CHEF SPOTLIGHT
Cooking in Paradise with Filipino Chef Meryll by Joyce Malicse Photos by Meryll Montano With over 7,100 islands, the Philippines is home to delicious dishes influenced by different cultures, such as Malay, Spanish and Chinese. We explored Filipino cuisine with Meryll Montano, cookbook author and founder of Vegan Vedas to learn how veganism has shaped how she cooks and views the Filipino experience. JM: Filipino cuisine is known for being meat-centric, and it can often be difficult to find 100 percent plant-based recipes. What challenges did you face when converting family recipes? MM: In the beginning, my choice to remove meat products from my diet caused a lot of tension within the family dynamic. The biggest challenge when converting family recipes was having healthy and efficient dialogue within the household about the positive health benefits of eating 100% vegan. In my experience, compassion is always the secret ingredient to making any transition in life an enjoyable challenge and converting family recipes was no different. JM: Who inspired you to explore vegan Filipino cuisine? MM: RG is the recipe developer behind Astig Vegan, a vegan Filipino food blog. She was the first of many vegan food bloggers that inspired me to the core of my vegan activism. I have a deep admiration for her loving approach in sharing authentic and soul nourishing Filipino food. Another recipe developer, youtuber, and vegan food blogger I’ve grown to adore over the last seven years is Jasmine Briones of Sweetsimplevegan.
VEGWORLD
42
November/December 2021
