
I must admit that I am one of the few people who are not fond of the Filipino dish adobo. I do eat it, but I don’t really enjoy it, and I think I know why — it’s one of the most recyclable dishes in Filipino cuisine because it keeps so well, and I am a person whose taste buds have a very short attention span. I don’t like repeating viands in subsequent meals, and when there’s adobo at home it does tend to be appear frequently on the table for so many days. Adobo was also a mainstay in our family excursions – whether it’s a day at the beach, or the times we rode a Superferry (16 hours) to Bacolod or Iloilo when I was young). It was also standard baon (lunchbox) fare, and I specifically remember that I had a packed lunch of adobo during all the college entrance exams I took.

Today, as the Flippers discussed food, our guest speaker was the delightful foodie Nancy Reyes-Lumen, who talked about her book The Adobo Book, published by Anvil Publishing (book #101 of 2009), co-authored with Reynaldo G. Alejandro.
It’s a collection of various adobo recipes from a great number of contributors, with sections containing personal essays on adobo, cooking techniques and personal styles.
Aside from the interesting history of the book itself (ten years in production), I learned a lot of things, like how Filipinos combined Spanish (adobado) and Chinese influences in creating the adobo we know now; how rock salt is a key ingredient in adobo, and how adobo should be named the national dish to define Filipino cuisine.
I like this book because I was surprised at the many interesting variations on the adobo recipe, which gives me a window of opportunity to actually find out if there is a non-traditional variation out there that I could really, really like.
I am especially interested in McCormick’s Nutty-Herbed Adobo, Nancy’s Scallops in Adobo Butter, Ronnie’s Adobo Tuna Puttanesca, Mol Fernando’s Calamansi-Lemongrass Adobo Sauce, and Paella de Adobo, and I hope to try out some recipes soon to find the right type of adobo for me. This should be good for several exciting experiments in the kitchen! :D

***
My copy: newsprint edition, signed!
My rating: 4/5 stars
wow dame umattend! kainggit!
Looks like you had a really interesting gathering. The adobo author seems like a great person to meet. I wish I were in Manila for discussions like these. We sometimes lack stimulation in the provinces.
Hi Chia! We missed you at the discussion!
@Johanna, yup Nancy Reyes Lumen was fab! :) Give us a holler when you’re gonna be in town, we can talk books with you anytime! :)
Wow. kaka enjoy naman ang meet up nyo. Wish I can join you next time. Laging interesting ang monthly discussion nyo.
@Ray-ann – Join us this July, we’re discussing Dr. Seuss :)
Gusto ko topic nyo ahhh. Sige I’ll try pag free ako. Thanks.
Tsk tsk tinakpan ako ni Marie.
You can find new editions of The Adobo Book in http://www.filipinovillage.com for delivery in the USD! Just click on the Market building and look for Books under “For delivery in the US”. It’s great!! We have cooked a bunch of the recipes. Salamat po
pa-grab ng pic ha! :)
Go ahead :)
Where can I buy Nancy’s Adobo book? I am residing here in the US (42 years) in the Northern Virginia area, 15 minutes from the White House.
Thank you po.
Hi Danny. I think you can order it from National Book Store, they ship to the US.
http://nationalbookstore.com