PETALING JAYA, June 19 — Being in prison takes away the basic privileges one takes for granted on a daily basis, especially when it comes to food.

It may not seem like a big deal at first thought, but eating only what is given to you, when it is given to you is no walk in the park.

Filipino-American chef, Johneric Concordia, got that exact experience when he was persuaded to star in a documentary series by television network, Discovery Channel, called Prison Food.

Concordia hails from the Historic Filipinotown, in Los Angeles, California, and has his own restaurant in the district called, The Park’s Finest, which serves Filipino barbecue-inspired food.

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The 39-year-old host spent weeks in Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, in Palawan and Cipinang Penitentiary Institution, in Jakarta.

“It took a lot of persuasion from Peddling Pictures and the filmmaker (Adithya Tayi)... I mean, who comes up to you and says, ‘Hey, do you want to go to prison?’.

“But he was persistent and made me believe that I was the right fit for the show,” said Concordia during a video call with Malay Mail.

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He got hands-on experience of what it was like to not only dine-in with the inmates, but also assist them in preparing the dishes that all the inmates would eat and had plenty of tales to tell of his experiences in both prisons.

Cipinang Penitentiary Institution, Jakarta, Indonesia

Built by the Dutch, Cipinang is a top-security prison in the busy city of Jakarta, which was to house 1,500 prisoners, but currently accommodates 4,000.Inmates socialising during their mealtime in Cipinang Penitentiary Institution in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Inmates socialising during their mealtime in Cipinang Penitentiary Institution in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Concordia and the prison cooks had their work cut out for them, as they had to prepare three meals a day for the four thousand inmates, that equals to 12,000 meals a day.

“It was on such a huge scale and we could only work with what we were given,” said Concordia.

He explained that in the prison there were a total of 35 kitchen staff who were inmates, along with some members of the prison staff as well and that they could only make food based on the ingredients that they were given.Concordia and the prison cooks prepare some spicy dishes for the inmates.
Concordia and the prison cooks prepare some spicy dishes for the inmates.

“So, we try to make things that are spicy, like sambal with tempeh, because Indonesians love their spicy foods,” added Concordia.

Despite not having a wide selection of ingredients to choose from, Concordia praised the inmates for their high-level of efficiency to send out thousands of dishes a day saying that they had a “professional level” of execution of getting the dishes ready on time.

Each inmate is given only one dollar a day, to pay for their meals and buy snacks from a concession store within the prison, so if they don’t spend it wisely, they don’t eat.

Concordia also noted that the prisoners in Cipinang also had a barter system amongst them.

Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, Palawan, Philippines

In stark contrast, was the Philippines facility where things were a little bit more different, not only in how the food was to be prepared but also how the inmates lived.

The Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm is a 260 square km jail located just 14 kilometres away from Puerto Princesa, the capital of the Palawan province.

“It is such a huge facility, it’s twice the size of Paris,” said Concordia.

Like Cipinang, inmates here are given a dollar a day to buy food, but the prisoners also had jobs in the prison not only involved with cooking but also with farming and office-related work.

The prison separates the inmates into three categories: maximum-security, medium-security and low-security.

Maximum-security inmates are not allowed to leave the barracks in which they are held, while medium-security inmates are permitted to work odd jobs within the prison grounds.

But what shocked Concordia the most was that low-security inmates even had huts where they lived with their families — with the kids too!Concordia, 39, socialising with the inmates during mealtime at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Philippines.
Concordia, 39, socialising with the inmates during mealtime at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Palawan, Philippines.

Being a successful chef in the States, you’d expect Concordia to have a lot of things to teach the inmates, but it turned out quite the opposite.

“These guys know how to cook, they know their kitchen, I’m not going to come into someone’s kitchen and tell them what to do,” said Concordia.

He explained that the inmates were all from different provinces around the Philippines, so the food that they made had to incorporate all the flavours all the various regions, based on the ingredients that they farm on the prison grounds.

“We only had protein once a week, so when we did, we tried to make dishes like Chicken Tinola, which is a dish that your mom used to make for you when you got sick.

“Some of the closest memories we have are of us eating together with our families, so we just try to give them a little taste of home,” said Concordia.

He added that there was no gas in Iwahig, unlike in Cipinang, so if you wanted to cook, you had to go down the river to get bamboo sticks and then cure them for five days before being able to use it.Concordia moving a burning bamboo stick into place, so that they can begin cooking.
Concordia moving a burning bamboo stick into place, so that they can begin cooking.

Additionally, another contrast between the two prisons that surprised Concordia was that the prison guards are empathetic towards the inmates, especially the cooks.

He expressed that the guards are very patient with the inmates and often check up on them from time to time to make sure that they are okay, considering that they are working with dangerous materials like knives, hot oil and boiling water.

Prison Food will premiere Tuesday, June 25 at 9pm on Discovery Channel (Astro Channel 551).