In the Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, food was not merely served — it was discussed, performed, and remembered. On 16 April, “Haing Muñoz: Lasa, Kultura, at Pamana,” was held as part of the nationwide celebration of Filipino Food Month (FFM) led by the city government through its Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office, in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Department of Tourism Region III, and Central Luzon State University (CLSU).

Held at the Dr. Pedro A. Abella Graduation Site of CLSU, the event consisted of talks, a culinary demonstration and a farm-to-table cook-off, highlighting the culinary heritage of Muñoz and Nueva Ecija, and the cultural importance of food in general.

Dr. Karenina B. Romualdo, vice president for Business Affairs of CLSU, captured this with clarity in her welcome remarks, delivered in the vernacular: “Food is the heart and center of this celebration… in every dish, there is a story, and in every flavor, a memory… even if you do not know each other, when someone says, ‘Come, let us eat,’ it feels as though we become one family and one community.”

Food, she suggested, is the most democratic of languages — spoken across class, region and belief. It is what turns strangers into a community.

This thread was taken further by Nueva Ecija provincial tourism officer Jan Mara San Pedro, whose speech grounded the celebration in place: “In Nueva Ecija, we have so many delicious foods. Did you know that Aliaga has sumang munggo, and Bongabon is known for June beetle adobo? Of course, we also have the well-known batotay sausage of Cabanatuan and the famous pastillas of Cabiao).”

She also mentioned the roasted coffee of Carranglan; pansit kalabasa (squash noodles) and warik-warik of Cuyapo; bibingkang kanin (rice cake) of Gabaldon; mile of General Mamerto Natividad; pinatigas na biya of General Tinio; bibingkang galapong, panara and kurukot of Guimba; dorobong bibe, a dinuguan-style of duck adobo; buro naglamais of Nampicuan; pinaputok na tilapia of Pantabangan; and the tilapia ice cream and kesong puti of Muñoz.

“May this celebration serve as an inspiration for us to further appreciate our own, support the local food industry, and pass these traditions on to the next generation,” she added.

Muñoz Mayor Baby Armi L. Alvarez brought the message home: “Our food tells our story. It reflects who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. In every dish, we carry our culture — we carry our being Filipino.”

She further underscored the unifying power of food, echoing the Filipino Food Month 2026 theme, “Connected by Taste: The Filipino Food in the Flavors of ASEAN”: “Food not only provides daily sustenance but also serves as a cultural bridge that connects us to our Southeast Asian neighbors.”

At the heart of the program was “Food Talks: Kwentuhang Lasa at Tagumpay,” which featured Dr. Diadem Gonzales-Esmero of the Philippine Rice Research Institute, entrepreneur Hannah Nina Vera Cruz and Kapampangan chef Leonard Vincent.

Rice that holds everything together

If food is a language, rice is its grammar. Dr. Gonzales-Esmero’s talk that moved from the familiar to the profound — beginning with a simple Filipino question: “Kumain ka na ba (Have you eaten)?”

From there, she unfolded rice as culture, economy and survival.

“It takes 10 to 12 years to develop a single variety of rice… just imagine, that is how long the journey of rice takes before it reaches your table),” she said.

Each grain, she emphasized, carries labor, science, and patience. It is not merely harvested — it is developed, tested, nurtured. Her warning was equally striking: “Every Filipino wastes about three spoonfuls of rice each day… which, when added together, could feed more than five million Filipinos in a year).”

Rice, then, is not only sustenance — it is responsibility.

From farm to enterprise

If rice anchors tradition, entrepreneurship carries it forward. Vera Cruz of Vera Bella Enterprises offered a story that began not in a boardroom, but in a kitchen — and earlier still, in curiosity. Her now-celebrated tilapia ice cream, she explained, began as a simple question: “What if?”

From that question grew a product that challenged expectations and expanded the idea of Filipino food. Tilapia, long associated with everyday meals, was transformed into dessert — unexpected, but rooted in local resources.

Her talk traced the journey from small baking ventures to managing a growing enterprise, emphasizing that business is not just about profit: “Running a business isn’t just about sales… it’s about creating a lasting impact.”

That impact, in her case, includes supporting local farmers, generating employment and even funding assistive devices for persons with disabilities through their corporate social responsibility program.

Her story illustrated a vital shift: Filipino food is not only preserved — it is reimagined.

