck embryo, in case you were wondering.)
While Filipino foods' "sour and bitter notes" initially bothered Americans, he thinks we're starting to come around and be more open-minded. He may be right: We're starting to see popular Filipino restaurants like D.C.'s Bad Saint and New York's Jeepney pop up. And ube, a yam used in Filipino dishes that turns whatever you mix it with purple, has become an Instagram trend.
In 2019, Bourdain is opening a New York street market called Bourdain Market, and sisig will be among the dishes sold. He expects it to go for under $10, so even if we're unable to stomach it, we won't have much to lose.
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