by Edna Bautista, Ed.D.
The Pinoy priest who famously beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay at a Food Network “throwdown” in 2009 is set to mark his 25th ordination anniversary in June. Fr. Leo Patalinghug’s Silver Jubilee celebration will most certainly involve the trinity of faith, family and, of course, food!
“I personally can’t believe that I will be a priest for 25 years on June 5, 2024,” Fr. Patalinghug said. “My family and I have some special things planned, but nothing too extravagant. We want to give glory to God, and not to me.”
Fr. Patalinghug, whose 54th birthday was on May 16, shared some plans for his silver celebration.
“I’ll be going back to some churches that had some great impact on my faith and my priesthood, and I’ll be offering a Mass of Thanksgiving with a small reception afterward for guests,” he said.
“Since I’ll be pretty busy, I won’t have a lot of time to do much cooking. But I certainly hope to feed people with the most important food, the Holy Eucharist. But outside the Mass, I know I’ll gather with family and friends, and we will definitely feast on traditional Filipino food and some of my European recipes!”
Hawaii Filipino Chronicle first featured the “Cooking Priest” in a 2016 summer wedding supplement where tips from Fr. Patalinghug’s cookbook, “Spicing Up Married Life”, were given on “how couples can satisfy their hunger for true love” for each other and for God.
A September 17, 2022, article focused more on his life’s journey thus far and his Theology of Food passion-mission “to bring families back to the dinner table–away from work, school, TV, games and many other things we get caught up in.”
This year, as he marks a milestone in his priestly vocation, the Chronicle followed up on his latest projects since then and the outlook for his future.
Cookbook Collaboration
Fr. Patalinghug has authored five best-sellers, four of which are cookbooks. His latest was a collaboration with Dr. Michael P. Foley, a Catholic theologian and professor at Baylor University.
Their book entitled “Dining with the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Righteous Feast”, published last year, brings the liturgical year to life, pairing more than 200 saints’ stories with a smorgasbord of international recipes.
Dr. Foley is also a mixologist who wrote “Drinking with the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Holy Happy Hour”, “Drinking with Your Patron Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to Honoring Namesakes and Protectors” and “Drinking with Saint Nick: Christmas Cocktails for Sinners and Saints”, among numerous other non-cocktail themed books.
It was Regnery Publishing that paired Dr. Foley with Fr. Patalinghug and they were a match made in (culinary) heaven!
“He’s a great man, incredibly learned, very talented as a writer and also a tremendously interesting person. He and I worked very well together and even led a pilgrimage together. I consider him a good friend,” Fr. Patalinghug said.
“We collaborated with selecting the saints throughout the calendar year. We then organized some of the talking points as well as the kinds of recipes that we researched. And this book also offers a pastoral takeaway, reminding people how each saint can affect our lives for the better.”
Fr. Patalinghug made sure to include a Filipino saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila (1594-1637), in the cookbook with a recipe for pancit Canton (noodles) on his Sept. 28 feast day.
He also included St. Damien of Molokai and a recipe for kalua pork on his May 10 feast day. Like in Fr. Patalinghug’s previous works, he provides context and background, “food for thought” and relevant recipes.
The Father Leo Show
Fr. Patalinghug also hosts a cooking show on the EWTN Global Catholic channel called “Savoring Our Faith” which grew from the webisodes in his early years of ministry.
Now in its 13th season, the program describes him as talking about food and faith with Catholics and cooking delicious meals while offering Church teachings in bite-sized portions.
The EWTN website has back episodes that can be watched on-demand and an archive of Fr. Patalinghug’s recipes from around the world, including Filipino favorites like pancit (noodles), chicken adobo, garlic fried rice, pork sinigang, lumpia (egg rolls) and lapu-lapu (fish).
He also hosted an interview-style podcast, “Shoot the Shiitake”, for four years. But he recently started an eponymous program on YouTube (free) and Patreon (paid membership options). Aptly titled “The Father Leo Show,” it is where Fr. Patalinghug dishes out on faith, culture and commentary. He does not shy away from controversial topics but approaches them with a more pastoral perspective.
“I want people to learn about an issue before they just get angry or emotional about it,” he said.
“The show has been a labor of love because there are so many competing voices on the Internet. I want to make this show a voice of reason, authentic teaching about the Catholic Church and a practical way to maneuver through life’s difficulties. In a way, this show allows me to just be me, a little unscripted, and allow my personal personality and my passion to discuss these challenging topics,” Fr. Patalinghug said.
Plans For The Future
As he reflects on the past 25 years of his priestly vocation, Fr. Patalinghug entrusts the Holy Spirit to guide his next endeavors in life, as he will continue to bring about a future of stronger families, closer relationships and a deeper understanding of Jesus as Food for our mind, body and soul.
Though only God knows the plans He has for him, Fr. Patalinghug said:
“God willing, in the next 25 years, I will become a holier priest. I still want to remain as active as I possibly can, even if I am slowing down. But I want to be joyful every day, grateful for all the blessings, graceful in carrying the cross and also optimistic and hopeful for the future. Hopefully, we can continue to grow the efforts of our food truck, our new restaurant space in the Baltimore area, grow the audience for all my shows and continue to travel and speak to inspire people and to be fed by God.”
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