Discovering the Bahay Kubo Kitchen with Juana Manahan-Yupangco’s Cookbook ‘Mesa ni Misis’

“There is no short cut in healthy eating. You need to make time for your health. Thirty minutes to meal prep and season your food well — you won’t miss your meat if you do that.” This is what Juana Manahan-Yupangco said when asked to give tips for people who want to cook and eat healthy but don’t know where to start. This is one of the many interesting conversations about the Bahay Kubo Kitchen during the “Mesa ni Misis” media press con on October 20.

With her cookbook launched and up for grabs,  every Filipino home cook will get to rediscover Filipino cooking and realize just how glamorous “gulay” can be in each of the 40 featured whole-food recipes. “Mesa ni Misis” focuses on creating plant-based dishes using local vegetables which ultimately supports local farmers and the agricultural community. The cookbook is published by ABS-CBN Books and is sold for just Php 250 per copy. Dgital versions of the cookbook will be available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble soon.

“Mesa ni Misis”: Whole food cooking for the Filipino family

Perhaps a common question asked is, “Why call it ‘Mesa ni Misis’? To this, Juana would smile and say, “If you are helping the misis, you will be helping the families.”  In a Filipino home, it is common to have the “misis” plan what to cook, what to buy, or how to budget the family’s income.  As she recalls the visits she had in the communities, she mentioned asking each home the same question, “Oh, sino ang naghahanda ng pagkain ninyo?” (Who prepares and cooks your food?) The common answer? “Iyan, si misis.” (It’s the missus). So, having the cookbook named “Mesa ni Misis” seems just about right, especially in the Philippine context.

Through her cookbook, Juana is glad to start from the home and connect with the real “misises” out there. She spent a lot of her time visiting communities and cooking for them. She’d buy ingredients in the “talipapa” (community satellite markets) and cooked with the spices and condiments common to Filipino kitchens. With what she had, she’d whip up meals and served the people in barangays. The best thing about her experience was when she was able to make people smile and make them happy with her cooking (upo lasagne and mongo bolognese, among others). When she saw that she gave them a hearty meal and “nabusog sila”, that was when she found out she can make a cookbook. This was also that moment when she said that she can really cook and is good at it!

Among the most-loved dishes are Mongo Bolognese, Upo Lasagne, Camote Gnocchi, Princess Potion (made by her little princess), Sayote Crumble, Langka Mechado, and Burger Steak (made of langka). The research she has done was extensive, which is why she went as far as include a pantry section in her cookbook that lists down Filipino kitchen staples that her recipes use. Making the family budget fit was an important factor for her in creating the cookbook. Each recipe provides a delicious, nutrient-dense meal for a family of 4 to 6. The calculated costs for each dish is between Php 250-350 pesos.

“Mesa ni Misis” is not just about the cookbook

“Mesa ni Misis” goes beyond being a cookbook. As an NGO founded by Juana Manahan-Yupangco, “Mesa ni Misis” advocates the plant-based diet and making “health eating affordable and accessible to all.” After three years of actively creating and doing programs on going back to the Bahay Kubo Kitchen, the advocacy has gained traction.

The NGO is involved in various community and national programs. They establish hospital partnerships that create healthful plant-basedmenus for hospital in-patients and cafeterias  like for thos in The Medical City, VRP Medical Center, and Manila Med. Another program is “Kusina Connection” that was born during the Covid-19 pandemic. They provide nutritious meals for frontliners and provide food assistance to at-risk communities. With the partnership with LGU’s and local farmers, mobile palangkes are launched in different barangays. Elderly homes are also given food assistance through a program called “Super Seniors” also under Kusina Connection.

Mesa ni Misis also regularly gives lectures on plant-based nutrition and healthy living, healthy eating feeding programs, and cooking classes for plant-based recipes. It is through such programs that spread the advocacy and break down common misconceptions on going plant-based diets.

Everything Mesa ni Misis does, as a cookbook and as advocacy, is all about loving local food, growing local food and nourishing Filipino families with what was bountifully given. This, in turn, “helps the people who grow our food. Eating local helps our countrymen, our environment—and ultimately ourselves as our food becomes our healer.”