Kusina ni Kabayan’s Kain na, Kabayan cookbook has been named as one of the 19 outstanding works on Filipino migration in the 2021 Migration Advocacy and Media (MAM) Awards hosted by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), a government agency under the Office of the President of the Philippines.
KnK’s first culinary publication received the Print Journalism Award: Best Book (Non-Fiction/Reference) for “featur[ing] recipes made by KnK member home cooks and other stories in line with the Philippine food culture,” and for the group’s “mission to break the notion that Philippine cuisine is not at par with other Asian cooking.”
The Kain na, Kabayan cookbook is one of the three non-fiction titles on Filipino migration that received the Print Journalism: Best Book award. The other two are Bridging the Gap: A Young People’s Guide to Living in Japan by Kakehashi and The Diaspora Journey: Stories of Migration in Hong Kong by Leila Rispens-Noel, Joy Tadios Arenas, Heda Bayron, and Cindy Wong.
MAM Award recipients were honored by the CFO during the hybrid on-site and virtual ceremonies presided over by CFO Chairperson Francisco P. Acosta at the Manila Hotel on March 18, 2022. The CFO announced the 2021 MAM Award recipients in December 2021 to celebrate the Month of Overseas Filipinos.
According to the CFO, the 2021 MAM awardees were selected “for raising public awareness of issues on Filipino migration, advocating for Filipinos overseas, and/or promoting a positive image of overseas Filipinos despite the constraints created by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic.”
2021 Migration Advocacy and Media Awards Ceremony
Kain na, Kabayan project director and KnK founder Perlita Pengson says the recognition goes to her team members who have “generously put their hearts into this cookbook to make it unique,” and have become “the ambassadors of Filipino food in China.” She also thanks the sponsors TRB Hutong, EAST Beijing, Raytown Visual, The Bookworm, and all donors “who dedicated their passions and efforts to make this cookbook project–the first Filipino cookbook published in China–possible.”
“I am grateful not only because our kababayan here in China and their efforts have been recognized, but also because this community project has made such a big impact on the lives of the people who are often overlooked in society,” Mrs. Pengson says. She adds that KnK has turned over more than PhP 63,000 from cookbook project proceeds to their beneficiary, Daoidao Elementary School in Abra, which used the donation for their pandemic-related recovery activities. In addition, KnK also hosted a book sale and fundraiser in early January 2020 to benefit a community affected by the eruption of the Taal Volcano.
Mrs. Pengson shares that KnK is gearing up for more community initiatives “to uplift ordinary OFWs in China and encourage them to continue their work in promoting our heritage and cuisine.”
Photo: Kusina ni Kabayan