A New Friend's Dilemma

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I made a new friend a few months ago. She's also originally from the Philippines, and she married someone from our town. She ended up getting a job as a Ward Clerk in the hospital, and since we're in the same industry, we ended up talking to one another a lot. Because of my busy schedule, I did not have a lot of time to attend the many Filipino parties and get-togethers. But whenever my schedule permits me, I happily attend. She visited me one day to pick up my old stuff that I put up for sale on Facebook. We ended up chatting some more and her sharing her latest issue with the rest of the nurses from the Philippines. Oh boy... So apparently, during these get togethers, her husband would bring some kebabs and other dishes that he made. Her husband likes to cook and share. Well, it turns out that some of the Filipina nurses don't like it - they took his gesture as him trying to one-up them in terms of bringing and cooking some dishes! I was just dumb-founded. How on earth is a kind gesture of cooking and sharing food be taken as a competition? I for one, will be very grateful for the foods being shared around, and will never even think that it is in anyway some sort of competition or anything other than a kind gesture. Understandably, her husband was hurt, and they decided not to attend any of these gatherings anymore. Of course, I am only hearing her side of the story, there's always two sides to it. But if what she said is true, then most likely I will think twice about attending these gatherings. In my mind, these events should be fun and to form connections, if it's no longer fun and will just make me feel bad, then there's no point in going.