Doreen G. Fernandez's legacy lives on
It’s been 23 years since the passing of Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (DGF), yet her presence is still strongly felt to this very day. Considered by many as the doyenne of Philippine cultural history and gastronomy writing, she was a pioneering scholar in these fields where nobody had trodden before and “food writing” was not yet considered a serious literary pursuit.
Her mentorship, guidance, role as a teacher, live on with the nine books she authored since 1988. They have become the “must-read” reference books not only to scholars of Philippine gastronomy, but also to any foodie interested to know the “who we are as a people, the whys and what we eat today,” and more.
In early 2002, plans were drawn up for a food writing competition, held at then 9501, ABS-CBN Executive restaurant under chef Myrna Segismundo. Aside from Myrna, the other members of the convening group were Micky Fenix, Felice Sta. Maria, Karina Bolasco (then GM of Anvil Publishing), Norma Chikiamco (then editor of Food magazine), and Doreen herself.
But as fate would have it, Doreen passed away on June 24, 2002. A few months later, when the writing competition was officially launched, the group named it the “Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (DGF) Food Writing Award.” Its aim was to inspire the next generations of writers to tell meaningful stories about Filipino food.
Since its inception in 2002, many of its early past winners jump-started their respective writing careers—the roster reads like the who’s who in today’s culinary world: Ige Ramos, Margaux Salcedo, Jenny Orillos, Amy Uy, Elmer Nocheseda, chef Datu Shariff Pendatun III, Angelo Comsti, Raymond Macapagal, Fil-Am Jennifer Fergesen, etc.
Doreen and I
Though I didn’t belong in the roster of past DGF Food Writing Award winners, I felt every bit, every ounce, a protégé of Doreen.
It was she who first suggested that I write about my travels and food escapades. Way back in May 1997, I was invited by my good friend Lory Tan of Bookmark Publishing to join a trans-Visayan tour, with a powerhouse of traveling companions, many mortals could only dream of. Upon Doreen’s egging (“Claude, why don’t you write about this trip of ours?”), I submitted a two-part article entitled “Waddling our way through the Negros,” to Micky Fenix, then food editor of the Daily Globe. That, in a way, gave me the impetus to explore writing as another art form.
It was also Doreen who first suggested the idea that we open our house to the public. The term “private dining” wasn’t in vogue yet. Sometime in late November, 1998, having just moved in Balé Dutung, I invited this group of friends (art, good food and culture types) from Manila, mainly to introduce my darleng Mary Ann, having just married her six months ago. They were so curious, intrigued even, to find out who finally tamed this 40-year-old confirmed bachelor. The group included Doreen, Rene Javellana, S.J., Bobby Perez, O.S.B., Ambeth Ocampo, Karina Bolasco, Ada Mabilangan, and Nana Mabilangan Ozaeta with her firstborn baby.
At the end of the meal, Doreen asked me pointedly: “Claude, how much do we owe you?” Being a Kapampangan, I was shocked to hear those words. It’s in our DNA to host meals/feasts at home.
I replied: “I invited you here as friends and house guests. Why should you pay?”
Doreen answered back: “I want to write about our experience here. Charge us even at cost. Please.”
I retorted: “If you write about this, I’m afraid we will lose our privacy.”
But she replied with conviction: “Claude, you’ve created something special here. Offer it to people of the same kindred spirits. For all you know, the paying guests will see and buy your artworks.”
“Yes,” Ada Mabilangan chimed in, “I want to bring my own set of friends. Don’t tell me you’re not gonna charge us as well?”
On February 3, 1999, her article came out: “Paradise we experience in Pampanga.” “And oh, how we ate, how well, how rhythmically, how elegantly. Lunch cooked by Claude the chef (as distinguished from Claude the artist, the designer, the wood lover) was the ostensible excuse for the 10 of us being gathered together,” Doreen wrote.
And thus, Balé Dutung, the culinary destination, was born, as well as this “hesitant, accidental restaurateur.”
Birth of a STAR writer in PhilSTAR
It was also during this year that I received a phone call from Millet Mananquil, Lifestyle editor of this paper. She offered me a column in the Food Section which came out every Thursday, which I eventually called Turu-turo. “No pressure, no deadlines. Submit only at your leisure when you have something to write home about,” she told me assuringly. That opened another career for me as a gastronomy and travel writer.
In 2007, Food Tour was published by Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing. It was mainly a compilation of the best of my Philstar columns, peppered liberally with my drawings, as well as recipes accompanying certain essays. It was my first “3-in-1” book—as a writer, artist, and cook.
Then in 2011, Mary Ann and I came out with Linamnam: Eating One’s Way Around the Philippines. We literally ate our way around the archipelago in search of the proverbial Holy Grail. In this culinary travel guide book, not only did we lead readers to the best eats every region had to offer—scouring the length and breadth of the archipelago—but we also learned the whys and hows of what makes each dish unique and outstanding in its own right. It was the culmination of our eating sorties, serialized over a period of five years in my Philippine STAR column.
Sweet endings
The winners of this year’s “22nd DGF Food Writing Award,” with the theme “Minatamis and Sweet Merienda Staples,” were announced last Sept. 20 at Palm Grove, Rockwell, Makati, co-organized by the Food Writers Association of the Philippines (FWAP) and Rockwell Club. Fellow PhilSTAR columnist Alfred “Krip” Yuson wrote about the event last Monday, Sept. 22.
