Banana Leaves

About the Book

With more than 220 tasty recipes from the Philippines and other countries, Banana Leaves offers more than traditional cooking techniques. It's a book of family, love and memories. Each recipe is written from the heart - and from the experiences of growing up in the Philippines during a time of war and consequently raising a family in the United States.

Each chapter begins with one of the author's dearest memories of her family, friends and the Philippines - each stirred by the sights, smells and flavors of that chapter's recipes.

Banana Leaves features recipes of different kinds of dishes such as pancit (noodles), lumpia (spring rolls), kakanin (Filipino snacks), and more. It also offers recipes for more -common dishes like chicken, pork, beef, seafood, cookies, cakes, and even jams and marmalades - which she still makes for her family.

Most of these dishes are Filipino with a few accompanying recipes of Chinese, Spanish and Italian origin. All measurements in Banana Leaves are of the US system - since the author learned to cook here - and the ingredients are easily found in most local grocery stores or Asian markets.

"This cookbook is not about chef-style cooking...nor is it about elegant cuisine. It's a compilation of my family's cooking. It's food that we all shared with each other, our family and our friends - full of flavor and filled with memories."
Necy T. Alcuaz, Author

About the Author

Born and raised in the Philippines, the author spent much of her childhood enduring the incomprehensible ravages of World War II. For Necy, the memories of this era remained hidden in her thoughts and did not fully resurface until the passing of her husband in 1993. Following her husband's death, a flood of long-standing memories leapt from her mind onto her note cards. And Banana Leaves was born.

A mother of two who never truly learned to cook in her homeland, Necy and her family immigrated to the United States in 1978. Once established Stateside, she quickly realized her nostalgia for traditional Filipino food. It was time to learn how to cook for herself, her husband and her two young sons!

To this day, even with everyone's busy schedules, she still manages to get the entire family and her friends together for dinner in her home once a month to celebrate life.