
Edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard and Marily Orosa
Anvil, 2007, softcover, 208 pages, ISBN 9789712718779
Winner of 2008 Gourmand Award as the Best Food Literature Book from the Philippines.
PALH has a few rare out-of-print copies, $65 each, free US shipping, email palhbooks@gmail.com
Feast of Philippine Food Stories!
Here are 25 wonderful food-related stories! Each story is introduced by a related Filipino recipe; the stories are categorized like a cookbook: Breads, Appetizers, Salads; Soup, Rice, Main Dishes, and Dessert.
Praise
“A menu of stories to suit your every craving! That’s A La Carte: Food & Fiction. This book fills a hunger in Philippine literature for fantasy, hyper-reality, romance, mystery … but with a good measure of culinary flavoring mixed in.” (Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, culinary heritage advocate and writer)
“Here is a book guaranteed to satisfy even the most discriminating taste, but also to make readers hungry for more stories, characters, insights, and recipes. Fact, fiction, fantasy, and food mix in a feast for the mind, the heart, the palate, and the soul. There are many well-known writers in the anthology, but it is not so much who writes as what is written that makes this book a must-read, just as it is not so much the chef or the cook that makes a recipe to die for, but the dish itself. Enjoy the 25-course banquet.” (Isagani R. Cruz for The Philippine Star)
“Books on food are quite popular these days and we are glad that recent publications have gone beyond mere recipes to evoke what Proust called a ‘remembrance of things past.’” (Ambeth R. Ocampo, Chairman, National Commission for Culture and the Arts; Chairman, National Historical Institute)
Excerpt
https://cbrainard.blogspot.com/2018/01/short-story-by-cecilia-brainard-about.html
Book Review
Anna Barbara L. Lorenzo for Business World Weekender, March 2007