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.