Some of the basic ingredients found in Filipino cooking, like soy, cane vinegar and banana ketchup, can be found at local grocers such as H&L Asian Market in North Charleston. “We use local farms, like Fire Ant Farms, for tomatoes and radishes, Dogpatch Farm for sungold tomatoes, lemon verbena and eggplant, and Marvin Ross and Peculiar Pig Farm for pork,” he said. While some ingredients like batuan fruit (a rare sour fruit) and a specific type of wild garlic can only be found in the Philippines, Kultura’s produce is sourced from Lowcountry farmers as much as possible. “The Philippines has a lot of influence from other cultures, Spain particularly with dishes like adobo, menudo and afritada, but then I took those dishes and made them my own,” he said.Īlthough the menu offers Filipino food, Cagalanan focuses on using as many local ingredients as possible.

The rotating menu offers his takes on her family recipes.

Kultura, the Filipino word for culture, is an homage to Filipino food and Cagalanan’s grandmother, Mansueta.

New restaurants in cooking fever