Chef Jam Melchor Cooks the Past in the Present
/Book Review: Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions (Department of Trade and Industry Philippines, 2025).
Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions by Jam Melchor was produced in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines. (photo by Elizabeth Ann Quirino)
“Sharing family recipes keeps memories and traditions alive, and we pass on different ways to show our love,” my late mother often said, as she herself shared recipes she knew and passed on to me.
Today, the preservation of timeless Filipino recipes thankfully will continue. Chef Jose Antonio Miguel R. Melchor’s new cookbook, Kayumanggi: A Kaleidoscope of Filipino Flavors and Food Traditions, comes at the right moment for many who are rediscovering Philippine cuisine, relearning it, or reviving family recipes. This culinary gem was produced in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry Philippines.
Melchor, also known as Chef Jam, the founder of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement, an organization dedicated to preserving our culinary past. He is also the national head of the Slow Food Youth Network of the Philippines, part of the global Slow Food International. The aim is to work towards good, clean, and fair food. One of Melchor’s many culinary roles has been as Executive Chef at the United States Embassy in Manila.
Chef Jam Melchor at the book launch of Kayumanggi was congratulated by guest of honor Her Excellency Ambassador Mary Kay Carlson, United States of America Ambassador to the Philippines (Photo courtesy of Chef Jam Melchor)
On my recent trip to the Philippines, Chef Jam took the time to deliver this cookbook personally to me. Kayumanggi is a treasury of at least 150 Filipino recipes, all traditional and timeless. This is a workhorse type of cookbook, the kind you’d bring with you into the kitchen, bookmark, set sticky notes on, write on the margins, and plop on the counter, as you follow directions while cooking from its glossy, thick, spiral-bound pages.
Melchor wrote each entry following the trifecta of successful recipes: availability of ingredients; easy and straightforward methods; guaranteed delicious results.
For the curious, there is an introduction to Philippine food history. For the kitchen enthusiast–novice home cook or professional chef–there are glossaries of essential tools, necessary ingredients, and basic cooking techniques,
A glance at the table of contents reveals an extensive list of classics most of us grew up with, from various noodles and rice, vegetables, seafood, chicken, pork, beef, condiments, desserts, snacks, and beverages. Colorful food illustrations by Katrina Laurice Cruz are sprinkled all over the various chapters, to give readers an idea of the dish’s final result.
Some classic Filipino favorites are Arroz Caldo, Batchoy, Palabok, Tamales Kapampangan, Ensaladang Pako, Kulawaong Talong, Sipo Egg, Adobong Pusit, Burong Hipon, Pinaputok na Plapla, Sisig,
KBL or Kadyos, Baboy at Langka, made with pigeon beans, pork, green jackfruit, and batuan, is one of the many 150 heirloom recipes featured in Kayumanggi (Photo courtesy of Chef Jam Melchor).
Adobong Puti, Lechon Manok, Asadong Matua, Embutido, Beef Morcon, Callos, Atchara, Bagoong, Lengua, Ensaimada, Pastillas de Leche, Tsokolate Batirol, Ginumis, and numerous more delicacies.
Known as borlas de pastillas, these delicate, handcrafted wrappers of the dessert candy, illustrated at the Kayumanggi book launch how these hand-cut paper art once adorned sweets. Chef Jam shared a pastillas recipe in the Kayumanggi cookbook (Photo courtesy of Chef Jam Melchor).
The 200- page cookbook has an extensive list of recipes from soups to beverages. But arguably my favorite parts are Desserts and Snacks, nearly towards the end (Chapter 9). This contains a long list of heirloom desserts and snacks, whether for everyday or fiesta fare like Ube Halaya, Tibuc-Tibuc, Silvanas, Sapin-Sapin, Sans Rival, Puto Bumbong, Piyaya, Nilupak, Empanada de Kaliskis, and many more mouthwatering merienda and dessert fare. Chef Jam cites in the chapter’s beginning: “ Filipino desserts and snacks make extensive use of tropical ingredients. These ingredients not only add unique flavors, but reflect the country’s bounty.”
Noted Filipino culinary authorities contributed their endorsements in the cookbook: “Many aging artisans have neither recipes nor successors. Having heirloom recipes could help the future understand and value the past,” writes food historian Felice P. Sta. Maria in the cookbook’s Foreword.
In the Afterword: “Food stories and recipes handed down from one generation to the next become the love language to keep one’s cultural identity intact and passable from one family to the next,” notes food sustainability advocate Pacita “Chit” Juan.
A glance at the table of contents reveals an extensive list of classics most of us grew up with.
“The recipes in this book are a testament to the creativity and love that embody Filipino cooking. I invite you to embark on a culinary adventure throughout the Philippines, where flavors dance and traditions come alive,” Melchor affirms in the Preface.
Kayumanggi is worth owning as a basic resource on classic Philippine cooking. It is a cookbook that gives us a chance to cook the past in the present.
And that secret, the heirloom recipe that your relatives refuse to part with and vowed to “bring to the grave”? No need to pry it out of their hands. It is probably in the Kayumanggi cookbook now.
Elizabeth Ann Quirino, is an award-winning journalist, food writer, and cookbook author. Her new book is Every Ounce of Courage, a memoir, is now available. Find her on TheQuirinoKitchen.com.
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