Filipino chef Ferdinand “Budgie” Montoya is keen on reconnecting with his Filipino roots through food. Photo courtesy of Meatopia

23 August 2018 LONDON—Ferdinand Montoya will be the first Filipino to join Meatopia, the United Kingdom’s biggest grilled meat cookout at Tobacco Dock, London on 31 August 2018.  Meatopia runs from 31 August to 02 September 2018 and is considered a legendary event for food lovers in the UK.

Budgie, as he is more popularly called, will join a powerhouse lineup of 47 other chefs from around the world who were handpicked to be part of the festival.  Budgie will be serving Filipino barbecue skewers (diced pork shoulder marinated and glazed in soy sauce, calamansi juice, banana ketchup, 7UP, garlic, and ginger) with atchara to hefty queues of people during the festival.  An estimated 4,000-5,000 people per day are expected to be at Meatopia, which is on its sixth year this year.

Budgie moved from Sydney to London in 2012 and left his job in the information technology industry to pursue his passion for food.  Budgie honed his culinary skills from working in the kitchens of top restaurants in London including the Michelin-starred Restaurant Story, Soho House & Co., Flat 3, and Foley’s in Fitzrovia, a restaurant famous in London for marrying Easter and Western flavours.

“I think food is the gateway into anyone’s culture,” said Budgie. “Food transcends the barriers that separate us—be it politics, religion, or race and allows us all to connect through our primary human function of eating. Once people start trying Filipino food it gives them the confidence to ask questions about where and how the flavours came about. That dialogue opens them up to not only the culinary culture but the rich cultural history that the Philippines has.”

Although he was raised in Australia, it was his mother’s cooking that ultimately inspired Budgie to rediscover his Filipino roots. Pinakbet, adobo, and other popular Filipino dishes ignited his interest to learn more about Filipino culture through the Philippines’ rich and diverse culinary tradition.  Since learning how to whip up Filipino dishes, Budgie has been constantly expanding his repertoire of Filipino dishes while at the same time reinterpreting Filipino favourites to tickle the discerning taste buds of Londoners.  In fact, Budgie plans to embark on a month-long visit to the Philippines to learn more about how to prepare Filipino food, especially lechon.

Budgie’s love affair with Filipino cuisine spawned Sarap London, a supper club in London that is gaining widespread popularity among London’s culinary circles.  Sarap which aims to retell the story of Filipino cuisine to today’s generation of foodies. 

“For me this has been a journey of rediscovery to my cultural heritage,” said Budgie. “I never planned to make Sarap into something more than a side project and certainly not something I had intended to pursue as business.  But the more I rediscovered the more I fell in love and the more my enthusiasm grew.  My aim is simple really: I want Filipino cuisine to have its own identity in the culinary world.”

Through Sarap, Budgie has been giving traditional Filipino food such a sisig, adobo, and lechon kawali a unique and contemporary twist, as a way of introducing the cuisine to those who have never tried it.  Think lechon kawali and adobo sliders, cassava tarts, and sea bass kinilaw nestled nicely in ube taco shells!

“The energy of younger generations of Filipinos in the United Kingdom to use food as a medium to tell the story of Filipino culture is inspiring and invigorating,” said Philippine Ambassador Antonio M. Lagdameo.  “By introducing Filipino cuisine to the British in a creative and innovative way, second generation overseas Filipinos such as Chef Budgie are among our most effective purveyors of Philippine culture in the UK.”

Meatopia was founded by American food writer and historian Josh Ozersky whose claim to fame was his stint as editor of New York magazine’s food blog, Grub Street.  The festival was later exported to the UK by Birmingham chef Richard Turner.  END

Budgie sprinkles the finishing touch on a plate of pork sisig scotch egg. Photo courtesy of Sarap London

Chef Budgie reinterpreted kinilaw as sea bass kinilaw in ube taco shells in one of the Sarap London Supper Club sessions. Photo courtesy of Sarap London

Sarap London gave London foodies a taste of Western Visayas flavours with Inasal Chicken Wings with sukang pinakurat on the side. Photo courtesy of Sarap London