For years, I rarely saw my culture in the media. The Wiggles helped change that
While scrolling on Instagram recently, I saw John Adamo Pearce – the purple Wiggle – teaching kids how to sing Bahay Kubo, the Filipino song I sang as a child that names vegetables growing in a backyard. Pearce, a proud Filipino-Australian, often showcases his culture through fun Instagram reels with his mum, Flordeliza.
When I see my culture represented in the media, I still experience a 'pinch-me' feeling. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, it was rare to see it depicted in mainstream Western media. But that's gradually changing.
Two years ago, Sesame Street introduced TJ, the first Filipino-American Muppet. Arvin Garcia, a Filipino nurse from Melbourne, won the reality cooking show The Great Australian Bake Off last year. And in the 2023 season, MasterChef Australia featured Filipino-Australian chefs, including Ross Magnaye, cooking traditional dishes (both Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have dined at Magnaye's Melbourne restaurant, Serai, with Ramsay hailing Magnaye's taco sisig as the best dish he's tasted in years).
There's more: the Good Food Guide (produced by Nine, publisher of Sunday Life) awarded one hat to Askal, a Filipino restaurant in Melbourne. The owners of Askal have also opened a bar called Inuman (Filipino for 'drinking session'), making it the first rooftop bar in Australia that serves cocktails using ingredients such as lemongrass, durian, lambanog (Palm liquor), ube (purple yam) and pandan.
Representation matters. It is empowering for children of any non-white background to see their culture showcased in the media. It is not just about cultural pride; seeing someone in the media who looks like them sends the message that they, too, can succeed.
In 2022, there were 320,300 Filipino-born people living in Australia, up from 206,110 a decade earlier. This makes us the fifth-largest migrant community in the country. But that fact hasn't stopped me from sometimes feeling isolated.
As an exchange student in Perth in 1994, I was the only Filipino in my dorm. A Singaporean roommate said to me, 'You're the first Filipina I met who's my equal.' I don't think she meant to be disrespectful. But the only people from my culture she encountered in Singapore in the '90s were domestic helpers. I am mighty proud of these women; they are often teachers who make the sacrifice of working abroad to provide financially for their families at home.
I am often mistaken for Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean or Chinese. At university, many Spanish-speaking students assumed I'd be Latina because of my surname. Recently, an Australian neighbour told me, 'You're not like the other Asians. You don't use chopsticks, right?'
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7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Annabel Bower celebrates the King's Birthday Long Weekend with delicious recipes inspired by royalty
Annabel Bower is an Australian chef and food stylist that lives in Adelaide. She trained at Ballymaloe Cookery School which is a famous cooking school in Ireland. Today, she is going to showcase three delicious royal desserts: Classic Eton Mess Treacle tart (made from breadcrumbs and golden syrup – it was a family favourite for the Mancroft family) Buttermilk chocolate cake Recipe below: Classic Eton Mess by Annabel Bower @foodbyannabel Said to have originated at the famously proper Eton College and traditionally served at their annual cricket match against Harrow, this glorious jumble of berries, cream and crumbled meringue is as posh as it is imperfect—like many a British institution, really. And let's be honest, it's the perfect dessert for an Aussie gathering too—if your pavlova takes a tumble, don't panic. Just call it Eton Mess and carry on like royalty. Ingredients For the meringues 3 egg whites 1 cup castor sugar Raspberry Coulis 300gm frozen raspberries, defrosted. 1 tablespoon icing sugar 1 tablespoon Cointreau To assemble 500gm fresh strawberries, sliced thinly 200gms fresh raspberries - or any other fruit in season i.e. pomegranate, cherries. 200ml thickened cream 1tsp pure vanilla bean paste 1Tbs castor sugar 150gm Sour cream/ crème fraiche or mascarpone Equipment Stand or hand-held beater/mixer 2 flat baking trays lined with baking paper Metal ice-cream scoop Glass trifle bowl Method Preheat oven to 120 degrees (not fan forced, use the bake or top/bottom heat setting). Line 2 flat trays with baking paper. Using a stand mixer or hand-held electric beater, whisk egg whites until they become thick and opaque. When they start to form stiff peaks whisk in castor sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue until all the sugar has dissolved. Whisk for a further 30 seconds on high until thick and creamy. Using an old-fashioned ice-cream scoop, place golf ball – or tennis ball size dollops of meringue mixture onto the lined baking trays, evenly spaced. For individual desserts make smaller meringues, for a shared dessert make the bigger ones. Bake for 1 hour at 120 degrees, shutting the oven door carefully so as not to knock any air out of the meringues. After an hour, do not open the oven door, just turn off the oven