Redefining Filipino Cuisine

Award-winning chef John Rivera has long reimagined Filipino cuisine through a fine-dining lens, yet it’s ube that has become an unexpected global sensation. In this episode, Rivera joins Jess Ho to unpack how one ingredient came to symbolise an entire culture in the West, and what that kind of spotlight means for Filipino chefs navigating visibility, identity and the ongoing push for recognition in Australia.

Filipino food is much more than just ube, sweet spaghetti, hot dogs and fried pork.

John Rivera

Host of For The Culture Jess Ho (left) and award-winning chef John Rivera.

I want to be able to change people's dialogue when it comes to Filipino food from, ‘let's go try Filipino food’ to ‘let's go have Filipino food’. That's a very powerful statement to change.

John Rivera

Credits

Hosted and Created by Jess Ho

Executive Producer: Beth Atkinson-Quinton

Senior Producer: Elle Marsh

Producer: Bez Zewdie

Sound Designer: Nicole Pingon

Mixed by Max Gosford

Theme and additional original music is by Jon Tjhia

Artwork: Jason Phu

SBS team: Joel Supple, Bernadette Phương Nam Nguyễn and Philip Soliman