A chef’s journey

Closing the talks, Garcia brought the narrative back to the individual — his story of rising from hardship to culinary success. From selling pandesal and balut as a child to building multiple restaurant brands, his journey was shaped by necessity and persistence: “I am not ashamed of my work… all of this started from a dream, and I never gave up on it.”

His message to aspiring chefs was direct: “It’s not beauty that’s needed — it’s heart.”

In an industry built on service, humility and resilience matter as much as skill.

Stories while making biko

The program found its most sensory expression in the culinary demonstration by CLSU assistant professor Jennylynne L. Joaquin, who presented the making of biko-ong, a twist on the traditional biko or rice cake, using uong or wild mushroom as topping.

She cooked the oyster mushroom into minatamis (candied in sugar). Coconut milk was then simmered separately with brown sugar, slowly thickened into a rich, caramel-like mixture. Then the cooked pirurutong, an heirloom glutinous rice, was folded into this mixture, stirred continuously over low heat — a process requiring patience and strength. The mixture was then transferred to a pan, flattened evenly, and topped with minatamis na uong and darker, more concentrated coconut caramel.

While preparing the biko-ong, Joaquin shared details of her project documenting the traditional preparation of rice cakes such as biko, bibingkang kanin, sapin-sapin ang insuyat and culinary practices of rice cake makers from different towns of Nueva Ecija including Muñoz, San Jose, Aliaga, San Antonio, Talavera, Palayan, Bongabon, Cuyapo and Nampicuan.

It was effort to record techniques, ingredients, local variations, and knowledge transmissions before they fade. In her words: “Each kakanin is not just a recipe… it is the history of a community. When the process is lost, the story disappears as well.”

Joaquin emphasized that documentation is not simply academic: “When we document these, we are not only preserving the food — we are preserving a way of life.”

In Nueva Ecija, where rice is both livelihood and identity, kakanin occupy a particular space. They are present in celebrations, rituals and everyday life, marking time through taste. Yet they are also vulnerable — susceptible to being replaced by faster, more convenient alternatives.

She encouraged the younger generations to learn traditional cuisine starting with their own families.

“For the younger generation today… we continue to encourage you to value Filipino food — not just kakanin, but all traditional dishes. Whatever specialty your household has, do not be afraid to learn it from your elders, especially your grandparents and your mothers who pass down these recipes. These will become part of your family’s identity, and in doing so, you also contribute to what will become a legacy while enriching the culture of our country,” she said. “So to the youth, to our students — ask your grandparents while they are still with you if they have any specialties. Those may be what will carry on into the next generations and, of course, help enrich our culture).”

The cook-off as living practice

If the talks gave food its meaning and the demonstrations its memory, the “Lutong Muñoz: Farm-to-Table Cook-Off Challenge” gave it urgency — alive, unfolding, and contested in real time.

As part of the second segment of “Haing Muñoz: Lasa, Kultura, at Pamana,” CLSU students took part in the “Lutong Muñoz: Farm-to-Table Cook-Off Challenge” with the support of Dr. Celyrah B. Castillo, dean of the College of Home Science and Industry. They were tasked to create dishes using traditional ingredients — an exercise that demanded not only technical skill, but an understanding of local foodways.

The competition was judged by Jimbo Español Espinoza, Ria Viloria Sajor and Den Mar Manuzon Dacquel.

The group Hiraya Gastronomica emerged as champion, followed by Wing It as first runner-up and Pantastic 4 as second runner-up. Pantastic 4 also earned the award for Best Appetizer, while Hiraya Gastronomica secured Best Main Course. Wing It was recognized for Best Dish Incorporating Rice. Meanwhile, The Spice Girls took home Best Beverage, and Nexus of Four was awarded Best Presentation.

Beyond the awards, the cook-off showed that tradition is not static — it is practiced, questioned and renewed. In the hands of students, local ingredients became a language through which new ideas could emerge without severing ties to the past.

A living table

Between the speeches, the talks, the dance, and the cooking, “Haing Muñoz” showed that Filipino food is not a fixed tradition — it is a living system. It grows in fields, moves in bodies, evolves in kitchens, and finds new life in enterprise. That system came into view in its fullest form: from palay to plate, from recipe to reinvention, from movement to memory.

And in the end, what lingered was not just the taste of food — but the recognition that every meal is a story still being written.