In an Apr 22 entry posted on his Tumblr page and published on the CNN website, American chef, author, and TV personality explained why he feels a personal connection to Filipinos in general.
In fact, it’s this personal connection that was the major driving force for the his show, Parts Unknown, doing a lengthier feature on the Philippines.
READ: Spotted: Anthony Bourdain eating at a Korean restaurant in Malate
“Like many children all over the world, my daughter arrived home from the hospital to find a Filipino baby nurse. Vangie was with her from the very beginning of her life and in time my daughter came to know her son, her daughter-in law, their kids — and in time, an extended family and friends — in New Jersey, Southern California and the Bay Area — and of course, most importantly, Jacques, Vangie’s grandson, her best friend, from whom she has been inseparable since infancy — her older brother in every way but biological,” wrote Bourdain.
“If I go back through old photos today, at least half will be of the two of them together. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, vacations and birthdays, are celebrated together, our families in and out of each others’ homes interchangeably,” he added.
Bourdain went on to relate: “My daughter is no stranger to sisig and sinigang and adobo and holds me in disregard for being unable to procure her the delicious Filipino pastries and breads she finds at her other family’s home. She knows a few phrases in Tagalog and looks at me pityingly when I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Bourdain, though, also turned serious when he said, “Not everyone in the Philippines, I should stress, has such limited options — but it is the overseas worker – and those they have had to leave behind, who interest me most this episode.”
