CLAUDE's Dream Book!!!

This Christmas,
I'll be giving this book as my present
(along with Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth dibidi),
to FRIEND and FOODIE alike!



My cousin JJ married the author's niece MONICA
up in Baguio a year and a half ago
(they had the most alcoholic wedding reception I've ever MC-ed);



and since then,
he's become "UNCLE CLAUDE" to the Hizon Clan as well.

The TAYAGs and the HIZONs are the perfect match:
both ancient (!) Pampanga families,
with a common addiction to dining & drinking.

And since we now have a Superstar Chef in the extended familia,
We never miss any invitation to eat (and eat, and eat...)
at Uncle Claude's BALE DUTUNG (cabalen-speak for "Wooden House"),
which itself is a work of art.



And this book is another work of art.

Anvil Publishing again proves its mettle
as the Philippines' main provider of fine homegrown books,

with this delicious collection
of foodie musings, gastronomic travelogues,
excellent recipes, and drawings/sketches/paintings
all from Mr. T's Thursday column in the Philippine Star.



What really makes his column, and this book, tick?

It's the HUMOR!

Over and above the gout-inducing descriptions
of the dishes he's tried and tasted,

it's the lightheartedness of the writing,
sans the formality you'd expect from a renowned
painter/sculptor/furniture artist,

that makes this book a perfect read.


Think Anthony Bourdain with all the wit
but minus the acerbity,
and you've got Claude Tayag.



And since he is, after all,
a true-blue Capampangan,
can our new national food,
SISIG be far from his thoughts?

Below is a recipe from the book;
(just click on the pic to enlarge it)

If you missed this past weekend's
Sisig Festival in Angeles City,
this ought to soothe your cholesterol-deprived soul.


FOOD TOUR is now available in Powerbooks branches
and in National BookStores all over MetroManila.

Just tie a RED ribbon around the GREEN book,
and you've got the perfect Christmas present!