‘Let’s Cook with Nora’ Returns for Next-Gen Home Cooks
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Nora V. Daza was a gourmet chef, restaurateur, TV show host, radio host, food writer, cookbook author, and a graduate of the University of the Philippines and Cornell University (NY). She was married to Gabriel "Boy" Daza Jr. and they had five children.(Photo provided by Nina D. Puyat).
Nora V. Daza demonstrating a Filipino dish to an audience of Chinese and Singaporean homemakers during the culinary exchange program with the winners of The Great Maya Cookfest in the early 80s. (Photo provided by Nina D. Puyat).
To millions of Filipino homemakers from the 1960s to the ‘80s, Nora Daza was the celebrated gourmet on the “Cooking It Up With Nora” TV show. She also hosted a radio show and wrote for a magazine at the time. To this day, Filipino home cooks turn to her bestselling cookbook Let’s Cook With Nora for everyday dishes or party fare. To the world, Nora Daza was the renowned restaurateur who opened a fine dining restaurant Aux Iles Philippines in Paris, Au Bon Vivant, the first restaurant in Manila to offer French cuisine, and the elegant Maharlika in New York City.
Generations of Filipino home cooks were schooled by Nora Daza through her cookbook or her popular television show. By the ‘80s, her children were co-hosting the show, making it a family event.
The Let's Cook With Nora Cookbook New Edition - Edited by Nina Daza Puyat, contains 260 all-time favorite recipes, and new photos, updated from the classic cookbook that was first published in the 1960s. (Anvil Publishing).
How many of us feasted on morcon, tamales, bringhe, pancit palabok, kare-kare and leche flan during the holidays or fiestas? If family were visiting, I vividly recall my mother excitedly cooked shrimp toast, oriental beef with noodles, cassava cake, sweet sour pork, and chicken relleno.
During birthdays, mom would cook spaghetti, hototay, sate babi, fresh lumpia, chicken pastel, and magically, a chocolate cake, the sweet ending to the party. They were all recipes from Let’s Cook with Nora.
I grew up, got married, and raised a family on Nora Daza’s cookbook. When we moved to the States, I packed mom’s old copy in my suitcase. It was my coping mechanism in my American kitchen, when I missed the Philippines.
The new edition has returned as the next generation of home cooks fire up their stoves. The Let’s Cook With Nora Cookbook was launched on the late Nora Daza’s birthday, December 2, 2019 in Manila.
When Anvil Publishing asked Nina Daza Puyat, the youngest of Nora’s children, to edit the cookbook in 2016 for reprinting, she was hesitant to touch a classic.
But as Nina sat with editor Cris Abiva to read through the 260 recipes, she edited cooking terms, ingredients, and product names. They rewrote procedures, reformatted the layout, and re-shot food photos. The familiar front and back covers were retained. Nina wanted readers to immediately recognize the famous cookbook.
On an online Zoom chat, Nina, mentioned 20 favorite recipes she has cooked through the years and are readers’ choices as well: calderetta, pescado al horno, potato pork pie, lechon belly roll, fried pigeon, sukiyaki, prune cake, Virginia Ocampo chiffon cake (which Nina transformed into cupcakes) among others.
In the back pages, a section is devoted to Nora’s children reminiscing kitchen moments. Chef Sandy, Mariles, Stella, Nina, and Nora’s granddaughter, Isabelle, shares heartwarming anecdotes of cooking, letters, restaurant experiences, and birthdays.
Nora V. Daza during an awards ceremony honoring her at the HRAP (Hotel and Restaurants Association of the Philippines) in 2012, with her children: Bong III (+), Chef Sandy, Mariles D. Enriquez, Stella D. Belda, and Nina D. Puyat. (Photo provided by Nina D. Puyat).
Nina, a graduate of her mother’s alma mater, Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, and former editor-in-chief of Appetite Magazine, plus the Cooking with an Appetite cookbooks, emphasizes that their mother taught the importance of kitchen-testing recipes. A quick video of the year-long testing shows Nina in her kitchen, wrapping, slicing, mixing, and cooking a plethora of dishes specifically for the new edition.
“Mommy taught us by example. She told us to be proud of our Filipino culinary heritage. She showed us how to live life with purpose.”
Nina acknowledges that she couldn’t have done it all without her husband Louie’s loving support through the entire process. Their children, Gio, Billie, Vince, Joe, and Mario cheered her on with honest feedback.
The Daza name has always been associated with cooking when mentioned in Filipino homes. “Up to now, people still come up to us saying they learned how to cook because of the show,” Nina says.
Three Generations of Daza women: The late Nora Daza (center), with daughter Nina Daza Puyat, and granddaughter Billie D. Puyat. (photo by Caloy Legaspi).
The Let’s Cook With Nora Cookbook has endured through time with relatable, easy-to-follow recipes. The ingredients are basic items in the pantry. There are no fancy brand names or multilayered methods. Procedures are straightforward and uncomplicated for the novice cook. For the experienced pro, it is an affirmation of all-time classics.
So, what was the late Nora Daza’s secret sauce to her culinary success and legacy?
“Secret recipes were never part of Nora Daza’s vocabulary,” says Nina Daza Puyat.
Elizabeth Ann Quirino
Elizabeth Ann Quirino, based in New Jersey is a journalist and author of the “Instant Filipino Recipes: My Mother’s Philippine Food In a Multicooker Pot” Cookbook. She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and blogs about Filipino home cooking on her site AsianInAmericaMag.com.
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