[.ca] Philippine Cookbook (ISBN 039951144X)

Connect the dots:
OK, I must have read that connect-the-dot gripe somewhere but I can't think of any other way to describe this mechanical, ledger-like presentation the author has presented his recipes. The simplistic approach has become as annoying as those pretentious hate, er, haute cuisines I see in some cook books. For example, the nilaga and the pochero is usually served with a cold dish of garlic, black pepper and mashed sweet potato but that was missing and you can't help but think the author just browsed thru the internet and with the help of a word processor just cut and pasted the recipes to meet his deadline. Perhaps this also explains why the book is printed on depressingly cheap paper with no photographs. If you are new to Filipino cuisine that is rather disastrous because all you get is a sorry photocopied landscape of uninspired recipes. How could you, Mister? Also, I find the kowtowing to American taste plain stupid. Lemon juice for the venerable sinigang? What's wrong with tamarind? Using lemon thins out the punch of the sharp taste we are after. The high water content of lemon juice renders the whole symphony of flavors to this recipe insipid. Besides, this is the information age where exotic ingredients are not as exotic as they were eight or ten years ago. Just troop to your nearest gourmet store and see what I mean (unless, of course, you live in an obscure little town down somewhere in the Arctic). And why adapt a native recipe to American taste? If American flavor is what I am after, I will just dwell on club sandwich and all its vicissitudes for all I care. Why will I waste my time with adobo or sinigang or kare-kare? Now I don't want to confuse you because others have reviewed this book favorably. I was born and raised in the Philippines. But my qualifications do not end there. I am also fiercely Filipino in everything. I am also passionate about food. Having immersed myself in the more globally-renowned cuisine of Thailand, Malaysia, India, China and even Myanmar I now can declare without guilt Philippine cuisine is one of the world's most underrated gastronomic pleasures. Everyone says Thai cuisine is the best in Southeast Asia. But that is only true because Philippine cuisine is almost never mentioned or even considered. So a word of advice to the genuine-Filipino-cuisine seekers. This cookbook does not in any way represent authentic Filipino cuisine. Look somewhere else where the sinigang is punchy, the adobo tangy, and the kare-kare is compleat and spelled with a 10-karat "K." Now you have an even bigger problem. Only a handful of decent cookbook exists for Philippine cuisine - to complicate matters even more, most of them locally published. Could this be the reason why we are rarely mentioned along with, say, Thai, Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese cuisine? But, of course, that is only me thinking out loud.

Philippine cookbook by Reynaldo Alejandro:
I've had this book a couple of years now and I found some of the recipes easy to follow like the chicken adobo and mechado. I try to make these two recipes at least once a week. Though I did find the Brazo de Mercedes (found in the dessert section) hard to understand because it doesn't really give a thorough detailed type or explanation of ingredients needed. For example the author didn't exactly say what type of milk needed- Filipinos use canned evaporated milk and I find it doesn't work with regular milk you find in any U.S. supermarket in the dairy section. It also doesn't give you a specific amount of time or how long it takes for the milk to be reduced to two cups! (the recipes calls for 5 cups of milk to start with and simmering the milk until it is reduced to 2) That could take an hour or more. I found Violeta A. Noriega's Philippine Recipe made Easy more thorough and detailed.

Great Cookbook But...:
This is a great cookbook, especially for somone like me who is not filipino but my husband is. Therefor needed a resource for cooking those great foods his mother cooks all the time. I came today to actually buy another copy for my mother-in-law who was very impressed with my cooking lately. The milk candy was a big hit at Christmas. However I did notice the same problems as one of the other reviewers. My prime example is the Leche Flan, he lists in this recipe that to make the carmel to use water with the sugar in a pan and cook until sugar is browned. Actually you use no water and then once it has carmalized only a small amount to keep it from crystalizing in your pan. Since I don't know any better I had to do this 3 times and consult other cookbooks before getting it right. If I am unsure about the contents of a recipe I talk to my Mother in law first. The fish soup was another of these, the ingrediants don't come together and make it taste right. The tocino is to complicated when you can by ready made tocino mix and not use the nasty chemical it calls for. But on an upside alot of the other recipes have made me a wonder in the kitchen for our filipino parties and my inlaws have been bragging about my cooking. Overall it's a good book as long as you have a good grasp on filipino cooking as a whole. Clearly I like enouph to purchase a second for my inlaws to have.

Don't waste your time:
If you are a rookie at cooking filipino dishes or simply can't cook at all then this book isn't for you-actually this book is more complicated than the other filipino cookbooks I got. I also recommend not get getting books that have bad/neutral reviews. I have found "Philippine Recipes Made Easy" by Violeta A. Noriega and "Filipino Cuisine: Recipes from the Islands" by Gerry G. Gelle, helpful and PLUS they have excellent reviews!

Connect the dots:
OK, I must have read that connect-the-dot gripe somewhere but I can't think of any other way to describe this mechanical, ledger-like presentation the author has presented his recipes. The simplistic approach has become as annoying as those pretentious hate, er, haute cuisines I see in some cook books. For example, the nilaga and the pochero is usually served with a cold dish of garlic, black pepper and mashed sweet potato but that was missing and you can't help but think the author just browsed thru the internet and with the help of a word processor just cut and pasted the recipes to meet his deadline. Also, I find the kowtowing to American taste plain stupid. Lemon juice for the venerable sinigang? What's wrong with tamarind? Using lemon thins out the punch of the sharp taste we are after. The high water content of lemon juice renders the whole symphony of flavors to this recipe insipid. Besides, this is the information age where exotic ingredients are not as exotic as they were eight or ten years ago. Just troop to your nearest gourmet store and see what I mean (unless, of course, you live in an obscure little town down somewhere in the Arctic). And why adapt a native recipe to American taste? If American flavor is what I am after, I will just dwell on club sandwich and all its vicissitudes for all I care. Why will I waste my time with adobo or sinigang or kare-kare? So a word of advice to the genuine-Filipino-cuisine seekers. This cookbook does not in any way represent authentic Filipino cuisine. Look somewhere else where the sinigang is punchy, the adobo tangy, and the kare-kare is compleat and spelled with a 10-karat "K."