By Anikka Stanley
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
For many Filipinos in Seattle, a major way of connecting with their culture throughout October’s Filipino American History Month is through food. The vibrant flavors and cherished recipes serve as a bridge between generations, fostering community and cultural pride. This connection to culinary traditions is exemplified in the story of Trixia Paraiso and her family who, after migrating from the Philippines in 2005, quickly immersed themselves in the local Filipino dining scene. They bought a restaurant called Kusina Filipina in Beacon Hill, and a young Paraiso would watch her parents and older sister moving throughout the kitchen—the smells reminding her of the family’s old restaurant in the Philippines.
People would come into the restaurant, ordering adobo and sinigang, and gather around the tables in family groups.
At the time, it was just a chore for her; a way to contribute to the family’s main source of income.
“It’s kind of instilled upon us at a young age to help the family whenever you can, even with chores at home,” Paraiso said. “So when my parents and my sister took the risk of investing most of our savings into the restaurant, I knew the best way for me to help is to be in the restaurant.”
Paraiso continued to be a helping hand for her family, but one day realized that being in the kitchen felt natural to her. She enjoyed cooking for friends and family.
“I knew that [with] the background I had with the restaurant and growing up in the Philippines, that this is something that I could do for the rest of my life, and in Seattle, with this community that we are now a part of,” Paraiso said.
Although she didn’t attend culinary school, Paraiso knew that food was a way she could both represent the Filipino culture of her past and share it with the broader Seattle community she is now a part of.
The Paraiso family started a food truck in 2016, called CheBogz — the name was chosen as a homage to the Paraiso parents as a nod to their nicknames, Chez and Bogie.
Kusina Filipina closed down in 2017 due to a rent hike. The family eventually rallied community support to open a new restaurant, a brick and mortar home for CheBogz.
The menu from Kusina Filipina to CheBogz was simplified to feature only key dishes, such as a plate with a combination of ribs, lumpia, fried shrimp, longganisa, rice, and pancit.
“That one has always been a hit in the food truck because they have the meaty party and then the sweet, savory garlic flavor of the sausage,” Paraiso said. “You have your two carbs which are the rice and the noodles. It’s a hit for everyone no matter how old they are.”
The community was able to raise over $48,000 through Kickstarter so the Paraiso’s could open CheBogz in a newly finished building in Beacon Hill in 2023.
According to Paraiso, CheBogz keeps the flavors and dishes very traditional. While they are open to creating more experimental dishes in the future, Paraiso’s current focus is on providing Filipinos with a space where they can sit down and enjoy distinctly Filipino flavors. She also wants to preserve these tastes so she can pass them down to her own daughter.
“Allowing people that experience of going to a restaurant and having that moment where they are like ’Oh my God, I grew up eating this’ or ’Oh my God, I went to family parties that served this dish and it tasted just like this,’” Paraiso said. “Those are really the compliments that we look for and that keep us going.”
Paraiso is far from the only chef in Seattle who was inspired by her family and wants to share their Filipino heritage through food.
Melissa Miranda, the owner and head chef of Beacon Hill restaurant Musang, was inspired by her father as she grew up watching him cook for her family.
Photo credit: Andrew Imanaka and Adam Gatdula
“It’s really important for him to maintain our cultural identity and to know Filipino food,” Miranda said. “I’m really grateful that my dad pressed it and made me proud of what I am and the food.”
Photo credit: Andrew Imanaka and Adam Gatdula
Musang is an opportunity to show the Seattle community what Filipino flavors can taste like while also integrating Pacific Northwest ingredients, Miranda said. In their sinigang dish, for example, Musang includes green apples as they are in season right now and add a nice sour agent to the dish, she said.
Photo credit: Andrew Imanaka and Adam Gatdula
Photo credit: Andrew Imanaka and Adam Gatdula
“For folks who are Filipino, it’s giving them the opportunity to have a space where they can celebrate, come together, gather, be proud, and being able to see their food at a restaurant and not just at home,” Miranda said.
Photo credit: Andrew Imanaka and Adam Gatdula
According to Delano Cordova, president of the Filipino American Student Association at the University of Washington (UW), the flavors of Filipino food are not just what make it important, but rather, it is an opportunity to come together.
“Food isn’t just sustenance for Filipinos, it’s community,” Cordova said. “You’re coming together with friends, with family. You’re catching up with people, it’s not just all about ’Oh I need to eat to stay alive.’”
Cordova was born in Seattle and both sides of his family are immigrants from the Philippines. Quoting his grandmother, Cordova said, “The best way to get people to open up their mouths is to stuff food in it.”
“I have always eaten Filipino food and know the unique flavor profile,” Cordova said. “ I really like learning from my grandmother, my grandfather, and even my dad how to cook Filipino food. My grandma, she makes really good adobo and my dad is more of a soup person, which he is really good at.”
Cordova said his favorite dish is dinuguan—pork cooked in pork blood, giving it a deep brown color. He described the memory of how his mother convinced him to try it for the first time.
“I was about 5 years old and my mom told me it was ’chocolate meat.’ I was like ’I don’t think that tastes good,’ but I tried it, and later on, she told me it was pork blood. It’s now one of my favorite dishes ever.”
Now as a UW student, Cordova goes to food gatherings throughout Seattle and UW, connecting with fellow Filipinos. Cordova has even started taking on cooking himself. His recommended beginner dish is chicken tinola, a soup dish just like what his father enjoys making.
“Everybody has their secret ingredients or secret method of preparing their food,” Cordova said. “As long as it’s good and as long as they’re learning, it’s perfect.”