Filipinx: Heritage Recipes from the Diaspora

“I don’t believe in treating recipes like relics.... Part of the joy of cooking is that we each bring to the kitchen our own imagination,” writes James Beard Award finalist Dimayuga in this exuberant debut celebrating her Filipino heritage. Nearly every dish evokes a memory: “My first pies came from the Wonder Bread discount store,” begins her headnote for coconut hand pies; while roasted suckling pig is “the golden fulcrum, the point around which the most lavish Filipino feasts revolve.” Whether the subject is spicy banana ketchup, rice cake roasted in banana leaves, or the Filipino community Dimayuga found while once stranded in the Caymans, the combination of personal connection and deep culinary knowledge proves unbeatable. She includes recipes for adobo with chicken, pork, and squid, alongside one for Spam. Instructions are meticulous and ingenious: chicken to be fried in the style of the Philippine chain Max’s is propped on a can overnight to air-dry for crisper results, while eggplant are charred then dredged in beaten egg and fried. Robust flavors abound, notably in a chicken and rice porridge that’s topped with soy-cured egg yolks. Meanwhile, contributions from the likes of trans activist Geena Rocero and “flavor scientist” Arielle Johnson enrich and entertain. Those ready to take the plunge into Filipino cooking will find endless inspiration and heart here. Agent: Rica Allannic, David Black Agency. (Nov.)