Good food and goodwill
A few days ago, the Philippine Heritage Kitchen (PHK) came together with the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) for “Kanduli: The Grand Halal Food Festival” at The Glasshouse of New World Makati. Kanduli, to be honest, was nearly 20 years in the making.
Back then, I did a story on halal with Tahir S. Lidasan Jr., who was with the Office on Muslim Affairs and already deeply involved in developing the halal industry in the Philippines.
It opened my eyes to how much there was to understand beyond what most of us simply knew as “no pork.”
The beginnings of Kanduli
When I founded PHK, I envisioned it as a table with room for everyone. And if PHK was going to tell the story of Philippine food, Mindanao had to be there. Philippine cuisine is Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao after all. Take one away, and the story simply isn’t complete.
So I called Lidasan Jr. once again.
Nearly two decades later, he is now the executive director of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos. He introduced me to Director Saleha P. Sacar of the Bureau of Muslim Economic Affairs and NCMF Secretary Sabuddin N. Abdurahim.
And that was how Kanduli—which means thanksgiving feast—began.
Sharing the richness of Mindanao
For this milestone event, it felt only right that the food should come from those who have made it their mission to give us a glimpse of the richness of Mindanao. Those who, through their own tables, have helped make its flavors known and loved far beyond the South.
Chef Miguel “Miggy” Moreno and the family behind Alavar Seafood Restaurant are among them.
Moreno, the chef behind Palm Grill and Cabel, has devoted much of his young career to bringing the food of Mindanao to a wider audience. Both restaurants have since been recognized with Michelin Bib Gourmand distinctions. But his food really begins at home.
Born in Jolo and raised in Zamboanga, Moreno grew up around the cooking of his Joloana grandmother, Oswalda Alcantara Cabel, and his mother, Melissa. Their ancestral home in Jolo was always bustling with people and food. Moreno began cooking alongside his mother when he was only eight.
For Kanduli, he brought us a taste of his childhood table.
There was bangbangsug, the Tausug tradition of native sweets and delicacies served at gatherings and celebrations. These treats are shared and offered to welcome guests. We had putli mandi, biaki, and jaa, or lokot-lokot, with its beautiful crisp golden coils.
On the savory side were chicken pianggang, smoky from burnt coconut; beef kurma; yellow kyuning rice; and his Mindanaoan ensaladang talong.
To end, he treated the diners to the colorful and refreshing knickerbocker de Zamboanga.
A new generation of Mindanaoan cuisine
Alavar Seafood Restaurant was another highlight. For many of us, a trip to Zamboanga is hardly complete without a meal at Alavar. For Kanduli, Alavar came to us.
Curacha, locon, and slipper lobster were flown in especially for the occasion, served with the famous Alavar sauce.
Alavar began with Miguel and Maria Teresa Camins Alavar, whose modest carinderia grew into one of Zamboanga’s best-known food institutions. Today, grandson chef Jomari Alfaro is part of the third generation carrying the family story forward. He remembers his grandmother as someone who loved to cook and create, and credits his mother, Melissa Alavar Alfaro, with helping grow the family business.
Alfaro is now adding something of his own through a new generation of seafood sauces and products under Miguel’s Food Products.
At Kanduli, we tasted salsa blanca, seafood oil, and black seafood oil alongside paella negra, seafood rice, and green mango with Alavar bagoong.
Alavar will return to Manila by March next year.
Learning more about halal cooking
After lunch came the cooking lessons. Alfaro shared some of Alavar’s much-loved seafood dishes, while chef Hanna Yasmin Usman-Yang gave us a practical introduction to halal cooking.
Halal, she reminded us, means much more than “no pork.” Halal means permissible. Haram means forbidden. Then there is shubha—something doubtful or whose source is unclear.
For cooks, this means looking closely at ingredients. Gelatin, for example, may come from beef, pork, or fish. Emulsifiers and flavorings may also have questionable sources.
Alcohol requires understanding, too. Naturally occurring fermentation is not necessarily treated in the same way as alcohol deliberately added to food. Where interpretations differ, it is always best to ask. It’s why Usman-Yang gave us one particularly useful reminder: Read the source—not just the label.
Halal also goes beyond ingredients. How food is stored, handled, and prepared matters. Chopping boards, knives, woks, fryers, and previously used cooking oil can cause cross-contamination.
It all comes down to knowledge, care, and respect.
A step towards inclusivity
Another important development was that CCA Manila, with the support of the NCMF, will now offer its halal culinary program beginning this November. This is a wonderful step toward inclusivity. If we want our tables to be truly welcoming, we need to understand how to feed the people who sit around them.
Kanduli was held alongside Halal Horizons Philippines—the Philippine Halal Industry Summit 2026—which looked beyond the food on our plates to halal’s wider possibilities in tourism, trade, business, education, and livelihood.
What a day it was. Good food, good company, plenty of color, laughter, and learning. But more than anything, there was goodwill.
During my talk on culinary tourism at the summit, I spoke about food as one of our greatest ambassadors of goodwill and peace. That day proved to me once again that there will always be more that brings us together than keeps us apart. Kanduli was a beautiful reminder of that.
