Wazzup Pilipinas!!
How UNESCO's recognition of Iloilo and Michelin's arrival in Manila tell the story of Philippine cuisine finally claiming its place at the world's table
The year 2025 marks an extraordinary convergence in Philippine culinary history—a moment when two very different forms of gastronomic recognition arrived within days of each other, validating what Filipinos have always known: their food deserves the world's attention.
On October 31, 2023, Iloilo City achieved a remarkable milestone by being named UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, becoming the first city in the country to receive this distinction. Two years later, almost to the day, the MICHELIN Guide proudly unveiled its inaugural restaurant selection for the Philippines with the launch of the MICHELIN Guide Manila and Environs & Cebu 2026, celebrated on October 30, 2025.
These aren't parallel stories—they're complementary narratives that together paint a complete picture of Philippine gastronomy's emergence on the global stage.
The Soul of a City: Iloilo's Journey to UNESCO Recognition
In the humid heart of Western Visayas, where the Iloilo River meets the sea, a culinary revolution has been quietly simmering for generations. Iloilo is well known for dishes such as pancit molo, batchoy and its own version of lechon manok using native chicken, among other delicacies.
But UNESCO's recognition wasn't about fame—it was about something deeper, more essential.
The recognition is granted to applicant cities for their culinary history, tradition, culture, and identity – which integrates education, science and technology, crafts and farming industries, and environmental endeavors that contributed to the sustainable gastronomic heritage. Between late 2021 and June 2023, Iloilo mounted a succession of activities relating to gastronomy, including art exhibitions, cookbook publications, and executive orders convening gastronomy councils.
The Secret Ingredient: Batwan
To understand Iloilo's cuisine is to understand batwan—a fruit that encapsulates everything UNESCO values about cultural gastronomy.
Batwan, also called Batuan, is indigenous to the Philippines and possibly Vietnam, and it is a relative of Mangosteen. Its fruit is somewhat round in shape, around 4 centimeters in diameter, greenish in color which turned yellowish when mature. It has a sour taste but not acidic to the stomach.
Batwan is actually an endemic species of fruit-bearing tree that belongs to the genus Garcinia, which includes the super fruit mangosteen. But its significance transcends botany. Instead of tasting the usual Philippine lime (calamansi) or tamarind, the souring ingredient in KBL is called batuan or batwan, an indigenous fruit crop that grows abundantly in the Visayan islands of Negros and Panay.
This single ingredient tells the story of Ilonggo cuisine: indigenous, irreplaceable, and intimately tied to the land. Batuan is particularly famous in the province of Iloilo and a main ingredient to Ilonggo's cansi, pinalmahan, KBL (kadyos, baboy, langka), and among others.
Beyond the Bowl: What UNESCO Really Measures
UNESCO criteria includes rich culinary traditions and indigenous ingredients, vibrant food community with traditional restaurants and chefs, culinary festivals, food markets, and educational initiatives. Iloilo didn't just check these boxes—it embodied them.
The city met certain criteria for the recognition, one of which is having a vibrant gastronomy community. Walk through La Paz market at dawn, and you'll witness this vibrancy firsthand. Batchoy places like Netong's and Deco's serve steaming bowls to vendors, students, and early-rising office workers—a democratic feast where the quality of the broth matters more than the diner's station in life.
Since its inception in 2004, UNESCO's Creative Cities Network has rounded up cities from all over the world that view creativity as a key strategic factor for sustainable urban development. For Iloilo, this meant demonstrating that food isn't just about eating—it's about education, sustainability, and cultural preservation.
The kadyos in KBL is one of the country's resilient crops known to withstand the ever-growing challenges of climate change and food security, with its low-maintenance nature and effective soil-enriching properties due to its nitrogen-fixing ability. This is gastronomy with a conscience, food that feeds not just bodies but futures.
The Dishes That Define a City
La Paz Batchoy stands as Iloilo's most famous culinary ambassador—a filling noodle soup combining pork organs, crispy pork rinds, chicken broth, beef loin, and round noodles, creating a satisfying meal suitable for any time of day.
Then there's Pancit Molo, which isn't your typical pancit—it's actually a soup featuring wonton-style dumplings filled with ground pork, swimming in a tasty broth. The name alone tells a story of Chinese-Filipino cultural fusion that defines much of Philippine cuisine.
And KBL—Kadyos, Baboy, Langka—a flavorful stew mixing pigeon peas (kadyos), pork (baboy), and green jackfruit (langka) for a taste that's uniquely Ilonggo. Each ingredient speaks to the region's agricultural heritage, each flavor note a verse in Iloilo's culinary poem.
