Sangkap by Food Writers Association of the Philippines

May 26, 2022

This book is a great way to discover Filipino food writers, especially those with a focus on a particular aspect of Filipino food. Some of the stories are personal and talk about growing up with bagoong or coconut dishes… while others are almost scientific or historical, citing species names of particular Philippine plants or the observations of Spanish colonizers who tried Filipino food upon arrival.

Scientific names of herbs in Sangkap, by Elmer Nocheseda — Scientific names of herbs in one of the stories in Sangkap, “Quilites, Halom, Oray and other Gugulayin” by Elmer Nocheseda.

The stories are divided into five Sangkap or ingredients: Rice, Coconut, Herbs, Vinegar, and Bagoong. My favorite sections were vinegar and bagoong, since that’s what I’m into at the moment. Kinilaws, pakbets, paksiws or inununs… I’ve become even more curious about tasting all the different suka-based recipes, in addition to the different types of suka that come from any one of the 10,000 species of plants native to the country.

There is one page that has illustrations of Filipino traditional kitchen tools or kasangkapan ng kusina, followed by a shortlist of delicious-looking recipes I hope to soon try.

Puto recipe in Sangkap — A puto recipe featuring kesong puti and itlog na maalat is one of a few recipes shared in the book Sangkap.

One of my favorite authors in the book, whom I discovered through Sangkap, is Elmer Nocheseda. He wrote and cited Philippine herbs down to the species in his 1st place story “Quilites, Halom, Oray and other Gugulayin“. He also has a story highlighting how leaves of Philippine plants were used as both food packaging and works of art.

This book makes a nice supplement to your library whether you’re a Filipino food cook, chef, or aficionado. It is also a great introduction to the Filipino food writers within it. I just wish they published these annually with more and more writers.

For more Filipino food writers and books checkout this list by Natasha Alli: https://www.nastasha.ca/full-list-of-filipino-food-books