Blog 4

Interviewer: Alyssa Marquez

Interviewee: Katherine Bauzon

Bio: I was born and raised in Baguio City, Philippines and migrated in the United States six years ago. I recently changed my major from Chemistry (Pre-Med) to Biology; and I am currently living with my parents here in Reno.

For this blog post, I have interviewed a friend of mine, who came from the same country as I did, however, she came from Makati City, which is about 160 miles away from Baguio, but has more of a city life than Baguio City. She also migrated in the United States a year after I did. She lives in Reno, but close to midtown, around 15 miles away from where I live. Other than that, she lives with her mom and her two siblings. One of the main reasons why I have conducted this interview with her is because from where she lived. In Makati, there were more restaurants and food chains that provide a ton of varieties that, even some were from other countries. Today, I want to learn about her opinions on the difference between the food from where she grew up from the food here in Reno.

Alyssa: Since we are talking about food, what dish reminds you of where you used to live?

Katherine: It would surely be Kare-kare, which is basically a meat, peanut butter stew. The reason why this dish reminds me so much of Makati, is because like the dish itself I had lived a life that was salty yet sweet. The reason why I said that, is because life back there in Makati, was hard especially my parents and I live out of poverty. Although, despite of us living in that kind of state, we still managed to make the most of what we had and what we can only afford.

[A:] Going back to what you’ve said that you have lived in a poverty life; food-wise – what type of dishes do you usually prepare in special occasions?

[K:] That’s indeed an interesting question. Since we didn’t really have the money to buy the extravagant type of dishes that Makati has to offer, we stick with dishes that we can afford such as street food, which is over by a busy street. The food that we usually buy to celebrate are, roasted chicken which costs like 5 bucks a whole, then we have Pancit that you can buy for 2 bucks that feeds 4 persons and we can also have an ice cream as our cake that costs about 3-4 bucks, that feeds 3-4 people as well.

[A:] You indeed went through a sweet yet salty life just like the dish you’ve mentioned earlier. I remember my first meal here in America; it was in a Jack-in-the-box in San Francisco. My mom out of a sudden warned us that there’s no rice in this country, or at least in most of the restaurants around here. Moving on, when you first came in the United States, how was the food from Makati, different here in Reno?

[K:] That’s interesting to know. All I can say is, it is indeed a culture shock for me, food wise. The difference between Reno’s food and Makati’s is that Reno has a lesser variety of dishes. Unlike in Makati, they serve fresher and healthier dishes that even includes what they also serve here in Reno. As for Reno since this place is more of a country side, they have a lot more limits when it comes to food resources, which falls into lesser food choices that are healthy and fresh.

[A:] My last question for you is: are you aware that there are Filipino restaurants here in Reno? And how is it for you?

[K:] Yes, I am certainly aware that there are a few Filipino restaurants in Reno, and I have already tried all of it. I have to be honest though, the food that they served are less tasty than it is back in Makati. However, I do understand that they don’t have the correct and fresh ingredients to use. Which also leads them into serving lesser quality and other dishes to serve.