MANILA, Philippines — With the mouthwatering dishes Abigail Sotto-Raines has been dishing up in her popular Manila Spoon blog, it always amazes her hundreds of thousands of followers that she did not have a formal training in the kitchens. Raines actually studied to be a lawyer, and served as court attorney with one of the justices of the Supreme Court and then as chief legislative officer at the Philippine Senate. She even pursued masters of law at the University of Oxford in England.
But 15 years ago, she married Mark and the two decided to move to the United States. “I wasn’t a very good cook,” recalls Raines. “I knew the basics of cooking having watched my grandmother and mom, who were both excellent cooks, make their magic in the kitchen while I was growing up. I could cook rice and make ginisa then but I knew I needed to learn more than that and quickly because there were no help or maids to prepare our meals like in the Philippines. We couldn’t live on rice and ginisa alone.”
Help came from friends she and Mark met from the church they attended in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Not only did they help the young couple find a place to stay, they also gifted Raines an American cookbook. Her cooking adventure started in that little kitchen on Michigan Street.
From lawyer to blogger with Manila Spoon
But her food blog didn’t begin until many years later. Raines lost her third child on the 37th week of pregnancy and channelled her grief into something productive. “Faith in God plus love and support from my immediate and church family sustained me. I didn’t want to wallow in self-pity because I knew I still had so much to live for - a loving husband and two beautiful children, William and Sophie. I turned to my love for cooking and Manila Spoon was born in the summer of 2012,” Raines shares.
Her food blog features tried-and-tested, family-favorite home-style dishes not only from the Philippines, but also from Asia and the rest of the globe. As her followers grew, Raines was approached by a publishing company from Massachusetts about writing a cookbook.
“Manila Spoon was already about five years old then. When I started blogging, I never knew that someday I would get the chance to write a cookbook. After a series of interviews and negotiations, we agreed on producing one about rice and noodles,” relates Raines.
According to Raines, rice is both her favorite ingredient and food. They added noodles to the mix because it was the perfect companion to rice and also a favorite staple in any Asian household.
The many flavors of Asia
To make sure her cookbook will offer something more to her followers and the public, Raines did her homework. “We wanted the cookbook to feature authentic recipes from Southeast Asia. I travelled around the region in search of the most delicious rice and noodle dishes, took cooking classes and learned from both chefs and cooks alike. It was such a fulfilling and eye-opening experience for me, perhaps even the best part of making this cookbook,” Raines said.
Rice.Noodles.Yum. delivers just that – 75 flavorful dishes from noodles and rice that are the perfect canvas for the sweet, sour, salty, savory and spicy flavors of Asian cuisine.
“After my research, I felt so proud not only about the Philippines but our Southeast Asian culinary heritage. While the region as a whole shares many common cooking methods, techniques and ingredients, yet it is also so richly diverse with each country adding their own delicious and distinct flavor profiles to a dish. My book barely scratched the surface in showing the many tasty and creative ways we in Southeast Asia cook our rice and noodles. In the end, it was quite a challenge to choose one yummy dish over another,” Raines says.
Raines launched her book in Manila on Dec. 21 at Fully Booked, and copies are now available in all Fully Booked branches. You can also order online from her page at www.Amazon.com.