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Mama Sita's
Honorees in Filipiniana standing across a stage under warm light at the Harana centenary tribute, with the Andres Bonifacio Concert Choir and the RTU Tunog Rizalia Rondalla behind them and potted palms at the foot of the stage

News

News Bites

43 stories, 2016 – 2022.

Read Mama Sita’s updates and news on food events happening in the Philippines and around the world.

A few to start with

43 stories

2022

  • 30 Jan

    Celebrate the Lunar New Year with Flair

    Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration culminating in the lantern festival, which will be on February 15 this year. It is often marked on our foodscape with tikoy being gifted to friends and relatives, fresh fruits coming in huge boxes at the market, and many delightful servings of mami noodles.

2021

  • 17 Dec

    Filipino Food and Fun

    MANILA, December 10, 2021 – The culmination of Mama Sita Foundation’s 3-session online Eskwela Caravan was chock-full of exciting delights! Under the Mga Kuwentong Pagkain banner, the event was entitled “A Celebration of the Filipino Flavor.” It was held through Zoom at 3 PM Manila time and 10 AM Doha.

  • 31 Aug

    Celebrating Filipino foodways in their own way

    One of the dreams of Teresita “Mama Sita” Reyes is to make Filipino cuisine known all over the world. That’s why we admire the work done by these individuals, who have made Filipino foodways, cuisine, and heritage more accessible to a wider audience.

2020

  • 6 Aug

    Weeknight Special: Steamed Fish w/ Oyster Sauce

    These days we always find ourselves in a bind. Now that we must work from home, one would think there is more time for taking care of ourselves and our household concerns. Surprisingly, the internal plight of many is just the opposite—when do we stop doing work and start focusing on being at home?

  • 29 Jul

    Love Is in the Details

    Now that we’ve been spending more time at home with our families (and cooking up a storm in the kitchen), the duties we carry out to make everyone’s days shine brighter can become routine—even boring! Just remember that although this is probably the 100th new recipe tried, or the 500th salad combination concocted from scratch, we can still try to make them special by the love we put into making them. That means putting love in the details.

  • 26 Jun

    Felice Sta. Maria on Heirloom Rice Cacao Champorado Balatinaw

    Felice Prudente Sta Maria is a wonderful woman, a kind, generous person, beyond being a distinguished author and culinary historian. We’ve been very lucky to have collaborated with her on several projects over the years. A couple of weeks ago, we asked her to produce a video featuring her talk about what she could share with our followers on heirloom rice + cacao and champorado. Guess what! She produced it on her own—with minimal tech support from us who have minimal knowledge on tech, too! What we learned is that at some point, we all really got to adapt to this new normal way of doing things, tech-savvy or not. The medium changes and evolves over time, but the message somehow stays the same: relevant. And this is one relevant message from history, from our ancestors, which Ms. Felice delivered very well in this video: each grain of rice has a soul, and we shouldn’t waste it. It sounds fantastical, but pragmatically speaking: rice indeed has sustained us for generations and has given our cuisine depth, richness, and yes, soul. We must give rice the honor it deserves by simply giving importance to it in our day-to-day meals. Ms. Felice has shared more interesting stories about heirloom rice, how cacao became our first caffeine, and the origin of our beloved champorado. Watch the full video here:

  • 11 Jun

    Can You Imagine Filipino Food without Vinegar?

    A typical Filipino meal plan would include Fried or Grilled Fish with Suka, Adobo with Ensalada, and Paksiw. They all have vinegar. Fried fish is served with spiced vinegar. Almost all Filipino restaurants and carinderias, traditional or modern, would have cruets of sawsawan (dipping sauces), with spiced vinegar always present. Adobo becomes perfectly balanced with a side of greens seasoned with an oil-free vinegar dressing. Paksiw is a stew of fresh local fish like tilapia, or bangus, simmered in vinegar and spices. What other local Filipino dishes do you cook with vinegar? Click here for recipes.

  • 1 Jun

    The Sauce We Use for Almost Anything We Cook

    We are launching Mama Sita’s Kusina Arabia Instagram soon, which excites us immensely because we like Middle Eastern food, the richness of it, and the spices simply stupefy our senses. But we’re not going to make our versions of Middle East cuisine. We want YOU to share your versions of Middle East food. By “YOU,” we mean those of you, whoever you are reading this from that side of the world who just celebrated Eid last week. We’d love to know what you cooked and ate during that celebration, and if you could tell us more about those dishes, we’d be happy to read your stories and drool away.

  • 16 May

  • 30 Apr

    Metro Manila

    We’re delivering in Metro Manila!

    How many of you doubled your internet usage over the past month? We’re raising both our hands to that.

  • 17 Apr

    We Don’t Have to Do All the Cooking

    The first few weeks of lockdown opened new possibilities for us in the kitchen. We’ve tried the recipes we haven’t cooked in a while like Kare-Kareng Gulay. With leftovers squid ink sauce from Adobong Pusit, we’ve made our own version of Pancit choco en su tinta, while reminiscing Asiong’s (Restaurant in Cavite) delightful specialty. Kitchen multitasking while making sure our food is nutritious and appetizing enough for FB and IG—these are not easy to accomplish, so we deserve a pat on the back for making it to week 4.

