From engaging cooking videos to impressive collaborations that showcase Filipino cuisine, TikTok personality and chef Abi Marquez makes her home country proud
The collaboration between the Lumpia Queen Abi Marquez and the renowned English chef Gordon Ramsay was one that we Filipinos have been waiting too long for. In their recent collaboration, Abi Marquez took Chef Ramsay’s world-famous Beef Wellington and placed it in lumpia wrappers, which Gordon simply loved. To others, this may be just another one of her long-awaited content collaborations, but this proved how Abi as a content creator is doing her part in introducing the rest of the world to Filipino food.
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Reinventing Filipino Food
To many, it may seem like TikTok personality Abi Marquez is challenging herself to put anything in a lumpia wrapper, hence her title, Lumpia Queen. The fillings of a peach mango pie, crab cakes, shawarma, and even pumpkin pie were some of the food the Filipino TikTok star has made into the popular party snack. These are only a handful of her content, though.
The Lumpia Queen has a knack for reinventing the Filipino food we know today. Turning the beloved Peach Mango pie into crepe rolls, adding a taco wrap around dinakdakan, and even sizzling Sinigang—all these foods are Abi’s way of reimagining Filipino food in unconventional ways that make perfect sense.
Surprising Collaborations
Aside from her long-awaited collaboration with Gordon Ramsay, she has also partnered with various creators all over the world: Nigel “Uncle Roger” Ng, Christmas Star Jose Mari Chan, young TikTok chef Cooking with Kian, ex-Michelin cook Chef Boy Lee, Albert Can Cook, American artist Saweetie, Korean content creator Doobydobap, Andy Cooks and so much more.
Each collaboration is a marriage of cultures and traditions, which makes these partnerships enjoyable to watch. Most of the time, they take turns making each other’s food from their culture, and other times, they combine their culinary traditions together, such as the Beef Wellington lumpia, Bicol Express wings with Kian, and Kimchi Fried Rice in lumpia wrappers. More than the views, it’s not just a partnership of creators, but an introduction and collaboration of culinary practices that the Lumpia Queen and the other content creators share.
Elevating Filipino Culinary Traditions
Many of today’s creators have built their careers from TikTok, using the space and platform to introduce themselves, their personalities, and their content. Abi Marquez uses hers to showcase her talent as a creative chef and to showcase Filipino culinary traditions, from classic childhood snacks to elevated Filipino staple dishes.
Abi’s passion for uplifting her culture has brought her several well-deserved accolades such as the People’s Voice Winner from the 28th Webby Awards, Foodie Creator of the Year from the Tiktok Awards in 2023, and a bronze award from the Hashtag Asia Awards for Best Campaign by a Mega Influencer. Impressively, the Lumpia Queen was also nominated for the 2024 James Beard Media Awards, which recognized chefs, restauranters, authors, and journalists in the food space, and was also part of Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30.
Featured Image and Photos: ABI MARQUEZ (via Instagram)
