If you had a cookbook, I’d run out and buy it tout de suite!

Just finished devouring Jacques Pepin’s delicious autobiography, and he made a similar point when he described the circumstances leading to the publication of one of his earlier books La Technique. He took copious notes during classes he taught at BU, mainly questions from his students who were on both ends of the spectrum of experience, and that is how he refined the book to cater to the average home cook.

I am certain you will do a skillful job incorporating the many comments your delighted (and not-so-delighted) readers into your future MM Cookbook.

The attempt at Pinoy-American fusion naman is okay. Sabi mo nga MM with regard to this particular publication, the author incorporates a lot of ingredients more readily available in their part of the world. So practical lang siya yet the author provides the opportunity for others to somehow partake of Filipino dishes. I have not even seen the book but as long as the author does not make any claim that any of her recipe is that authentic than I suppose, pwede na rin.

Anyway, I find that the older the cookbook, the more “authentic” the recipes are. Take Aling Charing’s, for example. I have a few others. But the titles escape me for now. However, the “Slow Food” (?) edited by Doreen Fernandez is a nice collection of Filipino recipes of old and the accompanying essays about them are really informative.

For Warays out there who would like to stay in touch with the spirit of home through Waray cuisine, there is that published by UP Tacloban. Okay naman siya though siempre, iba pa rin if you learned your cooking from home.

MM, if and when you finally publish your food book, I have high hopes that it would not need to cater to the rest of the world–for now. For good food such as Filipino cuisine and your creations need not find any excuse for whatever difference in taste and texture they have from others. Photographs that entice the visual sense is okay. But food is not all visual. And since you cannot photograph the smell, it will all be in the taste when your readers finally use your recipe. The recipes I tried from your blog are A-okay. Whatever limitations the print media would pose in terms of sales, word-of-mouth would make up for. And then later perhaps, with this addition, the world would gradually but surely take more notice of Filipino cusine. By all means, consider the technical aspects that would help sell your project. But the real test is in the taste and the anecdotes that will make people appreciate the recipes even more. So don’t worry too much. I’m pretty sure that you already have a fair idea of what to put in that book.

Sana nga lang din, it would also be accessible to people like myself who cannot afford high-priced items. Pwede naman mag-publish ng 2 versions even if the content would exactly be the same. Go all out for the high end market. Cheaper paper naman sa kabila. Maybe even less pictures, basta same recipes at klaro lang talaga ang print. Di ‘ba?

The Garden House has decent black paella. There is always massive disappointment, though, when you associate the blackness with super flavorful squid ink