by Rose Cruz Churma
Filipinos associate Christmas with faith, family and food.
Some dishes trigger happy memories of past Christmas gatherings when families from far away make it a tradition to come home and partake of food prepared with love and care.
This book is a compilation of contemporary recipes inspired by Filipino cuisine or dishes from around the world that the Diasporic Filipino has adopted to suit his or her tastes.
Food is a huge part of our lives, and when combined with preparing for one of the most important events of the year, we prepare weeks ahead for that special meal —the traditional noche buena and/or family Christmas meal.
This book is a handy reference for the newbie hostess or ate or tita recently appointed to take on family traditions of hosting the family gathering.
The dishes are made to suit contemporary tastes with innovative modifications to make them affordable, and easy to prepare without losing its classic flavors that trigger happy memories.
The recipes also acknowledge technological innovations such that, each recipe has a QR code. The designated chef can scan the code to connect to its how-to-video using one’s smartphone.
Instead of a list of ingredients, the items to be used for the dish are grouped into sets to ensure that the chef is organized and aware of which ingredients to prep first, and to anticipate the sequencing of preparations.
Chef Tatung, the author of this book, is all about “working outside the box, making cooking traditions more relevant in this day and age, and whipping up heartwarming feasts from basic ingredients you can find in your kitchen”—or ingredients you can readily find at your local Costco.
One such dish is bellychon, the next best thing to the traditional lechon, but one you can roast in your own oven.
This dish is worth trying. It will have the taste and crunch we are familiar with, but without the logistical nightmare of carving out the typical lechon (or refrigerating the carcass for future meals).
Another dish is the “Special Pinoy Spaghetti” which will surely be a hit with the Gen-Zs (and younger) in the group.
The dish uses—aside from the usual ingredients—the sweet Filipino-style spaghetti sauce, banana ketchup, and hot dogs. But the ingredient that baffled me is—condensed milk!
Yes, condensed milk, the sweet mush I use for my coffee, and sweeten my breakfast pan de sal.
Chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou’s is also an entrepreneur, author and celebrity TV personality, and social media influencer.
His career in the food industry started in 2010 in Quezon City where he gained a steady clientele. He eventually opened several casual dining restaurants featuring Filipino cuisine.
He is the first to introduce Tausug cuisine in Metro Manila. He was part of the Asia Madrid Fusion in 2017 where he featured the cuisine of Mindanao. He was handpicked to represent the Philippines in Netflix’s street food series where he showcased the street food evolution of Cebu.
The book contains recipes for a range of dishes using chicken, pork, beef, vegetables, seafood, and rice/noodles—but no desserts. Just as well.
After your well-prepared hearty meal, serve fresh fruits and store-bought pies!
The book is available on Amazon or Google Chef Tatung’s presence on YouTube.
ROSE CRUZ CHURMA established Kalamansi Books & Things three decades ago. It has evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an online advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the Philippines and those written by Filipinos in the Diaspora. We can be reached at kalamansibooks@gmail.com.
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