Doreen Fernandez writing contest winners announced
MANILA, Philippines - Winners of this year’s Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Awards were feted at a dinner hosted by the International Wine and Food Society Manila Ladies Branch last week. The subject matter for the 2011 competition was pancit or Filipino noodles.
First prize went to Caesar Horatius “Harry” Mosquera for his essay, “Codename: Wet Pancit,” his boyhood name for noodle soups like almondigas, batchoy, miswa with sardines and chicken sotanghon. He believes those pancit soups have contributed to his father’s long life.
Jenny Orillos won second prize for her “A Pancit Puti Panata,” a noodle dish that is generally all white and which the author learned from a Quiapo fiesta host. She has since adopted it as her specialty for her family’s New Year’s Eve dinner.
Third place went to Ofelia Niña Reyes Abay for her entry “The Joy of Slurping a Simple Noodle.” The noodle is pancit bato named after a town in Camarines Sur where the strands are made with cassava flour. In the town’s karinderiya, she wrote that the practice is to order pancit bato with inulas or dinuguan, which is poured on top of the noodles.
Ferdinand Cortes copped fourth place for his essay “The Mystery of the Late Night Pancit of Golden Star.” Golden Star is his favorite of the three panciteria in downtown Manila where his family used to stay. He was able to discover the secret behind the flavors of the restaurant’s pancit guisado through information given by an insider.
The winners were awarded cash prizes from the Manila Ladies Branch and books from Anvil Publishing. Mosquera also won a Mont Blanc Oyster pen donated by a Filipino manager of the company who is based abroad. Other sponsors are hotels and resorts such as New World, Fridays Boracay, Dusit Thani, Mandarin Oriental, Makati Shangri-La, The Peninsula Manila, Edsa Shangri-La, and Le Spa of Sofitel Luxury Hotel.
The Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award will be celebrating its 10th year in 2012 by publishing a book featuring the winning essays. Winners of the 10th year will be included because the competition will start early. The subject will be panghimagas, or dessert. For inquiries, e-mail dgfawards@yahoo.com.ph.
