11 of the 20 culinary ‘rockstars’ of MFM 2016 at the festival’s pressconAside from the diversity of the chefs, this year’s MFM is also growing in numbers.“We are very pleased that as of today we have a total of 1,100 delegates registered in the international gastronomic conference and we expect that to grow to 1,500 on the day. We’ve added a total of 1,000 sq. meters now totaling to 6,000 sq. meters. The expo will also be having 270 booths this year, coming from about 171 booths last year,” Bancato proudly said.As for MFM goers, they are up for one memorable gastronomy experience filled with travelling cuisine, innovative ingredients, new food technologies and out-of-box philosophies—all to be presented in a food tunnel resembling a galleon.To start off the congress, Antonio Sanchez de Mora will hold the historical session “Flavours that Sailed Across the Seas,” meant to underscore the different ingredients that travel through the galleon trade.Another exciting highlight is the returning “Regional Lunches” focusing on the basic tastes of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and savory. Today features “Luzon & Panlasa;” to be followed by breakfast food at “Visayas & Almusal” on day 2. On the closing day, traditional and modern Philippine street food takes centerstage at “Mindanao & Streetfood.” The program is in partnership with Department of Agriculture.There will also be booths for buyers and traders to highlight their gourmet and unique products.Finally, in an effort to put the Philippines in the culinary map of the world, MFM 2016 also goes outside SMX. There’s the ongoing “Flavors of the Philippines,” which activates the food events in different regions, cities, municipalities and provinces around the country for the whole month of April, as well as the upcoming “World Street Food Congress” slated for April 20 to 24 at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.“We hope that all of these events will awaken our consciousness [toward] our own local ingredients, cuisine and flavors,” Boncato concluded.