The Precision of Excellence: Michelin Arrives in Manila
Two years after Iloilo's UNESCO recognition, the culinary establishment looked to the Philippines again—this time through a very different lens.
The 2026 selection features a total of 108 establishments across Manila, its Environs and Cebu: 1 Two MICHELIN Star, 8 One MICHELIN Star, 25 Bib Gourmand and 74 MICHELIN Selected restaurants.
Helm: The Restaurant That Made History
Helm stole the spotlight at the inaugural Michelin Guide Philippines awards. Led by Chef Josh Boutwood, the intimate 24-seat restaurant earned its two stars through an ever-evolving tasting menu that blends Boutwood's life story, global training, and devotion to ingredients.
Helm reflects Chef Josh Boutwood's half-British, half-Filipino roots and Spanish influences, blending creativity with precision. Set around an intimate U-shaped counter with just ten seats, Helm offers a rare culinary experience where innovation and excellence unfold before your eyes.
"I was born into this industry with both parents being restaurateurs and hoteliers, so I had no other option but to continue what they do. My dad from Boracay, my mom being English—it has been my absolute love to do what I do," Boutwood said at the ceremony.
His emotion was palpable. "This has been a childhood dream ever since I was young. To actually come on stage for the first time and receive two stars is an absolute honor".
The One-Star Revolution
Eight restaurants earned a star each: Asador Alfonso, Celera, Gallery by Chele, Hapag, Inato, Kasa Palma, Linamnam, and Toyo Eatery.
Gallery by Chele received not only a Michelin Star but also the Michelin Green Star for its outstanding commitment to sustainable gastronomy—proof that Philippine restaurants can excel both in culinary artistry and environmental consciousness.
These restaurants represent diverse approaches to Filipino cuisine: some modernist, some traditional, some fusion—but all uncompromising in their commitment to excellence.
"What we discovered was nothing short of extraordinary. What sets the Philippines apart is the new generation of chefs. Many are under 30 year olds," said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, at the ceremony.
The Larger Story: Philippine Cuisine's Global Moment
These recognitions didn't happen in isolation. They're part of a larger narrative of Philippine cuisine finally receiving its long-overdue recognition.
Filipino culture places a strong emphasis on hospitality, sharing food during significant life events and on ordinary days. In recent years, Filipino cuisine has experienced a renaissance, gaining recognition on the global culinary stage for its bold flavors and innovative twists on traditional dishes.
The Complexity of Filipino Flavors
Filipino cuisine is a fusion of indigenous traditions and global influences shaped by centuries of cultural exchange. The food is commonly a blend of sweet, sour and salty savory flavours with a little kick of spice, and sometimes a sprinkling of bitter.
This complexity—this refusal to be easily categorized—has historically worked against Filipino cuisine in global culinary conversations. But it's precisely this diversity that now makes it so compelling.
Chef Jam Melchor describes Filipino cuisine as highly diverse, a mix of regional, indigenous, and Western flavours. While some critics pan the lack of a singular representative Filipino dish, Chef Jam sees this diversity as a strength: "We should celebrate our diversity. With over 7,000 islands, Filipino cuisine is more than just Kapampangan, Ilonggo, or Cebuano food".
The Power of Diaspora and Digital Media
Filipino food, with indigenous, Spanish, Chinese, and American inputs, presents a taste of the richness of Philippine cultural heritage. As the Philippines aims to strengthen its global presence, its food has become an effective ambassador.
Filipino and international influencers play a key role in showcasing Filipino cuisine to the world. Through vlogs and short-form videos, creators highlight traditional and modern dishes, often sharing their cultural significance and unique flavors.
Famous dishes like adobo, sinigang, and halo-halo are becoming internationally celebrated, introducing global audiences to the unique fusion of flavors that define Filipino food.
Two Paths, One Destination
What makes the convergence of UNESCO and Michelin recognition so powerful is that they validate different but equally important aspects of culinary excellence.
UNESCO recognizes Iloilo for what it is: a living, breathing culinary ecosystem where food connects past to present, farmer to table, earth to plate. It honors the communal, the sustainable, the inherited.
Michelin recognizes Manila's restaurants for what they aspire to be: world-class temples of culinary artistry where individual vision, technical mastery, and creative innovation create transcendent dining experiences.
