What Recipes Don't Tell

by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria

Every dish we eat and every beverage we drink is not only the product of discovery, precision, innovation, and affection. It is likewise a creation of historical and cultural contexts. This book reveals the documented precolonial and colonial circumstances behind Filipino cuisine and food heritage. Uncovered are forgotten, hidden, and ignored details of fifty culinary words foundational to deepening appreciation for native fare: from guisa to kilaw, ensaymada to halohalo, tuba to tsokolaté, and linamnam to nayánayá. Through the stories behind these now-commonplace food-related terms, we can see that the cuisine Filipinos like and want to be liked for has a proud and resilient record when confronted by colonialism, wars, natural catastrophes, and international food fashions.

What Recipes Don’t Tell celebrates the products of blending native, endemic, indigenized, and hybrid elements and influences into a gastronomy that is confidently, singularly, and delightfully Filipino.

Genres: Nonfiction

202 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2025

About the author

Felice Prudente Sta. Maria is an internationally awarded cultural heritage advocate, food historian, and non-fiction author known for her pioneering work on the history of Filipino cuisine. For over five decades, she has researched the nation's colonial food history, utilizing sources dating from the Age of Exploration to the early years of the Philippine Republic.

Reviews

[Hinuha ni Francis- · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Survival once depended on a person foraging and hunting. Today, for many people, survival depends on having money to buy food. The food chain is affected by what is affordable.”

Ito yung pinakatumatak na linya sa akin. Perhaps, this is truer sa mundong ginagalawan natin ngayon. Food revolves around the economy at kung sino man ang may lakas ng paggawa at kapangyarihan ay may kapasidad na bumili ng pagkain.

Sa loob ng 190 na pahina, naipakita ni Sta. Maria na fluid ang kasaysayan ng Philippine gastronomy. It is evolving and constantly being indigenized by the Filipino. Perhaps, kaya unique ang Philippine cuisine dahil sa matagal na impluwensiya ng mga kolonisador sa ating bansa. Hitik ang panlasa ng mga Pilipino dahil ito ay kita mula sa pre-kolonyal na pamamahala sa mga barangay ng mga hari at datu. Ngunit, dahil sa maigting na kolonisasyon ng mga bansang Kanluranin bumukas rin ang pinto ng bansa sa makabagong mga lasang tunay ka kinagiliwan ng mga mamamayan.

Siguro, para sa akin, sa patuloy na pag-usbong ng salitang globalisasyon, tila hindi lang kultura ang tuluyang sinasakop ng Kanluranin kundi pati ang ating panlasa. Kaya naman, hamon sa atin na patuloy na idekolonisa ang Philippine gastronomy. Mas lalong i-indeginze pa ito at paigtingin ang pag-aaral sa archiving at pagluluto ng mga putahe hindi lamang sa Kamaynilaan pati na rin sa mga rehiyong hindi binibigyang ilaw ng Influencers Anoynmous!

Intersectionality ang paksain ng pagkain. Ito ay matter of body, politics, economics, sociology, history, at napakarami pa.