Shameless Buns launches Magkasama—a virtual Christmas market with inspired Filipino foods, art, and music
Food-truck founders bring local Filipino-Canadian creatives together for festive online pop-up
These are my Konfections is a local Filipino food company that specializes in chocolate-dipped strawberries, like these ones with ube, coconut, pandan, and mango, It’s participating in the Magkasama virtual Filipino Christmas market.
Magkasama, a virtual Filipino Christmas-themed market runs to November 29.
MATT BRENNAN AND Corvette Romero are the crazily creative duo behind Shameless Buns, a Vancouver food jeepney (truck) that specializes in Filipino-inspired sandwiches, fries, desserts and the occasional wacky creation (think SPAM tasting flight or spaghetti lumpia). Their mission is to open non-Filipinos’ minds and palates to the incredibly diverse and complex cuisine of the Philippines.
One way they’re doing that is through Magkasama, a virtual Filipino Christmas-themed market, on now till November 29.
“Magkasama—which means together in Tagalog—was created to celebrate all the wonderful local Filipino-Canadian owned businesses throughout the Lower Mainland,” Romero tells Stir. “We are focused on working with progressive and passionate entrepreneurs who highlight their heritage while introducing non-Filipino people to the culture through food, art, music and more.
“Our vendors are hand-selected because we genuinely love them and want more people to discover their amazing brands,” she says. “We work with local businesses that don’t have a traditional retail presence or their own storefront. The new wave of food or product-based businesses are selling strictly through Facebook or Instagram, and our virtual market was created to bridge that gap—essentially to centralize the discovery process.”
Here’s a small sampling of what’s on offer: Bukobaba’s coconut jam and black vinegar; Bluebird Cakery’s cake in a jar (including a Magkasama exclusive coconut-calamansi flavour); Bellie Bakes’ bibingka (rice cakes) and ube swirls; buko (coconut),-pandan crinkles by Cammmy’s; Ensaimada Moments’ savoury and sweet ensaimada (brioche); Hunter Browns’ brown butter cubes; Taste JPN’s baked sushi; Hapag Restaurant’s boku pies and barbecued pork skewers; Desserts by Ky’s broken glass Jell-O; Juju Foods’ pork sisig and holiday ham; Tenapaii’s pandesal “bear buns”; dipped strawberries by These are my Konfections’; Unit 215’s bulalosteak with sinigang gravy; the Sweet Alley’s Christmas baubles filled with dainty sweets; and Gigil Clothing’s Filipino-inspired tote bags and face masks.
You’ll also find Filipino coffee beans, chocolate, cookies, macarons, bubble tea, taho (tofu pudding), greeting cards, postcards, and more, with many of the items Christmas-themed.
Here’s how it works: shop online until midnight November 29. You’ll get a time slot to pick up your goods between December 4 and 6 at 302 Industrial Avenue. With strict COVID-19 protocols in place, someone will meet you outside with your order.
The market is also supporting relief efforts for recent typhoons Vamco and Gomi in the Philippines by including a donation option upon checkout. The storms have injured hundreds and left thousands of people homeless.
On December 5, members of the Tabletutors DJ Academy will be playing music at a safe distance and will kick off their toy drive. (You can drop off a new, unwrapped toy donation of any size.)
“As an added bonus,” Romero says, “the Shameless Buns food truck will be open during the pick-up period, so customers can get shameless!”
The founders of Shameless Buns, a Vancouver Filipino food jeepney (truck) launched Magkasama.
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