MANILA, Philippines — If there are two things that bring Filipinos together, it is the Christmas season — and the promise of a good meal.

Family reunions involve either the holidays, food, or both. And surely for any host or hostess, being lauded for the scrumptious feast they’ve prepared is a compliment of the highest order.

But in between the queso de bolas and the hamons, in the week between the noche buena and the media noche, has anybody ever wondered about the stories contained in every dish that we eat? Why do we eat the food that we do? And why do we eat it that way? It was these questions and more that foodie couple Claude Tayag and Mary Ann Quioc sought to answer in the book “Linamnam: Eating One’s Way Around the Philippines”.

A collaboration that took up the better part of four years, “Linamnam” is a food guidebook, designed by Ige Ramos, featuring over 200 recipes, descriptions and history  per region, phone numbers and addresses of restaurants, definitions of culinary terms, and chapters on different kinds of longanisa, okoy, pancit, tamales and popular homegrown bottled sauces .

“This little big book is not about my darling Mary Ann and me. It is about all of us, from whatever corner of the country we may come from.

After all, ours is an archipelago of 7,100 islands, and it is only natural we will have regional differences,” says Tayag. “The past four years or so, Mary Ann and I literally ate our way around the country in search of the proverbial Holy Grail and in this culinary travel guide book, not only do we hope to lead the reader to the best eats but we also want to show the whys and hows of what makes each dish unique and outstanding.”

THE HOLY GRAIL OF PINOY FOOD

Chronicling and studying the different cuisines of an archipelago made up more than 7,000 island is a dauntless task, and Quioc admits as much in her introduction to the book. Once her husband came up with the idea for “Linamnam” she admits to being unable to share his excitement about the project.

“My mind was racing, and I thought I would miss my work and home terribly. As he talked, I was computing the expenses and lost opportunities. And when he said we would spend for all our airfare, hotels, meals, as he did not want to compromise the integrity of the book, I almost fainted,” she relates. Obviously, the project pushed through despite Quioc apprehensions and misgivings. On trips all over the country, the couple would check out food joints recommended to them by fellow foodie friends, without any distinction between hole-in-the-wall karinderias and fancy restaurants.

This would often lead to disagreements between the couple, as Quioc would often worry about the state of their finances and the sanitation of the places they were eating in, while Tayag was more focused on the “joy of the journey”.

“There were days when we looked up to heaven and thanked God for bringing us together, and I cannot imagine another partner for myself. But there were also days when we wanted to crumple each others face,” shares Quioc.

But not only did the marriage stay intact, the couple also found the best places to eat anywhere in the archipelago. Tayag says that they also inadvertently went on an anthropological excursion as well, discovering what it is exactly that characterizes and defines the many cuisines to be found in the country’s regions.

“Along the way, we discovered the sheer variety and intricacies of our multi-layered cuisine, making it easier for the uninitiated and initiate to understand what makes the Filipino eat like he eats, and debunking the pronouncements of armchair pundits that Filipino cuisine is all dry, oily, and unappetizing,” he says.

The book certainly answers a lot of questions most Filipinos haven’t even thought to ask. For instance, as much as we always associate salpicao and steak ala pobre to Spain, Tayag says that he’s never found it in any other country but our own.

“It’s just like other dishes with foreign place names like lumpiang shanghai, pancit canton, chorizo bilbao, jave rice, and so many others, but are only found in the Philippines,” he says. “We may have borrowed the term adobo from the Spaniards, but that’s where the similarity ends.”

SOON TO BE A GLOBAL BYWORD

Tayag says even the book’s title is something native only to the Philippines, stating that there is no exact and perfect English equivalent to “malinamnam”. Add to that the country’s large population overseas, and it is only a matter of time before “malinamnam” becomes a global byword. And as Tayag reveals in the book’s introduction, even renowned writer and TV host Anthony Bourdain has admitted to having heard of it!

“During our interview with globetrotting chef Anthony Bourdain for his much-touted TV-show episode on the Philippines, shot on location, in part, in our house, Bale Dutung, last October 2008, he asked me how I would describe Filipino cuisine.

‘In a word,’ I said, ‘it is the linamnam. It’s like umami, a most convenient way to explain it.’

He grasped it right away. ‘Can you say the word again?’ Bourdain requested.

‘Linamnam,’ I said.

‘Strange,’ he replied, ‘my two–year–old daughter Ariane says ‘Namnam’ whenever she’s fed something she likes.’ He paused for a few seconds and concluded, ‘Now I get it. She has a Filipina nanny!’” Tayag writes.

Whatever our differences, says Tayag, we can always rely on our food to bring us together.

“Having traveled all the way around the Philippines, we could safely conclude that our country is this, not only one of the most beautiful countries in the world by virtue of its natural resources, it is also endowed with one of the warmest, most hospitable, and happiest people on the planet, having one of the most linamnam food there is. Our four-year long journey made us discover the richness of the cuisine from the Philippines. With all our regional differences, it is our love for food that binds us together,” he ends.