I had to laugh when I read about the movie Namets! (which means “Yum!” in Ilonggo, a Filipino dialect), soon to be debuted at Cinemalaya 2008. The chuckles are because I just wrote a post on a feast in the making for an upcoming all-American holiday. Just as I pictured how my Peach Pie’s crust is going to turn out, the trailer below fed my hungry (and homesick) eyes with images of native pastries lovingly done by hand in Negros, where I grew up. How truly strange and wonderful to be a baker from both worlds.:)

Carla Gomez of the Visayan Daily Star says this of the movie. (Here’s the full article.)

“It’s the most Negrense film that I have ever known.”

That is how Negrense director Jay Abello yesterday described the movie, “Namets!,” that he is currently filming in Negros Occidental.

The main character of the film is the food of Negros Occidental, it is filmed entirely in the province, more than 70 percent of its cast and crew are Negrenses, and the dialog is in Ilonggo, Abello said.

“Namets! is a colorful celebration of food as well as love, and the love of food above all, which is central to being Negrosanon, and being Filipino,” Palanca Award winner Vicente Groyon, who wrote the script, said.

“Every region in the Philippines has a cuisine unique to it, and the island of Negros is no exception. Forget your diet if you’re planning to visit – from piaya to chicken inasal to guapple pie to kinilaw, Negrosanon food is irresistible,” Groyon said.

If any of you catch this, let me know if it’s worth seeing.

Argh. What I wouldn’t give for chicken inasal right about now!