Compelling voices on food
A record number of entries marked the 22nd Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards, with a total of 75 received on the year’s theme of “Minatamis and Sweet Merienda Staples.” Talk of a sweet tooth among Pinoy foodies.
Unanimity prevailed among the judges: Exie Abola, Mol Fernando, Alya Honasan, Thelma San Juan, Felice Sta. Maria, and this writer. For the second consecutive year, chef Myrna Segismundo served as chair for the awards, while Micky Fenix coordinated the judging process. Final deliberations were held on August 31 at Commune + Bar + Roastery in Poblacion, Makati, courtesy of Ros Juan.
Four entries gained Honorable Mentions. Kristen Nicole Tengco’s essay was titled “Boljoon’s Baked Labor of Love.” As a communications practitioner in the public sector, she has contributed to national publications. Sigrid Marianne Gayangoes wrote “A Wilderness of Dulces.” Her debut collection, Laut: Stories, was published by the UP Press in 2022. Jonalyn Arnaiz’s entry was “Sweet Memories of Iriga.” Majoring in Philippine Studies at Polytechnic University of the Philippines, she is a Fellow of the 3rd Palihang Rene O. Villanueva and the MTAT Poetry Writing Workshop 2025. Chef Giney Villar submitted “A Sweet in Four Movements: The Reprise of Pasulbot.” A Certified Executive Chef (CEC) of the American Culinary Federation and a graduate of the American Hospitality Academy, she has earned honors and a certificate in Culinary Arts and Entrepreneurship.
Third Prize was earned by Desiree Assumpta Mendoza Lopez for her essay, “Monday Sans Mayukmok,” which will eventually be anthologized along with the first and second prize works.
Second Prize went to “A Sweet Scourge of the Filipino Table: Can There be a Seasonal Maitim na Himagas for every Merienda and Kainan?” by Maximilian Alaric O. Tan. An avid collector of rare cookbooks and culinary apparatuses from around the world, “Max” is a freelance food writer who has contributed to the cookbook database app, ckbk, and the Jacques Pépin Foundation’s Video Recipe Book, Cooking with Jacques and Friends.
First Prize went to Rob Angeles for his essay “What We Keep in Sugar.” Rob is the founder of Comfort Spoon Co., a culinary venture that encodes memory and emotion into food. He has a background spanning data, AI, and corporate transformations in Australia. Here’s an excerpt from his excellent essay:
“Minatamis. In our language it just means fruit and sugar. But the act is centuries older than either word. It’s a decision to tell time to wait. You stand over the heat until what was soft and loud becomes still and wise. You shape a season into something you can hold. Sometimes it obeys.
“… In my province, we jar minatamis because typhoons don’t wait, and fruit bruises faster than grief.
“In my memory there’s always a woman in slippers at the stove. A grandmother who moves like memory. An aunt muttering under her breath. A mother with six other concerns humming behind her eyelids. They don’t measure. Their hands remember weight. You learn to listen for the hiss when sugar meets flame. You learn the scent of ‘almost burnt’—not an error, a threshold. You scrape. You tilt. Wait until the spoon drags and leaves a scar that closes on its own. Sometimes you lean in just to smell that edge again.
“We pretend these jars hold only sweetness. That would make things easier. But they hold everything else: names we avoid, apologies unsaid, laughs that pushed too late into dusk.”
Unfortunately, many other entries simply relied on personal recollections or nostalgia pieces, while ignoring the contest stipulation to cite references. It was argued that quoting someone could be considered as partial research. But lack of formal references still pulled down the scores for several well-written entries.
This year also marked the 1st DGF Short Food Video Awards 2025, with Gio Puyat, Nina Daza Puyat, Erwan Heusaff, and Myrna Segismundo serving as judges.
Honorable mentions went to Jan Pingol for “Bayabas,” Abi Marquez for “Plantanillas,” and Angelo Guison for “Binaging.” Third Prize was claimed by Roberto Villacabral for “Halo-halo,” while Walbert Castillo & Team got Second Prize for “Istorya Las Vegas.”
Francis Lacson won First Prize for his entry, “Puso.” He was last year’s second-prize winner in the 21st Food Writing Awards 2024. The winners were awarded Sept. 20 at Palm Grove, Amorsolo Square, Rockwell, Makati, by the Food Writers Association of the Philippines (FWAP) and Rockwell Club, which also presented the “5-Star Collab featuring 5 Culinary Wizards”—chefs Patrick Go of Your Local and Lazy Suzy; Bettina Arguelles of One World Deli; Don Baldosano of Linamnam, Bombvinos, and Offbeat; Penk Ching of The Pastry Bin; and Cristian Valdez of CMV Txokolat.
Another program highlight was the launching of the book "Brew" edited by Micky Fenix and Marily Orosa, and published and designed by Studio 5 Designs, the anthology has three sections—on Philippine coffee, facts and figures, and history; stories by coffee lovers; and recipes from coffee aficionados.
Contributing writers include Ros Juan on “Roasting Coffee,” Kat Torres on “The Road to Black Coffee,” Marion D. Katigbak (on his hometown of Lipa), Robert Francisco (on appreciating your brew), Anne Marie Ozaeta (on tasting the first coffee harvest of their farm in Lipa), Nelson S. Dino (on Kahawa Sug), Micky Fenix (on growing up with coffee), Troy Barrios (on coffee experiences as a writer), Marilen Fontanilla (with two essays), Datu Shariff Pendatun (on Mindanao coffee), Ige Ramos (on coffee in Cavite), Lizanne Uychaco (on Cafe Puro and the corporation), Jenny Orillos (on coffee and bread), Amy Uy (on Blend 45), and this writer (on Kopiko & Barako.)
Pacita “Chit” Juan, guest expert as President of the Coffee Board, added an essay on “Women in the Coffee Industry.” Sequels to Brew will also feature future guest experts.