  • 4 Apr

    How Planning Meals Can Help Us Save Money and Time during Quarantine

    These days when trips to the groceries are not convenient and leisurely anymore, and when we are uncertain up until when our budget will last before our next pay, our mission as cooks is to manage our budget and food supply well. We must make these goods last for a week or longer if we can. If you’re like us who would hate to eat canned food or the same dishes every day, a little bit of regular meal planning can help. The following tips have helped us at Mama Sita’s Kitchen. Read on and see what will work best for you:

  • 20 Mar

    Cooking through Difficult Times

    We hope that by this time, you still have something to cook with in your pantry. A lot of shops have run out of supply, and many food establishments have closed, reduced staff and limited services to takeout/takeaway. If we’re to read the signs, the worst is yet to come. But we strive to live and do what we got to do. For us cooks, we continue to cook.

  • 6 Mar

    Memories of Sun-kissed Guavas

    It’s the season of guava, the native one, which is small—smaller than pear or apple, but can be just as crunchy, and not as small or as soft as berries. When ripe, they become pink inside and quite fragrant, at least to those people who are fond of it. For the uninitiated to Filipino cuisine, particularly Tagalog, it’s not fragrant at all, but contrary and quite strong, it leaves a distinctive scent wherever it is placed even momentarily.

  • 28 Feb

    Folksy Steamed Okra Salad

    As it is probably one of the least liked vegetables next to ampalaya (bitter gourd), we’re writing this with a glimmer of hope that those who are not fond of it might give awesome okra a chance. Yes, bitterness is to ampalaya, as slime is to okra. It’s that unique texture that can put some people off, whether they be kids or grown-ups.

  • 14 Feb

    Cooking with Cabbage

    Thinking of what to cook every single day—three or more meals plus snacks per day—can sometimes exhaust us, cooks. There are days when we have all the energy and inspiration. But there are days, too, when we feel like robots working in the kitchen, mindlessly cooking, mistaking sugar for salt, and burning the garlic to bitterness during the swift second we took to thaw out a frozen chicken, which we should have taken out the night before. It seems there’s nothing we can do right at the moment, and we might as well just order takeaway. But just then, we notice a sad-looking cabbage sitting in the deep corner of the crisper, and well, it’s still crisp! There’s hope for a simple cabbage omelette or okonomiyaki. Our meal is redeemed by a humble vegetable and a little bit of resourcefulness.

  • 10 Jan

    Stepping Out of Our Comforts

    This week, in an effort to start the year right, we ought to take the time to do something different, and somehow in our own little ways make a fruitful difference.

  • 3 Jan

    Off to a rough start?

    Over the holidays, while most people were celebrating and enjoying a feast, storms and earthquakes hit the islands. On the other side of the world, there’d been bushfires which burned vast lands affecting homes of people and wildlife. We spend a moment to remember all these occurrences–the current ones and all that happened throughout in year that passed. Is this strange climate change going to be the new norm?

A slice of chicken pastel served on a white plate with a green rim — a browned pastry lid over chicken, carrots and sauce — with a fork resting on the plate and a bread roll soft behind it

How Planning Meals Can Help Us Save Money and Time during Quarantine

A slice of chicken pastel on a green-rimmed plate, its pastry lid over chicken and carrots, a fork beside it.

2019

  • 30 Dec

    This New Year, Take A Glass of Kindness

    This old New Year’s song never fails to get us sentimental about the passing year, along with all the people we met, the recipes, and memories we made–all or some of them, good or bad. Although the new year is a great opportunity to make new changes and promises, take on bigger challenges and dive into new ventures, the music is a tender reminder to be kind to days of auld lang syne, old long since.

  • 19 Dec

    Love, Peace, and Paella

    And so the holiday season is upon us. In spite of the fun and cheers, some of us are left feeling exhausted. In Manila, traffic worsens to the nth level, and yet here we are, trying to make our way to the mall to complete our shopping list, do last-minute gift wrapping, and scurry to the most-awaited Christmas program, where we get a rare chance to sing, dance, and have a good laugh at ourselves.

  • 12 Dec

    All We Want for Christmas: What Gifts to Give Filipino Foodies?

    For commercial reasons, Christmas comes early in the Philippines. Carols start playing in shopping places as early as September! We have no idea if there’s a science to it but most shops perhaps find that Mariah Carey or Jose Mari Chan’s classics induce shopping behaviors, with feelings of desire to shower our loved ones with holiday gifts.

  • 5 Dec

    Food, Art, and Passions

    Many of us at Mama Sita’s Kitchen have been here for a decade or more (no, we’re not revealing our age!). In all those years, through stressful or boring times, we did what we had to—cooking, writing, drawing, taking pictures, traveling, selling—thankfully, without killing each other! Perhaps because each has his or her own thing that contributes to the wholeness. But as we worked and ate together, we knew we all shared one thing: a passion for food.

