The Adobo Road Cookbook is Filipino Cooking by way of LA, written by food blogger and Filipino food truck chef Marvin Gapultos. It is a refreshing take on Filipino food as it takes nothing for granted including Filipino Spaghetti and Garlic Fried Rice, but also includes reinventions of traditional favorites. Marvin answered some questions for excerptsandconversations.
How did you discover your love and talent for Filipino cooking?
Although I’ve eaten Filipino food all my life, I only really became interested in it after getting married. Because my wife isn’t Filipino, I realized that in order for me to enjoy a good, home-cooked Filipino meal I needed to learn how to cook Filipino food on my own. This desire to learn about Filipino food only grew after the birth of my son—I didn’t want the next generation to go without my family recipes. So I started a blog, and discovered that I had a knack at presenting Filipino food in a different light. With the things I learned on my own from writing my blog, I transferred that to my food truck and proved that Filipino food can be enjoyed by anyone.
What were the more popular dishes your gourmet food truck, the Manila Machine, that are in the book?
What regional cuisine has the biggest influence on your cooking?
My parents and grandparents are all from Ilocos Norte, so my cooking definitely has a heavy Ilocano influence.
How did you put together the recipes in the book? What kind of research or testing did you have to do?
The recipes in my book are a mix of family recipes, recipes I developed on my own through my blog and food truck, and classic Filipino dishes with a contemporary twist. I researched by asking my grandmother questions, but also reading various Filipino cookbooks and Filipino food writing. Claude Tayag is a big influence on me, and I was lucky to be able to pick his brain a little bit while I was writing this book. As far as testing, I had over 50 blog readers, friends, and family test every recipe in the book--so I wasn't the only person to taste and test these recipes.
What are the notable recipes in which you put your own spin on traditional Filipino dishes?
I have a Humba recipe in which I braise pork belly in coffee. My Bicol Express recipe is unique. And there's a Poqui-Poqui recipe that is very different from the original. There's also a short rib adobo with red wine and red wine vinegar. There's a Turkey Inasal burger. Oh, and there's a coconut milk fried chicken recipe that I'm fond of. There are really many many more recipes that I can list.
How did you develop the varied adobo dishes and which one is your favorite?
Adobo is a method of cooking. So I just applied that method to different types of proteins and vegetables to create different versions of adobo. My favorite is probably my Pork Belly and Pineapple adobo.
Any message for Filipino chefs and home cooks here in the Philippines.
Stay true to who you are, be proud of what your are cooking, and be proud of what other Filipinos are cooking. Just because someone's adobo may be different from your own, it does not mean that it isn't a good representation of adobo. Accept the differences and diversity of our cuisine.
How can we learn more about you?
My blog can be found at http://burntlumpiablog.com/.
My twitter is @BurntLumpia.
There's something for everyone in this cookbook and the recipes were easy to follow and well-explained. Here are two of the recipes I've tried which are delicious new additions to my repertoire:
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| Pork Ribs Adobo with Pineapple Juice |
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| Crispy Chicken Wings with Spicy Adobo Glaze |
Exclusively available in National Book Store, Powerbooks and Bestsellers for P795.
Order from National Book Store Online.
Order from National Book Store Online.
