EP 25: Writing the Philippine Food, Cooking and Dining Dictionary with Edgie Polistico
This episode we chat with Edgie Polistico, author of the Philippine Food, Cooking and Dining Dictionary - a necessary part of my kitchen (and bookshelf). I’ve learned so much from this book, and expect I will keep learning! From growing up in Leyte, learning how to code in the 90s, looking at food and migration patterns, to travelling across the archipelago - and eating everything along the way - Edgie shares his journey to writing what I consider one of the best resources on contemporary Filipino food culture.
Show notes
01:40 87 entries on adobo
06:25 Growing up in Leyte
07:55 Edgie's high school
10:00 On English instruction and summer vacations
12:40 His first Cebuano-English dictionary
14:50 An "accidental lexicographer"
16:30 Moving to Tacloban
18:50 Starting with source code
20:15 Edgie's digital dictionary, circa 1995
21:25 "It wasn't the time"
22:10 On food and migration patterns
24:00 "Why not promote our food?"
25:50 What would it take to keep millions now home from COVID-19?
28:55 Edgie's digital dictionary, circa 2008
29:45 Trailing writers, libraries, markets
31:30 Embracing our inherent diversity
33:40 "We are regionalized"
34:15 From the highlands, coasts and plains of Luzon
36:00 Eastern and western Visayas
36:40 Tawi-tawi as a microcosm
40:45 Why Edgie goes to markets
41:30 What it takes to make a dictionary
44:15 Using ethnographic research
45:45 On verbal vs. written names
47:55 Pastil and Maranao cuisine
49:30 Culinary homonyms: patis, adobado, aratiles
51:55 "We are of different languages"
52:40 Finding our value/s
56:55 "What's been lost is still here"
Links for this episode
Download the Philippine Food, Cooking and Dining Dictionary today, as an e-book via Anvil Publishing. Though I certainly recommend finding a paperback if you can!
Visit Edgie’s Philippine Food Illustrated blog and join the Facebook group.