Why adobo is the most-talked about Filipino dish right now

In July 2021, a Philippine technical committee was created to develop national standards for famous Filipino dishes like adobo, sisig, sinigang, and lechon. They said they established the committee to help market the cuisine on a global stage. 

“Obviously, this is not a mandatory standard because there are thousands or millions of different ‘lutong adobo.’ The attempt is to define what we will promote internationally and not [redefine] what adobo is to different people now,” the committee explained in an official statement.

However, critics argue that a committee cannot simply baseline a dish as Filipino recipes differ from region to region and standardising isn’t the only way to promote the dish abroad. The Philippines is an archipelago made up of more than 7,000 islands—many believe that there is strength in diversity, whether it is through dialects, skin colour, or regional food.

Some questions to ponder on are: Will standardising adobo’s recipe deem minority (or non-”traditional”) recipes inauthentic or less? With the thousands, even millions, of adobo recipes spread across the Philippine diaspora, how will the official committee choose a “standard” recipe? 

While both parties haven’t settled on an agreement as of yet, perhaps it’s safe to say for now that wherever you are in the world, whatever adobo recipe you follow, adobo is adobo. And the only adobo recipe that matters is what you keep safe in your back pocket at all times.