A cookbook launches in D.C., a food app in California

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NaFFAA Executive Director Jason Tengco tries some adobo sliders served during the launch of ‘The New Filipino Kitchen.’

NaFFAA Executive Director Jason Tengco tries some adobo sliders served during the launch of ‘The New Filipino Kitchen.’

Filipino Americans across the country have food in their hearts and on their minds: What we eat, how to cook them, and which restaurants to find the best Filipino dishes.

In Washington D.C., a new book on Philippine cuisine, “The New Filipino Kitchen: Stories and Recipes from around the Globe,” made its debut on September 27. The book, edited by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri, is an anthology of 30 stories and recipes from expatriate Filipino chefs and home cooks in North America. It has received positive reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, and is a number one bestseller in Southeast Asian Cooking on Amazon.

In his welcome remarks, Minister Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga, economic officer of the Philippine Embassy, said, “’The New Filipino Kitchen’ is a celebration of a cuisine whose time to be recognized and enjoyed the world over, has come. Filled with stories and recipes of acclaimed Filipino chefs, home cooks and writers from the Filipino diaspora community, the book revels in the dazzling array of flavors and textures of Philippine cuisine while bringing the readers along on the authors’ personal journeys of discovering and embracing their unique identity and heritage.”

Six of the contributing authors read excerpts from their work during the launch. Cristina Quakenbush of New Orleans shared a recollection from her story behind the Filipino dish Kinilaw. Tennessee-based Dalena Benavente talked about her first taste of Afritada. Milwaukeean Alexa Alfaro recounted conversations with her father on making Lumpia. Vanessa Lorenzo, based in Virginia, proudly shared her family’s Habichuelas recipe. New York blogger and culinary ambassador Paolo Espanola read an excerpt from his story behind Pancit Molo. Kristina Villavicencio, one of the four creators of the Filipino-American Timpla supper club in Washington, D.C., shared the restaurant’s story behind the Cassava Cake.

An anthology of food essays from the Filipino diaspora.

An anthology of food essays from the Filipino diaspora.

Darell Artates, the Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Officer and Administrator of Sentro Rizal Washington D.C., read portions from an essay contributed by White House Chef Cristeta Comerford. In “Ang Pambihirang Luto ni Nanay” (Mom’s Extraordinary Cooking), Comerford shares fond memories of her mother cooking Escabeche.

Meanwhile in California, the Sarap.life app was recently introduced by technology journalist Dennis Clemente. The app helps users locate a Filipino restaurant, bakery or grocery store in mere seconds on a smartphone.

It’s simple to use: Download Sarap.life, click on restaurants, type in your favorite Filipino restaurant, and it locates the restaurant for the user.

“The first-ever Filipino food search is nothing like your typical website. It is a progressive web app platform, as it behaves like an app,” explained Clemente.

The food app covers four key cities for now — Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and New Jersey, with some restaurants in Metro Manila that are also searchable. More restaurants will be added as the platform grows. Clemente said 99 percent of the Filipino food establishments in these cities can be searched — complete with descriptions, enticing photos and food menus, store hours and more importantly, routes.

Every restaurant in the listings has directions using Google Map which offers mode of transport (driving, walking, biking). Clemente calls his app the “Yelp for Filipino food.”

© The FilAm 2018

Sarap.life, the ‘Yelp for Filipino food.’

Sarap.life, the ‘Yelp for Filipino food.’



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