Filipino food’s secret weapon: vinegar, sharpening dishes for centuries
Named the “ingredient of the year” for 2026 by The New York Times, vinegar can have many uses and personalities far beyond its generic role in a salad dressing or as a decorative balsamic reduction.You can use a splash as a finish to lentil soup or chilli to add depth. Some bartenders are throwing it into mocktails. Some folks use raw vinegar for its supposed health benefits. It can even be lightly sprayed onto cookies.Long before its current moment in the spotlight, Filipinos used vinegar as an integral element in their cooking. But chef Rafael Vencio, who was born in Quezon City in the Philippines, points out that Filipinos use a variety of sources to achieve that acidic hit.“Filipinos have a deep love for three main flavour profiles, particularly sweet, salty and sour,” says Vencio, who is slated to open his Filipino restaurant, AmBoy, in Pittsburgh, in the US state of Pennsylvania, in late spring. “Sour is just ingrained in our palate.”Philippines-born Rafael Vencio says Filipinos “have a deep love for three main flavour profiles, particularly sweet, salty and sour”. Photo: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNSFilipinos use not only vinegars from different sources but also underripe fruits, such as tamarind, to add acidity. Some will make their own condiments to add to foods, Vencio says, usually using some type of vinegar.
