Winnipeg's Filipino community delighted to see Google's newest doodle

When Winnipeg restaurant owner Jackie Wild opened her phone and went on Google Wednesday, she was delighted to find a taste of home featured front and centre.

The Google animated doodle on Wednesday lit up screens across North America, The Philippines, The United Kingdom and Iceland celebrating the Filipino dish adobo.

"One of our home country's signature Filipino dishes featured on the Google landing page – it's pretty cool to see," said Wild, the owner of Tito Boy in south Winnipeg.

Adobo is a traditional classic Filipino dish featuring chicken, pork, or fish, with two main ingredients being vinegar and soya sauce.

Chicken adobo, a traditional classic Filipino dish, is pictured at the Tito Boy restaurant in Winnipeg on March 15, 2023. (Source: Danton Unger/ CTV News Winnipeg)

Dante Aviso, with the Philippine Canadian Center of Manitoba, said the dish predates colonial times before the Spanish arrived on the islands. He said Filipinos would use adobo as a way to preserve the meat.

For him, it was exciting to see Google feature a part of Filipino culture.

"You know, most of our culture revolves around either socializing or around the food as well," he said.

Aviso said adobo is the unofficial national dish of the Philippines, with many variations across the country and around the world – including here in Winnipeg, which has one of the largest Filipino communities in Canada.

"I'm sure people will be curious to know what adobo is, and they will probably visit some Filipino local restaurants in Winnipeg," he said.

Among those offering their own take on adobo is Wild's restaurant Tito Boy. She said she grew up eating the traditional dish and now it's a mainstay on her restaurant's menu.

"It really is a dish that is super personal to everyone's upbringing, because everyone makes it a little bit differently," she said, adding adobo is a good gateway food into the rest of Filipino cuisine.

"A lot of folks who have maybe only had a little bit of exposure to Philippine food have likely tried some variation of adobo at some point in their lives."

Jackie Wild, owner of Tito Boy, opened the restaurant in late 2022, bringing a taste of the Philippines to southern Winnipeg. (Source: Danton Unger/CTV News Winnipeg)

Wednesday's Google Doodle was designed by artist Anthony Irwin, the son of immigrants in the U.S., who said Filipino food was a part of his culture and childhood.

"I ordered some southern-style chicken adobo from a local restaurant to stir up some memories while working on the art for this Doodle, and the first thing that hit me was the smell," he said in a release from Google.

"It was so bright and nostalgic, and instantly filled my apartment with that familiar feeling: this is exactly how things are supposed to be."

Both Wild and Aviso said they hope the doodle will encourage Winnipeggers to check out some of the city's Filipino cuisine for themselves.

"I think that this is really just helping continue to raise the profile of Philippine cuisine and give it the rightful platform that it deserves alongside many other beautiful culinary dishes that are known internationally," Wild said.