"The palayok, the round-bottomed, wide-mouthed native cooking pot, survives as witness to the beginning of life in the Philippines. The word means pot, and is the generic Filipino term for all earthenware. It is, writes Esperanza Bunag Gatbonton, "Early Man's earliest invention, proof of his ability to create new things not found in nature."

It seemed appropriate for the concept-title of this book, which follows food culture in the Philippines through time (history), on site (within society), and in the pot (where meld savors and textures, where start flavor principles, dishes, and cuisines.) Into this books pot have gone food information gathered from fieldwork--tasting, eating, interviewing--and from reading. Written sources on Philippine food start in the Spanish years, when priests, officials and travelers wrote accounts of what they observed, which often included what they ate.

This book explores Philippine food through historical and anthropological methods The body of this text follows Philippine food from its sources and beginnings through colonization and other foreign influences, to its current state and tastes. The short essays elaborate on specific aspects of the food scene: rice, lechon, fiestas, sourness. The illustrations chosen by my good friend Jonathan Best, are composed of old prints, postcards, art sketches, and advertisements." -- Doreen G. Fernandez, June 27, 1999