While lots of people talk about Filipino food in America today, I'm more interested in telling my story as a middle-class kid who grew up in Manila in the 90s. While I wasn't ashamed of having Filipino food in my lunch box, I definitely wanted hotdogs and french fries more than rice - and so did everyone else. But how exactly did Filipinos come to love American food so much? I asked Rene Alexander Orquiza, a professor based in Rhode Island whose research and teaching interests focus on 20th century American and Philippine history. He’s got fascinating stories to share about how 50 years of American colonial rule really shaped not just our food, but to a broader extent, the culture and traditions of the Philippines. Show notes 05:15 About 08:05 Finding an area of study 11:15 Old menus in libraries 12:20 What I found in school syllabi 13:10 American missionaries arrive 15:00 The Fannie Farmer effect 17:05 A trickle down of knowledge 18:15 Del Monte ads 19:45 "The perfect drink for new mothers" 21:40 Hotdogs, ketchup and coca-cola 23:25 Giving context to our food culture 24:50 Why is American influence so important? 26:00 "That colonial mentality" 27:00 Another missing piece 28:05 "Filipino food was from 5 provinces" 29:20 On regionality 30:45 A visit to Marawi State University 33:55 The restaurant reviewer 35:50 Travel guides 37:00 Dinner and a show 39:40 The worldview of Mrs. Taft 44:30 "My parents make more sense now" 46:05 Regional cuisines are the future 48:40 Building a collective 50:00 Tying narratives together Links for this episode * Learn more about the Filipino Food Research Collective here. SUBSCRIBE TO EXPLORING FILIPINO KITCHENS AND SHARE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!