MasterChef finalist, content creators and journalists, gathered in Frankfurt to celebrate the ingredient taking the world by storm — and the people behind it
FRANKFURT, 28 April 2026 — Content creators, journalists, and a MasterChef finalist came together for the event, “Ube Lovers Kitchen: An Afternoon of Ube and Filipino Flavors” — a culinary extravaganza held on 25 April 2026 in the heart of Frankfurt that was equal parts celebration and provocation.
The Chef, the Ingredient, and the Bigger Story
Chef Stephen Nehls and Jhan Araja at the Ube Lovers’ Kitchen
At the center of the afternoon was Filipino-German Stephen Nehls, top 15 finalist of MasterChef Germany and winner of Das perfekte Dinner, who cooked with ube not as a trend ingredient, but as a cultural artifact. Drawing on his Filipino heritage rooted in Bohol, Chef Nehls traced ube’s journey from Philippine farms to global menus, presenting both traditional preparations and contemporary interpretations that showed why the ingredient has captivated chefs and food lovers far beyond the Philippines.
Hosting the afternoon was Jhan Araja (@filipinoingermany), a Filipino-German content creator who has been turning heads across social media for his sharp, warm, and frequently hilarious take on what it means to be Filipino in Germany, and whose easy command of the room on the day made thirty strangers feel what it meant to be in a Filipino merienda.
“Ube isn’t just having a moment,” said Philippine Consul General Marie Yvette L. Banzon Abalos, who welcomed the guests. “It is a repository of memory, locality, and identity — and the people telling its story need to be people who understand where it actually comes from.”
That framing, who tells the story, and how ran through the entire event. The approximately 30 content creators in the room, drawn from German and Filipino-German communities with significant followings across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, were there to learn, engage and taste test ube and other rising Filipino flavors. A journalist from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany’s most-read national dailies, was also in attendance.
From Kitchen to Farm: The Ube Lovers Tour
The event served as the official launch of the Ube Lovers Tour (25 November – 3 December 2026), an experiential travel initiative designed to bring food-curious travelers directly to the source: Philippine farms and local communities where ube is grown, harvested, and woven into everyday life. The tour, conceptualized by the Philippine Consulate General, was presented by DOT Frankfurt head Dakila Gonzales, who also situated the initiative within a broader surge of global interest in Philippine cuisine — including the recent expansion of the Michelin Guide into the Philippines.
A second activation, Ube Fiesta Cologne (20–21 June 2026), was also previewed at the event, offering German audiences a chance to feel what ube tastes like and how it is treated by the Filipino community amidst the crop’s mainstream success.
Beyond the Hype
Attendees were treated to ube in formats ranging from the traditional to the unexpected: ube halaya turned to ube turon, ube liqueur, ube latte, and a coconut-ube cloud drink prepared by another Filipino-German talent, barista Carlos Domingo, alongside other Filipino flavor profiles including calamansi. Sunlight Foods, a Hamburg-based distributor of Philippine-sourced ube powder, provided giveaways as part of a deliberate push to connect enthusiasm for the ingredient back to traceable, Philippine-origin supply chains.
The conversations that followed were telling. Members of Frankfurt’s Filipino-German community spoke of growing confidence in bringing Filipino food into the mainstream German market through restaurants, food businesses, and entrepreneurial ventures. There was a palpable sense that the moment is real, and that it belongs to them.
Ube may have brought everyone to the table. But by the end of the afternoon, the conversation had moved well beyond ube into questions of culture, origin, and what it looks like when a cuisine finally gets the global moment it deserves.
About the Ube Lovers Tour Travel period: 25 November – 3 December 2026. Presented by the Philippine Department of Tourism Frankfurt. More information here: bit.ly/ubeloverstour
About Ube Fiesta Cologne 20–21 June 2026, Jugendpark, Cologne, Germany.
Media Contact: Philippine Consulate General Frankfurt (frankfurt.pcg@dfa.gov.ph)