MANILA, Philippines—An invitation from Marilen Espiritu to her home is always a wonderful experience. Her home is her sanctuary, a place so serene that it feels as if one is in an exclusive resort in Bali or Fiji.

Her house is like a resort, with the den, crafts room and the main house built like pavilions spread out on the lot.

Over lunch she announced her new project, a book titled “Wrap them, Store them, Peddle Them: The Filipino Way.” It will be launched on Oct. 25. We were treated to a small sampling of the book and a scrumptious, most memorable lunch.

This is Espiritu’s first book project—“A personal account of a quest,” she describes it. It focuses on the indigenous Filipino way of wrapping, storing and peddling of food. It tackles the preparation of delicacies we all grew up with—Pastillas de Leche, Sundot Kulangot, Pakaskas, Pakasiat and Kesong Puti.

It includes the origins of these delicacies, and how their peddling in the streets has become an integral part of our culture. It is a fitting tribute to traditions we have taken for granted.

“The modern system of mass production has made our daily lives comfortable and easy,” Espiritu writes. “Sooner than later, the fast-vanishing art of indigenous wrapping will be replaced by mass-produced packages made of materials that will only hasten the destruction of the environment. When the time comes, the traditional way of packaging food will be fondly remembered as a memory of a past era.” The book is beautifully photographed by Marilen’s son, Johann Espiritu.

Lunch

Our lunch was in a casita in the garden of Marilen’s house. There she creates her crafts and hand-made gifts. The tables were simple and elegant with plates in different colors and mother-of-pearl silverware. The centerpiece was filled with flowers and fruits casually arranged on the table.

The lunch’s highlight was seafood buffet served on a miniature wooden banca. The seafood buffet included scallops, oysters, shrimp, tilapia, mussels, clams, seaweed salad with bagoong balayan and ginger-dipping sauces.