Treasured Family Recipes

We have always believed that the best Filipino food is found in the homes of families with a tradition of good cooking and appreciation of fresh ingredients found locally. With this in mind, we decided that the best way to discover what Filipino food is all about would be to talk to as many families as we could and ask them what they eat and how they cook these dishes. Coming from a culture where family recipes are kept close to the vest, we were surprised at the general outpouring of support and enthusiasm from the families we approached. We wanted a sampling of regional variation, so we visited families from Ilocos, Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Quezon, Bicol, Samar, Cebu, Iloilo, and Bacolod/Silay, and they have contributed recipes to this book. Though we’ve compiled a good number of recipes, we feel that this book does not do justice to all the regions of the Philippines—hopefully there will be future opportunities to further showcase the wonderful home cooking of the Philippines.