and leave the meringues to cool in the oven over night or for the rest of the day. When cool remove from oven and gently transfer to an airtight container until day of serving. The meringues can be made 1-2 weeks ahead if stored in a cool dark spot. Just before serving whip the thickened cream until soft peaks form, stir in sugar and vanilla. Mix through sour cream/crème fraiche or mascarpone until smooth. Push the defrosted raspberries through a fine sieve to remove the seeds, stir through icing sugar and Cointreau to create a coulis. Slice the strawberries – you can add an extra dash of Cointreau to these if you like. To serve, layer a trifle dish or individual glass cups of bowls with all the elements, crushing the meringue as you go. Swirl to mix and eat as soon as possible. Annabel's Favorite Chocolate Cake by Annabel Bower @foodbyannabel This is my never-fail, always-devoured, 'can I lick the bowl?' chocolate cake. It made its first appearance in an English country house kitchen, baked for the three mischievous little ones I nannied, and has since become the star of every birthday bash for my own four children back home in Australia. Rich, fudgy, and impossibly moreish, it walks the line between classic English high-tea and Aussie backyard BBQ. It's the kind of cake that disappears before the candles have cooled—and honestly, it's so good you might find yourself baking it for no reason at all... and that's entirely encouraged. 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Add the milk, flour and water (or coffee) and beat on a low speed until smooth and velvety. Pour into you greased and lined cake tin and bake for 45-60 minutes. You will know the cake is cooked when the centre is no longer wobbly and you can pierce the centre of the cake with a skewer and it comes out clean. If the top of the cake begins to brown before the centre is cooked, loosely cover it with foil to prevent it from burning. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool before icing. The cake can be made in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer. Icing To make the icing simply melt together the butter and the chocolate. Either in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between each one or on the stove top on a very low heat stirring constantly. When melted it will become smooth and glossy, keep stirring once you remove it from the heat allowing it to cool slightly. Then pour over the cake starting in the centre, allowing the chocolate to drip down the sides. Decorate with fresh berries, or chocolates. Treakle Tart by Annabel Bower @foodbyannabel I'd never made a Treacle Tart until I found myself cooking in a grand Gloucestershire kitchen for The Lord and Lady Mancroft. Gooey, golden and outrageously sweet, it quickly became a Sunday staple—especially requested by Lord Mancroft himself, usually after a morning of polo, fox hunting, or some other thoroughly British pursuit. Known affectionately as a 'nursery pudding,' this tart is the kind of comfort food that makes you feel like you've earned a second slice… even if the only galloping you've done is to the table. Ingredients Pastry Shell 300gms sweet shortcrust pastry. Homemade or high-quality store bought. Filling 400gms golden syrup 1 lemon, zest grated 2 eggs, beaten 100gms fresh white breadcrumbs – made from fresh white bread with crusts cut off in a food processor. 1 tsp flaked sea salt or Maldon salt (optional) To serve Ice cream or clotted cream Equipment 22cm Tart baking tin with removable base, 1 baking tray for the tart tin to sit on. Food processor for breadcrumbs Baking beans – ceramic beads used to weigh down pastry during 'blind baking' which means baking a tart shell without its filling. Method Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Roll the chilled pastry out to a thickness of 0.5-0.75cm. Gently transfer into tart tin, pressing into the base and sides to form a tart shell. Chill again if it has become warm. Cover with baking paper which generously overhangs the edges of the pastry and tart tin. Fill with 'baking beans' or dried pulses or rice. Place tart tin on a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes then carefully remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Leave in oven and lower the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius. Mix together the filling whist the tart shell is being prebaked. Combine the golden syrup, lemon zest, eggs and breadcrumbs and whisk until there are no lumps. Carefully pull the baking tray with the tart tin out of the oven and pour in the filling. Gently shake to evenly distribute but be careful not to spill any down the sides of the pastry shell. Sprinkle with flaked salt if using. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until just set. Cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with clotted cream, crème fraiche or ice cream – vanilla or chocolate!

Courier-Mail
4 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
Meghan confirmed for upcoming royal clash
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4 hours ago
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This elusive fashion designer is finally stepping into the spotlight
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