The essay entitled, “Pakbet: The Kumintang of the Women in Santa Maria,” written by Kaye Leah Cacho-Sitchon, BA COMM faculty of the Languages and Communication Department of the School of Teacher Education and Liberal Arts, gets tied for 3rd Place in the 2022 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award, with the theme “Roots, Fruits, and Vegetables.” This marks her second win in the DGF Food Writing Award. In 2020, her essay “Sinanglaw for Breakfast” on the subject of Livestock won first place.
Kaye Leah was also selected as a fellow for Creative NonFiction in the 60th Silliman University National Writers Workshop, Asia’s oldest creative writing workshop established in 1962 by the late Edilberto K. Tiempo and National Artist for Literature Edith L. Tiempo of Silliman University.
The DGF Food Writing Award is the first food writing award in the Philippines.
The first prize winner for 2022 was Reynadel V. Cayetano of Quezon City who wrote “Reclaiming Philippine Ube.” Coming in second was Jeanne Jakob-Ashkenazi for “The Comforting Squidginess of Slow-Cooked Veggies.” Tied in third place were Kaye Leah Cacho-Sitchon, for “Pakbet: The Kumintang of the Women in Santa Maria” and Alfonso Delgado, for “The Breadfruit: A Superfruit and So Much More.” The 2022 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award was chaired by Micky Fenix. The judges were Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, Nana Ozaeta, Mol Fernando, Datu Shariff Pendatun III and Krip Yuson.
The DGF Award is named after the late dean of food writers, Doreen Gamboa Fernandez. It was established to promote Philippine food literature. “Sangkap” and “Savor the Word,” two books published during the first 15 years of the DGF Food Writing Award, feature the winning essays.
