I'm not sure how many of you have married a Filipina, but when you do, you marry not only the person you met, but also the whole Filipino culture - big families, festivals, four Ber months of Jose Mari Chan, Karaoke at birthday parties and central to it all, Filipino food. When my wife and I first started dating I mentioned to her that I like to cook, so on our third date I was set the challenge of creating Adobo without having looked at a recipe - she provided all the ingredients and I had to make them work together. Thankfully I could cook well enough to get me through that hurdle, and over the subsequent months she opened my eyes to a fantastic new cuisine, very different than the many other Asian cuisines that have been well represented in Australia for years.
While I was fortunate enough to explore Filipino cooking with the help of my partner, there were gaps in her knowledge and we could only call her mother so many times while cooking a dish. That is where books like this one come in - when we travelled to Cebu to meet her family, I took advantage and found myself some cookbooks in English to bring home, and this unassuming little book is quite a gem. It really is what it purports to be - it's the style of food we often cook at home - that her mother cooks, and that can be eaten every day.
This book is recommended for anyone who has partnered up with a Pinoy spouse or for anyone wanting an easy way to explore Filipino cooking.
While I was fortunate enough to explore Filipino cooking with the help of my partner, there were gaps in her knowledge and we could only call her mother so many times while cooking a dish. That is where books like this one come in - when we travelled to Cebu to meet her family, I took advantage and found myself some cookbooks in English to bring home, and this unassuming little book is quite a gem. It really is what it purports to be - it's the style of food we often cook at home - that her mother cooks, and that can be eaten every day.
Norma starts the book off with a brief introduction and then an outline of some basic Filipino ingredients, then dives straight in to the recipes. There are easy condiments like the Garlic Vinegar Dip, or Grilled Eggplant Relish, leading in to the appetisers like Papaya Achara, Calamares or Lumpiang Sariwa. The book has some delicious soups - you really can't go wrong in winter with her Bulalo recipe, and she has a nice Payapa and Ginger Chicken Tinola for the warmer months too. If you're feeling a bit under the weather, the Arroz Caldo is a simple but very well received comfort food.
As you progress through the book you'll discover some of my favourites - all the noodles, the Pancit Canton, Pancit Bihon and Pancit Palabok. There's a simple Pork Humba, which is kind of the Cebuano variant of Pork Adobo, and which I've even taught my mother to master, and the delicious Bistek Tagalog that my wife makes best. There are recipes I love to eat but haven't yet mastered, like the Lechon Kawali, Kare Kare and Rellenong Alimasag, but what I really like about Norma's book is that it is really very accessible - the recipes are easy to follow, and is full of the type of things we do make - the slightly sweet Longganisa sausages, the Caldereta and Inihaw na Baboy. Finally, the book finishes up with a collection of dessert dishes such as the classic Halo-Halo, the very rich Leche Flan and my own favourite Buko Salad. I may have eaten several kilo's of Buko Salad last Christmas....
This book is recommended for anyone who has partnered up with a Pinoy spouse or for anyone wanting an easy way to explore Filipino cooking.