  • 28 Nov

    Thanksgiving Handaan Hangover Cures

    That’s the thing about Thanksgiving, and handaan in general: when it’s over, there’s a feeling of fatigue from all that kitchen preparation, and eating a bit more than the usual. And yes, the hangover from alcoholic drinks and intoxicating conversations.

  • 21 Nov

    Delightful Filipino Soups and Stews for Thanksgiving

    Roast chicken or turkey always gets the attention as the centerpiece and focal point of Thanksgiving meals, but truth be told, without a soothing soup or stew, the table feels incomplete.

  • 14 Nov

    Adobo-Spiced Roast Chicken for Filipino Thanksgiving

    Salamat—Filipino word for ‘thank you’, is what we want to say to you, our dear foodie followers, for continuing to read us.

  • 8 Nov

    Book Feature: What Kids Should Know About Filipino Food

    Other than food, what we love at Mama Sita’s Kitchen are books about, well, still food. So much so that in 2017, when we celebrated the 100th birth anniversary of our culinary (and life!) inspiration, Teresita Reyes, Mama Sita Foundation honored her through a special centennial edition of this fantastic book by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria.

  • 4 Nov

    New Spicy Filipino Recipe to Try This Week: Fiery Labuyo Chicken Wings and Jicama Papaya Slaw

    With the recent chili sauce hype, including the Chili Festival that you might have chanced upon in Makati a few weeks ago, and the insatiable appetite of our followers for anything hot and spicy, we thought of making a special sauce that celebrates our native chili pepper, Labuyo. And no, we’re not talking about Mama Sita’s Labuyo Hot Pepper Sauce (which, if you didn’t know yet, has been around since 2004)!

  • 21 Oct

    Muntinlupa City

    Mama Sita’s Singkamas- Papaya Ensalada and other specialties at Kain Na

    The Department of Tourism continues to put the spotlight on heritage dishes and farm-fresh products with Kain Na!, a food and travel festival that aims to promote the Philippines as a center of food and gastronomy. From its successful initial run last year, the premise behind this year’s Kain Na! is to create awareness and interest in farm and culinary tourism by showcasing the diversity of Filipino culinary heritage.

  • 4 Sep

    Bonifacio Global City

    Heirloom Rice Champorado and Other Rare Local Finds Served at the 6th Philippine Harvest

    The diversity of local agriculture is celebrated once more with the latest Philippine Harvest at the Central Square, Bonifacio Global City last August 30 – September 1, 2019.

  • 22 Aug

    All-Natural Vinegars and Labuyo Hot Pepper Sauce Featured at the 2019 World Food Expo

    The recent World Food Expo (WOFEX) took the ultimate food show experience to the next level, gathering different sectors from the Food, Beverage, and Hospitality Industries.

  • 5 Aug

    Pasay City

    Experience the Richness of Local Fare at the 2019 World Food Expo

    Mama Sita’s Adlai Paella will be one of the Featured Dishes at the World Food Expo

  • 24 Jul

    Bonifacio Global City

    All-Natural Vinegars Get the Spotlight at the Philippine Harvest

    The Philippines is home to an abundance of sauces, dips, and condiments – with every region having a distinct source or base ingredient for vinegar alone. To celebrate and promote the richness of one of its favored dips, Mama Sita’s through the Department of Tourism’s (DoT) Philippine Harvest once again showcased once again showcased its line of all-natural vinegars along with a selection of fine Filipino favorites.

  • 27 May

    Pasay City

    All-Natural Vinegars Attract Attention at the 2019 International Food Exhibition

    No synthetic acetic acid, no cloudifiers: Mama Sita’s celebration of vinegar’s regional diversity draws crowds at this year’s IFEX

Glazed grilled chicken wings on bamboo skewers laid over a banana leaf, with halved calamansi, scattered red bird's-eye chilies, steamed rice and a small glass bowl of dipping sauce behind them

New Spicy Filipino Recipe to Try This Week: Fiery Labuyo Chicken Wings and Jicama Papaya Slaw

Grilled chicken wings on a banana leaf, with halved calamansi, red labuyo chilies and a bowl of sauce behind.

2018

2017

2016

  • 4 Nov

    Seoul

    Mama Sita’s represents Philippines at the ASEAN Culinary Festival

    SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA- Kusina ni Mama Sita, represented by culinary director Joyce Sandoval (far right), joined the recently concluded ASEAN Culinary festival along with other Southeast Asian culinary experts. As each country representative prepared dishes of their cuisine, the Philippine team served classic Filipino fare such as Shrimp Sinigang and Champorado–all warmly received by the Korean audience.

  • 4 Nov

    South Korea

    Stamp and Cookbook Donation to National Library of Korea

    We recently donated Mama Sita’s Stamp and Cookbooks to the National Library of Korea.

  • 26 Sep

    Moscow

    Mama Sita’s Brings Philippine Flavors to Russia

    The Mama Sita Foundation recently travelled to Russia to formally turnover Mama Sita commemorative stamps and cookbooks to the Russian State Library in Moscow, while bringing Philippine Flavors to the Russian market as well.

The stories run back to 2016.

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