DEAR God,

I thank you for the year that was 2008. It was a splendid year of culinary creativity in our humble little country, the Philippines.

Thank you for the delis. Thank you for Mickey, Earle, Alexis, Bacchus and, of course, the ever-reliable Santi. Thank you for their amazing sandwiches using the finest produce. Thank you for the wines, cheese and meats from different parts of the world that they bring to our humble little country for demanding palates to savor and taste.

Thank you for the steakhouses. Thank you for creating the cow. Thank you for the sacrifices of the Japanese Wagyu in its house arrest and for the Japanese beer that they have been fed to create that amazing juiciness in its texture. Thank you for the American Angus and the fullness of its flavor. And thank you for putting humans higher up in the food chain?or we would never have had the pleasure of eating these wonderful cows!

Thank you for grapes. And the resulting wines. There were so many wine-tasting events this year. Thank you for the privilege of having tasted some of the finest wines in 2008. including my namesake, Margaux. Grabe naman po pala ang kamahalan nun. (I didn?t realize how expensive it was). At that price, drinking that wine must be either a great blessing or a great sin!

Finally, thank you for making me Filipino. Our country may be poor economically but our people are truly rich in spirit. This richness in spirit has been reflected in the development and modernization of Filipino food. This year, more than ever, we tasted the spirited flavors of Filipino food in the Bagoong Club in Quezon City, Kanin Club in Westgate Alabang, C2 in Rockwell, Kabisera ng Dencio?s in High Street, and Bistro Filipino at the Fort. May there be more Filipino chefs who will bring Filipino flavors to greater heights!

This 2009, though, as we feel the pinch of the global financial crisis, please let there be more restaurants with more reasonable prices. Maybe more QC prices in Makati and more UP prices in QC?

And as the world unifies in an effort to go green, please also give us the strength to eat healthy, with the boost in business in this country of vitamin water, teas and fruit juices. And please bless us with more ?green? food, like free-range poultry and pork, grass-fed beef, sustainable seafood and GMO-free crops.

Please also bless our micropreneurs and small and medium enterprises as they create more artisanal Pinoy food products: jams, artisanal cheeses, vinegars, dressings, specialty sauces, and tsokolate. Please bless Nana Meng, who turned 92 on January 1. She has been my most wonderful mentor in Filipino food and I thank you every day for the blessing that is her?and for the blessing that is her tsokolate! Please also bless the hands of the lolas who make our traditional delicacies: Ka Kika who makes the most amazing coconut jam, Ka Odiang who makes kesong puti with her very own hands, Ka Viniang who makes a now-rare puto pandan and Aling Belen who has taught us to make ube halaya. Please bless them with good health and keep them strong enough to continue making these great Filipino delicacies.

Please exercise justice against those who sell double dead meat. They?re mean.

But please shower with blessings J Gamboa, Ariel Manuel and the Les Toques Blanches Philippines Team as they work towards the 2012 Culinary Olympics in Germany. Thank you for making them win the 13 medals, including a gold, that they garnered at the Food and Hotel Asia (FHA) Culinary Challenge 2008. May they continue to make the Philippines proud! They are the Pacquiaos of our culinary industry.

Finally, please bless our government. May they find the means to help the millions of Filipinos suffering from hunger. As I have been taught to pray: By Thy hand must ALL be fed, give us Lord our daily bread.

Amen.