TOO many cooks spoiled the broth,” so they say. Not in the case of this ambitious culinary project, “Kulinarya: A Guide to Philippine Cuisine,” cooked up together by six of the country’s most respected chefs—namely Glenda Barretto, Conrad Calalang, Margarita Fores, Myrna Segismundo, Jessie Sincioco and Claude Tayag.

They didn’t mess up the project but rather made every Filipino proud of Philippine cooking.
It took nearly three years to get the book off the press so you could just understand the enthusiasm of those involved in it when it was finally launched in a dressy affair at The Peninsula Manila ballroom, which was decked with festive capiz and candelabras.

A joint effort by the Asia Society headed by Doris Magsaysay-Ho and Department of Tourism led by Secretary Ace Durano, with Anvil Publishing, San Miguel PureFoods and Del Monte Philippines Inc., “Kulinarya” is edited by Inquirer columnist Michaela Fenix, deliciously photographed by Neil Oshima, graphic-designed by Ige Ramos and food-styled also by Tayag.

Clearly if any group can whip up a lowly Filipino dish into an international bestseller, this is it. “Kulinarya” has been bent on “standardizing” Filipino dishes in terms of preparation, presentation and taste.

It’s been every passionate foodie’s dream to put Filipino cuisine on the world map, much like what the Chinese, Japanese, Thais and, of late, the Vietnamese have done.

If the book is used internationally, according to Barretto, the project head, it will definitely set the benchmark of how Filipino food should be projected and how Filipino food, at least 60 dishes, will be identified.

With Japanese cuisine, there are certain dishes that one immediately identifies like sushi, sashimi or tempura. With Thai, it’s tom yam, phad Thai, sticky rice and mangoes, pandan chicken, that sort of thing.

“With the Philippines hopefully people will know the standard adobo or sinigang they can expect each time. That’s the thrust of ‘Kulinarya,’” Barretto said.

For Segismundo, the word “standardizing” Filipino cooking is politically incorrect. “Kulinarya” aims simply to guide and not meant to dictate what dishes should be served and how to cook them.

“It’s more of fine tuning the Filipino food,” she explained. “It’s very hard to standardize because there’s not one way to cook adobo. For instance, should it be the one with soy sauce and vinegar, or without soy sauce but colored with achuete seeds?

“And what about the sinigang? Should it be soured by tamarind, calamansi, batuan, kamias or tomato?”

Segismundo added, “We tried to assess certain qualities of a dish or recipe or cooking technique to see whether or not it sets the parameters of good Pinoy cooking.”

Each chef was assigned to work on 10 dishes. The recipes were kitchen-tested and evaluated by the group. Each dish was tested more than twice, in some cases even more if the result was not what was expected.

According to Fenix, some dishes were taken off the list because they either had complicated procedures or had ingredients not readily available.

New ones were added. Every often, the ingredient quantity was adjusted, procedures added or a more detailed description put in.

Among the chefs, there was obvious camaraderie, and Fores was proud of it.

“We’re all from different backgrounds, different age groups and the constant interaction I had with them was absolutely invariable. I learned a lot,” she said.

“With ‘Kulinarya,’ there’s still a lot more to learn about Filipino cuisine. It’s a constant journey. Putting the book together was just the start. I’m sure people will have questions about the book, errors will be spotted but, you know, it’s a work in progress. Criticism is always good anyway,” Fores added.

Fruits of the labor

Aside from popular Filipino recipes, the book tackles cooking methods applied in Filipino cuisine and food handling guidelines. Fenix wrote about Filipino food and its history, what makes our food unique. There’s also a section on sawsawan (dips) prevalent in most Filipino dining tables, and a feature on Filipino ways with rice.

The beautiful, tight-shot photographs of Oshima helped show just how the food should look like.

During the launch, samples of some Pinoy dishes featured in the book were served, including tinolang manok, lechon, adobong baka, pinaputok na isda, pinakbet. And for dessert, buko pandan, sapin-sapin and turon, accompanied by kapeng barako and salabat.

Tayag said the launch is just the first step in the “Kulinarya” project. Tayag and fellow chefs will also travel throughout the country to demonstrate just how the recipes are done.

“Kulinarya” is available at P2,500 for hardbound and P750 for softbound copies at National Book Store.