In a sea of cookbooks filled with precise measurements, glossy photos, and culinary shortcuts, Pinas Simpol: The Love and Lore of Filipino Cooking stands on a different plane. It is not merely a guide to preparing food. It is a profound meditation on who we are as a people, how we remember, and what we value. In this work, Chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou transforms the idea of a cookbook into something larger, something almost spiritual.
At a time when Filipino cuisine is gaining global attention, Chef Tatung’s voice offers both celebration and clarity. He is not interested in chasing trends or foreign validation. Yet the fact that his restaurant, Lore by Chef Tatung, is a Michelin Selected 2026 establishment affirms that authenticity and artistry can coexist. His food, like his writing, is grounded in humility but illuminated by intelligence.
A Book Beyond Recipes
Most cookbooks tell us how to cook. Pinas Simpol tells us why. It moves from the kitchen into the heart of culture, examining the moral and emotional logic of Filipino cuisine. For Chef Tatung, food is a system of meaning shaped by geography, community, and conscience.
At the center of the book is his framework, The Four Legs of the Filipino Table: Rooted, Resilient, Respectful, and Responsive. These qualities describe more than the way we cook. They describe who we are. To be rooted is to remember our origins while remaining open to change. To be resilient is to create abundance from limitation. To be respectful is to treat cooking as an act of care. To be responsive is to evolve while keeping our essence intact.
Through these ideas, he reframes cooking as cultural intelligence. Filipino cuisine, he writes, has never been improvised. It has always been intentional and wise.
A Philosopher and Storyteller in the Kitchen
Chef Tatung writes with the grace of a philosopher and the rhythm of a storyteller. He approaches food as history written in flavor. His essays explore the “dirty kitchen” as the true heart of Filipino homes and elevate sawsawan as a form of culinary democracy, where every person mixes their own truth to taste.
He draws on memory, scholarship, and lived experience to weave together anthropology, poetry, and personal reflection. His narrative style invites readers to listen to the kitchen the way one listens to a song passed down through generations.
The Filipino Imagination in Motion
The book’s title, Pinas Simpol, carries both humor and depth. “Simpol” is not a rejection of sophistication but a celebration of clarity. It speaks of confidence without arrogance, of mastery without excess. For Chef Tatung, simplicity is intelligence distilled.
This idea of simpol mirrors the Filipino imagination itself: creative, adaptable, and grounded in community. His writing shows that our cuisine is not a fusion of borrowed parts but a coherent whole built on centuries of trade, migration, and memory. Filipino food, he reminds us, is neither East nor West. It is a language of its own.
In this light, his Michelin recognition feels symbolic. It affirms what he has always known: that Filipino food belongs on the world stage not because it imitates, but because it imagines.
The Trilogy of Identity
Pinas Simpol is the first in a planned trilogy that will explore food as a bridge between culture and conscience. Through these works, Chef Tatung elevates the cookbook to a new literary form: part anthropology, part memoir, and part national reflection. Each volume promises to deepen our understanding of Filipino identity through taste.
This trilogy will not only preserve recipes but also document a philosophy: that to cook is to lead, to serve, and to remember. It is an approach that blends intellect with emotion and theory with tenderness.
A Celebration of Who We Are
Ultimately, Pinas Simpol is a mirror of the Filipino imagination. It honors our instinct to create joy from simplicity, to nurture from scarcity, and to find meaning in every shared meal. Chef Tatung restores dignity to the act of cooking and pride to the Filipino table.
To read this book is to rediscover ourselves. It teaches that our food is not just flavor, but feeling; not just heritage, but hope. Through Pinas Simpol, Chef Tatung proves that the Filipino table is not a borrowed tradition. It is a world of its own: intelligent, inclusive, and beautifully human.
Pinas Simpol: The Love and Lore of Filipino Cooking is published by Vertikal Kreatives Inc. and retails for ₱790. It is available in major bookstores and online platforms