Filipino-French content creator/businessman Erwan Heussaff emerged victorious in the Social Media Account category at the prestigious James Beard Awards, widely recognized as the culinary world's equivalent of the Oscars.
Erwan was honored with the 2023 James Beard Broadcast Media Award for his outstanding Instagram account.
The ceremony that took place in Chicago, United States, on Sunday, June 4, 2023 (Philippine time) marked a significant milestone in Erwan's career.
In an Instagram post after the event, the content creator expressed his immense joy, exclaiming, "I'm still in disbelief. We did it!"
IN PRAISE OF FILIPINO CUISINE
In the latter part of his acceptance speech, Erwan underscored the importance of raising awareness about Filipino culture and cuisine, noting especially the widespread presence of Filipinos in the food and beverage industry worldwide.
With a resolute determination, he expressed his goal of propelling Filipino food to become the next significant trend in the culinary world.
He said, "Anywhere you go in the world, you'll meet Filipinos, especially in the food and beverage industry.
"In fact, one of our largest revenue streams as a country are Filipinos who are working overseas. Yet not a lot is known about our culture or our food.
"Tons of people have said Filipino food is the next big thing, and I'm obsessed with trying to figure out how to make it just the big thing.
"And so this for me means absolutely everything because it just motivates me further to keep shining a light on our beautiful country, beautiful people, and the food that is made in our kitchens.
"So thank you very much. Appreciate it."
words of gratitude
In his speech, Erwan graciously acknowledged the foundation and congratulated the nominees he bested in the social media category—Andrew Huang, Ewa Huang, and Jeromy Ko of Nom Life as well as Kalamata's Kitchen.
He cited his production team in the Philippines for their outstanding work, expressing his gratitude for their unwavering support.
He gave thanks to his wife, Anne Curtis-Smith, for encouraging and enabling him to embark on challenging storytelling endeavors, and to their daughter, Dahlia, his inspiration.
Erwan said, "Thank you to our whole crew over at TFK Studios and FEATR Media Company.
"Thank you to my family and my beautiful wife and daughter for allowing me to travel to tough places to create stories."
ERWAN: MILK CONNOISSEUR
Before receiving the award, Erwan expanded his resume to include title "milk connoisseur" during the Philippine launch of the plant-based milk brand Oatside.
The event held on May 9, 2023, at the Papakape Intramuros featured a program hosted by Sam Y.G. and an afternoon soiree showcasing the brand's three variants in Filipino dishes infused with an oat milk twist.
Talking to PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) at the event, Erwan said that his collaboration with Oatside aligned with a project he started a year ago, which led him to conclude oat milk providing the most neutral taste.
He recalled, "Long time ago, I started experimenting with plant-based milk.
"Mostly, I just was looking for a lighter, healthier option, but never really found anything I was truly happy with.
"And then, I experimented with lots of different brands, lots of different products.
"I found that oat milk was for me the most neutral taste and then when I found Oatside that it was the best tasting one.
"So now I use it for everything even when I'm making ice cream at home or for coffee."
Asked what dishes would be best with oat milk, Erwan suggested, "I love making another local minatamis or drinks, especially in the summer. Absolutely amazing.
"So you can make like, ginumis, halo-halo, saba con yelo. You can add oat milk to that and it gives you the body and the texture that you get from an evaporated milk and with no sugar."
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