Tikim
Essay on Philippine Food and Culture
by Doreen G. Fernandez
Doreen Gamboa Fernandez represents “the compleat writer” – her incisive yet soulful writing, coupled with her keen understanding of the Filipino’s culture and psyche, has brought her (and us fortunate readers) into the very essence of Filipino cooking. According to her, “Writing about food should not be left to newspaper food columnists, or to restaurant reporters. It should be taken from us by historians of the culture, by dramatists and essayists, by novelists, and especially by poets. For it is an act of understanding, an extension of experience. If one can savor the word, then one can swallow the world.”