Amy Besa of Purple Yam Restaurant at The Maya Kitchen

Maya Kitchen will be having another cooking demonstration. Before August ends, Maya Kitchen will have another well-known Filipino food advocate, author and restaurateur.

She’s the chef behind the acclaimed Cendrillion and Purple Yam restaurants, none other than, Amy Besa. She will demonstrate and share some of her culinary discoveries from all over the country as she takes center stage on August 30, Saturday, 9am-1pm at The Maya Kitchen.

Besa will be demonstrating the following recipes:

• Kulawong Talong (burnt coconut cream over grilled eggplant)
• Kinagang (buko, crab meat, sliced scallions and lemongrass wrapped in banana leaf and steamed)
• Ukoy (deep fried fritter of shrimp, cabbage, carrots, snow-peas, leeks and bean sprouts)
• Beef Shortribs Adobo (beef short ribs braised in mango vinegar from Abra with fresh kakang gata or coconut cream added to sweeten and thicken the sauce)
• Steamed Organic Red Rice from Oriental Mindoro
• Pinipig Cookie (the Philippine version of rice crispies baked into flavorful cookies)

Chef Amy Besa and her husband, Chef Romy Dorotan, are mainstays in New York’s culinary scene with their famous Manhattan restaurant Cendrillon and later on Purple Yam in Brooklyn.

They are also the authors of the book, Memories of Philippine Kitchens, which won the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) 2007 Jane Grigson Award for scholarship in the quality of its research and writing. She’s also a finalist for the Julia Child First Book Award.

According to her, “We want Filipinos to experience many ingredients in our environment that are unknown, under-appreciated and ignored. These are the flavors of our cuisine and culture and that is what Filipino food is all about.“

The couple has recently decided to bring a taste of Purple Yam back to the Philippines, in their ancestral house at 603 Nakpil corner Bocobo Streets, Malate, Manila. The place is open only for reservations (telephone: 523-3497 and mobile: 0926-713-3523). Chef Romy takes care of the Brooklyn spot while Amy is in charge of Malate.

For more information, visit www.themayakitchen.com or send an email to [email protected] for more details. You can also go to The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center every Tuesday to Saturday at 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City or call 8921185 / 892-5011 local 108.