Purple
Oct 1, 2026 · 1 hr 27 min · 11 segments
Welcome to *Ube Industrial Complex,* a food-motivated limited podcast series that explores culinary scenes and broader pop cultural appetites from a Filipino American and Canadian POV. Co-hosted…
Oct 1, 2026 · 1 hr 27 min · 11 segments
Welcome to *Ube Industrial Complex,* a food-motivated limited podcast series that explores culinary scenes and broader pop cultural appetites from a Filipino American and Canadian POV. Co-hosted…
Karen TongsonHostAdrian De LeonHost
James ZarsadiazHostWell, first, thank you for the Olivia Rodrigo mention because one of my favorite little Ube citations that she makes, I don't know if you all remember this, but an Erewhon, which is for folks who are not familiar, a highly luxurious luxury grocery store chain in Los Angeles.
Olivia Rodrigo, I think in 2023, had a feature and it was purple and it was for her album promo and it was called Good for your guts,
But also number two, I think people tend to misunderstand – and by people, I mean companies because apparently corporations are people too.
Corporations tend to use ube as a coloring agent versus what it is, which is deeply sweet, savory, nutty, right? Like Filipinos before it kind of blew up tend to associate it with things like ice cream, purees if you pound it down, right? And like mix in like condensed milk and stuff like that as halaya.
mostly in Luzon, in the Beagle regions, but also in central Luzon, which were formerly rice producing, right? And they're very like water rich, both right next to the water, but also a lot of water coming in through the Pangasinan Delta, the Lagayan Gulf, which is to the northwest.
This is a few years after, you know, Andrew Zimmer and the, the, the, the, the famous glutton, the infamous glutton, you know, declared that Filipino food was to be the next big thing.
Well, first, thank you for the Olivia Rodrigo mention because one of my favorite little Ube citations that she makes, I don't know if you all remember this, but an Erewhon, which is for folks who are not familiar, a highly luxurious luxury grocery store chain in Los Angeles.
Olivia Rodrigo, I think in 2023, had a feature and it was purple and it was for her album promo and it was called Good for your guts,
But also number two, I think people tend to misunderstand – and by people, I mean companies because apparently corporations are people too.
Corporations tend to use ube as a coloring agent versus what it is, which is deeply sweet, savory, nutty, right? Like Filipinos before it kind of blew up tend to associate it with things like ice cream, purees if you pound it down, right? And like mix in like condensed milk and stuff like that as halaya.
mostly in Luzon, in the Beagle regions, but also in central Luzon, which were formerly rice producing, right? And they're very like water rich, both right next to the water, but also a lot of water coming in through the Pangasinan Delta, the Lagayan Gulf, which is to the northwest.
This is a few years after, you know, Andrew Zimmer and the, the, the, the, the famous glutton, the infamous glutton, you know, declared that Filipino food was to be the next big thing.
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