Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture

Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (1934–2002) was a cultural historian, professor, writer, and columnist. She received her Ph.D. in Literature (1976) from Ateneo de Manila University. She is best known for her writing on Filipino food and the theater arts.Catherine Ceniza Choy, Ph.D. (1998), UCLA, is Professor of Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. She is the author of Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History and co-editor of the Brill book series Gendering the Trans-Pacific World.Aileen Suzara, MPH (2015), UC Berkeley, is a chef and educator dedicated to creating healthy and sustainable food systems. Her work celebrates the intersections of social justice, farming, health and cultural revitalization, with an emphasis on the Filipino American diaspora.

"Tikim as tikman (verb) means to taste food or to try anything. Doreen Fernandez's literary essays on Philippine culinary and alimentary traditions are rightly fabled for their conjugations of tasting and trying in dazzling verbal arabesques. As assays at descriptions and critiques of Philippine cultural formations (assay is archaic form of 'essay') through sensorial samplings of Philippine cuisines, they themselves powerfully incarnate what Benedict Anderson once said of Philippine cultures as constituting ‘a pure mix’!" —Oscar V. Campomanes, Department of English, Ateneo de Manila"Doreen Fernandez was undisputedly one of the best storytellers of our lifetime of what Filipinos eat in their home country. Upon first reading of her essays, one gets introduced to the plot quickly and leaves you savoring every word she writes with meticulous efficiency to uncover layered meanings of culture that form the most basic theoretical foundation in understanding any cuisine. Enjoy the stories that fill these pages, read them many times and one day you will own the knowledge she wanted to share with us." —Amy Besa, Co-Author of Memories of Philippine Kitchens: Stories and Recipes from Far and Near"When their safe houses in Manila were no longer safe, the rebels took shelter at the airy bungalow of Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, a sugar planter’s daughter turned literature professor and food writer. (...) Then, while her guests recuperated by the pool in the cool shadow of a great acacia, she retreated to her desk and resumed the task of documenting the indigenous cooking traditions — scorned and ignored during centuries of colonialism — of an archipelago spanning more than 7,000 islands and nearly 200 languages. (...) Hers was a quiet act of subversion. She revolutionized Filipino food simply by treating it as what it is: a cuisine." Ligaya Mishan, The New York Times, July 30, 2019."[T]his presents the opportunity to reexamine her work in the context of pressing issues today: disappearing species, the politics of foodways, street vendor economy, or even gender sensitivity, among others, all of which find space in 'Tikim.' (...) Fernandez did all of us a great service — by working hard to explore the multiple layers of Philippine food, culture, and history, she best explained what we mean by food that is ours. By infusing delight and rigor in her writing, she has inspired countless others to do the same. Her invaluable gift is to articulate our collective conscience about food, identity, representation, and power. It is up to us to listen to that conscience. Perhaps my only complaint now is how she has so inaptly titled her book 'Tikim.' When it comes to ingesting food and culture, Fernandez clearly gave us more than just a taste. She gave us a fierce, ravenous appetite." Anna Bueno, CNN Philippines, January 10, 2020

• ForewordEditor’s PrefaceTikim: Just a TasteAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Writing about Food: Savor the Word, Swallow the World1 Food and Flavors1 Balut to Barbecue: Philippine Street Food2 Here’s to Spirited Holidays3 Breaking the Fast4 Sukang Paombong5 Balut, Kamaru, Sawa: What Exotica Do You Eat?6 The Lumpia of Silay7 Si Sugpo: Prawns in Philippine Lore and Culture8 Ang Mahiwagang Nilaga9 The Noodles of Our (Long) Lives10 The Original Pancit Lucban11 The Vanishing Scene12 New Ways with Old Dishes13 Sa Banwa sang Dulce: the Flavors of Negros14 A Durian Experience15 Mangoes and Maytime16 Salty and Sour, Bitter and Sweet: Philippine Flavorings2 People and Places1 Inside Information: a Tribute to Mothers2 On Unperceived Excellences3 Men in the Kitchen4 Alta Cocina Filipina: Has It Arrived?5 Kinilaw Artistry in Old Sagay6 She Cuts Pastillas Wrappers7 The Sweet Taste of Success8 The Filipino Kitchen9 Restaurant of Yesteryears10 The Regional Food Adventure11 What’s Cooking?3 Books and Other Feasts1 Food in Philippine Literature2 A Cookbook and a Billiard Table3 Pasteleria at Reposteria, 19194 Dream Food5 Mother Cuisine6 Contrary Thoughts for Valentine’s Day7 My Personal, Communal Christmas8 Noche Buena9 The Festive Table10 Angono, San Clemente, Giants and Water Pistols11 Silay, Zarzuelas, and Remembering the Revolution12 A Town Bejewelled: Philippine Food Art4 Food in Philippine History1 The Flavors of Mexico in Philippine Food and Culture2 A Conversation with Fray Juan de Oliver on Drinking and Drunkenness3 Beyond Sans Rival: Exploring the French Influence on Philippine Gastronomy4 Colonizing the Cuisine: the Politics of Philippine FoodwaysGlossarySources