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One of the hottest food trends of the year in the U.S. is the ube, [[oooh-Bay]] a purple yam native to the Philippines. VOA’s Chris Casquejo looks at the emergence of this colorful tuber.
Content TypePackage
LanguageEnglish
Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: US Philippine Yam - Casquejo
HEADLINE: Purple Yam Native to Philippines Enjoys Growing Popularity in US
TEASER: Trend forecasters predicted 2023 would be ube’s year
PUBLISHED AT: (DATE & TIME)
BYLINE: Chris Casquejo
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: Yu Chen
VIDEO EDITOR: Yu Chen
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): Original video, AP, Reuters
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV __ RADIO __
TRT: 2:19
VID APPROVED BY: KE
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO))
[[One of the hottest food trends of the year in the U.S. is the ube, [[oooh-Bay]] a purple yam native to the Philippines. VOA’s Chris Casquejo looks at the emergence of this colorful tuber.]]
((NARRATION))
After school gets out for the day, students pile into this northern Virginia ice cream shop. Many pick the purple flavor. ((J.P. Noizet, Student))
“It tastes delicious. It tastes like potatoes. It’s just great.” ((NARRATION))
The frozen treat is flavored with ube, a purple tuber or yam native to the Philippines. Shop owner Toby Bantug, a Filipino American, started making ube ice cream 20 years ago. Few people ordered it then, so he shelved it. Now, it’s one of his top three selling flavors. ((Toby Bantug, Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream))
“It is more of a subdued kind of delicate flavor. So even when people try it, especially kids, it's almost like a vanilla, right? It's not like a super strong fruit or something like durian. So I think that's why it's popular. You've got color, you've got a delicate flavor. You know, it's Instagrammable.”
((NARRATION))
Trend forecasting agency WGSN predicted at the start of the year that ube was poised to become a super-influential flavor across food and drink categories worldwide. To come up with this conclusion, the agency tracked ube impressions on social media, its use by chef influencers, and finally, ube product sales by large corporations like Hilton, Starbucks and Trader Joe’s.
((Claire Lancaster, WGSN Head of Food & Drink)) ((Zoom)) “The biggest thing that we noted was that Filipino cuisine continues to gain attention globally and move into the mainstream in areas outside of the Philippines. And so the ingredient started trending a little bit on social media and we picked that up and we just felt there was so much expansion.” ((NARRATION))
It’s usually served in sweet dishes, but Filipino American chefs like Paolo Dungca are using ube as in nonsweet foods such as hamburger buns and wraps.
((Paolo Dungca, Hiraya Restaurant Owner and Chef))
“I just feel like food evolves, you know, through a lens of a Filipino American. You know, I think everything evolves with where you're from, where you're at or the ingredients you're available to.” ((NARRATION))
Hiraya chef Julie Cortes arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines in 2018. Her challenge was persuading her own family members to taste her ube creations.
((Julie Cortes, Hiraya Chef)) “Some of them are like, 'This is like, we're not used to this.' It's weird, but like after that, they finished the whole dish.”
((NARRATION)) Proof positive that the Pinoy purple yam is here to stay.
((Chris Casquejo, VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateDecember 6, 2023 08:01 EST
BylineChris Casquejo
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English, US Agency for Global Media
