Episode 8: Slow Food Community: Empowering Farmers and Celebrating Local Ingredients with Chef Rhea Sycip

Good and Green

Chit Juan chats with Chef Rhea Sycip as she shares her journey into the Slow Food Movement and her efforts to support farmers in Cavite. She discusses the struggles farmers face in selling their produce and the steps she's taking to help. Chef Rhea also reveals how she uses local ingredients in her continental recipes, highlighting her dedication to sustainability and Filipino culinary heritage.

GUEST BIO:

Rhea Sycip is an Executive Chef and is the owner of the Flour Pot Manila, a multi-awarded brand known for its premium cake line. She also helps her husband with their farm-to-table restaurant, The Fatted Calf. With its thrust of helping local farmers, she and her husband joined Slow Food, with Rhea leading the Cavite Community. In 2023, Rhea was chosen as one of the country’s outstanding women entrepreneurs awarded by ASEAN-AWEN, representing the Philippines in Indonesia. Currently, she spends her time working with farmers, consulting for major food brands and working with Unilab as its Food and Beverage head. She is also expanding her bakery to Manila.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• Chef Rhea's Journey into the Slow Food Movement
• Challenges Faced by Farmers in Marketing and Selling Their Produce
• Chef Rhea's Initiatives to Support Farmers in Cavite
• Incorporating Local Ingredients in Continental Cuisine

QUOTES:

• “Learning between the farmer and the chef is something very important to us.” - Chef Rhea
• “It was just so natural that we wanted to help the farmers. We wanted to use whatever it was, whatever was available in our area.” - Chef Rhea
• “It was just so amazing when we met with the farmers and then they told us stories about rice cakes, about vegetables, about all sorts of dishes that I’ve never heard of.” - Chef Rhea
• “There is this relationship that you build with them that encourages them to keep producing, I would say, old ingredients or arc of taste ingredients as we call them in Slow Food.” - Chit Juan
• “You have become the bridge between the farmer and the market and the consumers.” - Chit Juan
• “When people start to buy it, the cooks and the farmers will start to plant it again. So that's basically our goal as a chef. “ - Chef Rhea

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Follow Chef Rhea on Instagram
• Follow Flour Pot Manila on Instagram

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