Filipino food is more than the sum of its flavors. It is a culinary chronicle of conquest, adaptation, community, and creativity. Each dish carries a story—of families, fiestas, resilience during war, comfort in times of hardship, and joy during celebrations.
The Community vs. The Individual
In Iloilo, gastronomy is communal—the Tabu-an, a yearly cooking competition that requires contestants to do traditional West Visayas cooking methods using the ingredients of the place. It's about preserving what grandmothers taught, what the land provides, what the community shares.
Iloilo hosts several food-centric events throughout the year. The most notable is the Tabu-an: Western Visayas Ilonggo Heritage Cooking Competition and Food Expo, typically held in February.
In Manila's Michelin-starred restaurants, gastronomy is individual—the chef's vision realized through obsessive attention to detail, global techniques applied to local ingredients, personal stories told through plating and flavor.
Both are valid. Both are necessary. Both are Filipino.
The Road Ahead: Challenges and Opportunities
The recognition and appreciation of Filipino cuisine around the world are increasing, but the challenge for the country is the level of competition, perception, branding, and cultural diplomacy.
Sustainability and Preservation
The importance of batuan as indigenous tropical fruit crops that has a commercial value is recognized by the Department of Agriculture. Three agripreneurs from the province of Iloilo are now into food processing and value-adding of batuan. Their products are now commercially-available in the mainstream market.
This represents the kind of sustainable food system UNESCO celebrates—where traditional ingredients become economically viable, encouraging preservation rather than abandonment.
Education and Advocacy
Chef Jam Melchor is advocating the passage of a Philippine culinary heritage bill that officially recognises gastronomy as an art form that the National Commission for Culture and the Arts can further develop. He also pushes for a bigger celebration of the Filipino Food Month every April.
These institutional supports are crucial. Michelin stars fade if restaurants close. UNESCO designations mean little if traditions die with aging practitioners.
The Balance of Innovation and Tradition
Filipino chefs are increasingly gaining recognition on the global stage, experimenting with fusion cuisine and elevating traditional dishes to new heights. This evolution reflects the dynamic nature of Filipino culinary traditions.
The challenge—and opportunity—is maintaining this balance. Much like crafting a good recipe, the Philippines must achieve well-balanced flavours of tradition and innovation to elevate its cuisine to new heights.
A Tale of Two Cuisines, One Nation
In Iloilo, street vendors at La Paz market serve batchoy at dawn, the recipe unchanged for generations, batwan sourced from nearby farms. In Manila, at Helm's U-shaped counter, Chef Boutwood plates a course that tells his life story through Filipino ingredients and global techniques.
Both are authentic. Both are Filipino. Both are world-class.
Whether eaten on banana leaves in a barrio feast or served in a Michelin-starred restaurant abroad, Filipino food continues to evolve—built from centuries of history, but always ready for tomorrow.
The UNESCO designation and Michelin stars aren't endpoints—they're invitations. They invite the world to discover what Filipinos have always known: that their cuisine is complex, diverse, delicious, and worthy of celebration.
They invite Filipinos themselves to take pride in their culinary heritage, to preserve traditional practices while supporting innovative chefs, to see food not just as fuel but as culture, identity, and art.
The Poetic Truth
What's emerging is a complete picture of Philippine gastronomy: rooted in indigenous traditions (batwan in KBL), shaped by colonial influences (Spanish techniques in Iloilo's cooking), reinvented by diaspora experiences (Boutwood's British-Filipino fusion), elevated by young talent (the under-30 chefs Michelin praised), sustained by community commitment (Iloilo's gastronomy councils), and validated by international recognition (UNESCO and Michelin).
Iloilo City now joins the ranks of 350 cities in over 100 countries as a part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, focusing on various creative fields, including crafts, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music.
This historic first edition marks a milestone for the nation's culinary scene, spotlighting the Philippines' vibrant gastronomic identity and elevating its place on the global culinary map.
Together, these recognitions tell a more complete story than either could alone. They validate the past and the future, the community and the individual, the market stall and the tasting menu.
They say: Philippine cuisine has arrived. Not as a single dish or style, but as a complex, evolving, multifaceted culinary tradition that deserves its place among the world's great food cultures.
From the UNESCO-recognized streets of Iloilo where batwan-soured soups simmer in massive pots, to the Michelin-starred kitchens of Manila where each plate is a work of art—this is Filipino gastronomy in 2025.
And it's just the beginning.
The journey from market stalls to Michelin stars, from ancestral recipes to UNESCO recognition, tells a story of Philippine cuisine claiming its rightful place on the world stage—one delicious truth at a time.
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
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