We bid a sad farewell to Singapore and resettled in California at the end of 2017. It took some time for our family to get over the heartache of leaving the place where we raised our son for five years and set down roots somewhere both familiar yet unknown in many ways. What helped me during this transition was my involvement with The New Filipino Kitchen's marketing campaign. Starting in 2018, I toured all over the US, from the Bay Area ( San Francisco Oakland Berkeley) to Chicago and NYC, to launch NFK along with my fellow contributing authors. There were also other tours abroad in Vancouver and the UK that our editor and other contributing authors took part in. For two years I participated in book talks, appeared on national and international TV, judged cooking contests, helped with food prep & service for a book launch/pop-up dinner in New York. We came full circle last autumn back in SF to celebrate the one year birthday of the book. Our editor Jacqueline Chio Lauri and photographer Rowena Dumlao Giardina travelled all the way from the UK and Italy, respectively, to mark this milestone with us. It was such a special evening where I reunited with our tribe and met my idols, Ate Jackie and Ate Rowena.
The New Filipino Kitchen: The Sequel is in progress. I can't wait to hear about how the next wave will experience this continuing narrative of what Filipino food is and why.
And I will continue to hold near to my heart my new found family, despite us being far-flung across the country, especially Kuya Rod, Dalena, Alexa, Rob, Vanessa, Paolo, Kristina, Katrina and closer to home, Jo and Lisa.
I hope that someday we can once again sing in New York taxicabs, eat Chinese food after book launches, build altars for our ancestors, accidentally pour confectioner's sugar on each other, get dressed in the pantry and drink chili spiked cocktails. Let's plan for a reunion: villa in Italy or Bali, perhaps?
A labor of love by migrant Filipinos around the world brings forth #TheNewFilpinoKitchen, featuring the White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford, Food Buddha Rodelio Aglibot, MasterChef New Zealand 2015 runner-up Leo Fernandez, Bocuse d'Or Norway 2017 champ Christian Andre Pettersen, 5-time Palanca awardee Francis Macansantos, and many others. This book aims to make bestseller list to raise recognition for Filipino food worldwide.
Praise for The New Filipino Kitchen:
2019 Midwest Book Award winner, 2019 Eric Hoffer Award first runner-up,
2019 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Short List, 2019 First Horizon Award finalist.
Named a top cookbook of 2018 by the San Francisco Chronicle and Epicurious.
PHOTO CREDIT: My Food Beginnings
The New Filipino Kitchen: The Sequel is in progress. I can't wait to hear about how the next wave will experience this continuing narrative of what Filipino food is and why.
And I will continue to hold near to my heart my new found family, despite us being far-flung across the country, especially Kuya Rod, Dalena, Alexa, Rob, Vanessa, Paolo, Kristina, Katrina and closer to home, Jo and Lisa.
I hope that someday we can once again sing in New York taxicabs, eat Chinese food after book launches, build altars for our ancestors, accidentally pour confectioner's sugar on each other, get dressed in the pantry and drink chili spiked cocktails. Let's plan for a reunion: villa in Italy or Bali, perhaps?
A labor of love by migrant Filipinos around the world brings forth #TheNewFilpinoKitchen, featuring the White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford, Food Buddha Rodelio Aglibot, MasterChef New Zealand 2015 runner-up Leo Fernandez, Bocuse d'Or Norway 2017 champ Christian Andre Pettersen, 5-time Palanca awardee Francis Macansantos, and many others. This book aims to make bestseller list to raise recognition for Filipino food worldwide.
Praise for The New Filipino Kitchen:
2019 Midwest Book Award winner, 2019 Eric Hoffer Award first runner-up,
2019 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Short List, 2019 First Horizon Award finalist.
Named a top cookbook of 2018 by the San Francisco Chronicle and Epicurious.
PHOTO CREDIT: My Food Beginnings
