ABUJA, 28 September 2022 - To commemorate the 2022 Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (ManaMo), the Philippine Embassy held a Seafood Tasting Event on 27 September 2022. The event tapped Filipino Expat Vlogger Liza Maaño-Abulencia, new arrival to Abuja from Nairobi, to prepare an array of traditional Filipino seafood-based dishes for a dozen guests comprising resident Filipinos, diplomats, as well Nigerians from media, PR, international cultural and financial organizations. 

 Photo 1: Screengrab from the video of the Seafood Tasting Event (click on the photo to view the video). The video was put together through the help of Imagedotadrica Media Director Ms. Olive Chiamaka Sadiq for the  narration, and Ms. Lois Abba Sambo, editor and journalist for Aso Radio and Television for the camera work.

In Abuja, despite being located inland, one can find (though mostly frozen) fish, shellfish, cuttlefish, and crayfish, that can be used as ingredients for a typical Filipino dish using seafood. The event started with a cooking demonstration of four dishes: homemade Fishballs, Seafood Lumpiang Shanghai (deep fried spring rolls), Pancit Guisado (Seafood in Rice Vermicelli), and Ginataang Sugpo (Prawns in Coconut Milk).

The degustation started in earnest when the Embassy personnel, led by Chargé d’affaires, a.i. and Consul General Roderico Atienza, distributed scorecards to the guests for them to rate each dish on a scale of 1-10 for appearance, uniqueness, and flavor, just for fun. The dishes were accompanied by wine, beer and fruit juice.

Photo 2: The Philippine Embassy held a MANA Mo-themed Seafood Cooking Demonstration and Tasting at the residence of Filipino expat vlogger Liza Maaño- Abulencia in Abuja’s commercial district of Wuse II on 27 September 2022.

The guests included Ruben Alba Aguilera of the European Union Delegation, Ubah Thomas Ubah of the World Bank in Nigeria, Grendel Alvarado-Christoff, wife of the Canadian High Commissioner in Abuja, Marisa Concepcion of ChicKing Nigeria Ltd, Simsi Kaempf of Institut-Francais Nigeria, Kwincel Lim-Anaedum, long-time resident and mother to Filipino-Nigerian children, Dena Lu of eHealth Africa, and Chijioke Obioma of Rightangle PR.

Photo 3: The Philippine Embassy in Nigeria posted the MANA Mo 2022 streamer outside of the Abulencia duplex inside the Wuse II compound where the Seafood Cooking Demonstration and Tasting was held.

Photo 4: Filipino expart blogger Liza Maaño- Abulencia demonstrates how to cook Seafood Pancit Guisado to Ms. Olive Chiamaka Sadiq, CEO and Media Director for Nigerian start-up Imagedotafrica, who the Embassy engaged in the creation of content for its newly launched even as Lois Abba Sambo of Aso Radio and Television takes a video.

Surprisingly, the dish that received many plaudits was a dish of ordinary fried fish intended to represent galunggong, the fish of the Filipino Everyman. As a substitute to the mackerel scad or speedo common in Philippine palengke (markets), Ms. Abulencia deep fried Indian mackarel rolled in flour to prevent oil splash back and create a crispy crust while keeping the inner part moist soft. It was served with steamed rice that seemed to hit the palates of all the guests just right. The convivial evening ended with homemade coconut macaroons and more wine. -END