WOW Pinoy: Book Author

Reynaldo Alejandro - Author of a Filipino book

Written by Ms. Confuse on Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Reynaldo “Ronnie” Alejandro is ostensibly known for two things -- dancing and cooking. According to Filipinorecipeslink.com, Ronnie is a noted cook, caterer, dancer, choreographer and author. Indeed, he is a man of many facets.

But perhaps, one thing truly remarkable about Ronnie is that he has written several books about food -- Philippine Cookbook, Flavor of Asia and Restaurant Design and co-authored The Food of the Philippines: Authentic Recipes from the Pearl of the Orient with Corazon S. Alvina, Doreen G. Fernandez and Millie Reyes.

Ronnie’s articles have also been featured in several publications including The New York Times, Food and Wine Magazine, Mabuhay Magazine to name a few.

In Philippine Cookbook, Ronnie adapts Filipino cuisine to the specifi c requirements of America’s kitchen. "In it you’ll fi nd adobo—a rich, marinated stew of chicken or pork, succulently flavored with vinegar and soy sauce; pancit guisado—sauteed noodles laced with crunchy vegetables, thinly sliced sausage and baby shrimp; estofado, prepared with burnt-sugar sauce; and ginataan, meat prepared with coconut milk. If you’re looking for a whole new array of tastes and textures in appetizers, rice, meat, fish entrees, noodles and vegetarian dishes, salads, condiments and desserts, you’ll find your palate wonderfully stimulated by The Philippine Cookbook," says Filipinorecipeslink.com.

Ronnie’s expertise and knowledge in Philippine cuisine authoritatively refl ects in his writing. "Philippine cooking is surprisingly simple; no special utensils are needed. Even a wok, which is commonly used in the Philippines and is almost essential for Chinese cooking, can be done without for most Philippines dishes.

No special skills are needed, either. If you can prepare American dishes, you can prepare the food of the Philippines. In fact, most of the dishes that follow are either sauteed or stewed. Other dishes are boiled, braised or fried. Baked dishes are rare, which is perfectly sensible for a tropical cuisine,"he said in his book, Philippine Cookbook.

Even the availability of ingredients in the US market for most Filipino dishes are thoroughly discussed in this book.

The Philippine Cookbook and other books by Reynaldo Alejandro are available in Amazon.com. AJ

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Carissa Villacorta - author of a book known at New York

Written by Ms. Confuse on Tuesday, January 22, 2008

by Manila TImes
Filipina’s big harvest of
international writing awards

CARISSA VILLACORTA, the 27-year-old author of the book Surreality, garnered four Communicator Awards, including an Award of Excellence for the copy/writing of Surreality. “The Communicator’s prestigious Award of Excellence is presented to those entrants whose ability to communicate makes them the best in their field.” The other three were Awards of Distinction for her column of the same title in Philippine News, a US circulated newspaper; for the cover article “From Far Away to Broadway” for Filipinas Magazine, February 2007, also circulated in the US, and the Surreality book. “The Award of Distinction is given to projects that exceed industry standards in production or communication skills.” The Communicator Awards is an international awards competition that recognizes outstanding work in the communication field according to their official letter of announcement. The book was published by the UST Publishing House in celebration of the school’s 400th anniversary.

The New-York based Villacorta, together with her creative director John Paul Su of JPSU Multimedia Productions, also received two Platinum Hermes Creative Awards as author of the book and as writer and executive producer of its promotional video. “The Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional materials and programs, and emerging technologies, administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, consisting of several thousand members. Hermes award makers are the same makers of the Golden Globes.

Earlier, Villacorta received 3-bronze Telly Awards for her Surreality video in three categories—Excellence in Low-Budget Productions, Promotional Pieces and Promotional Music Video. “The Telly is an international award-giving body which honors the best in film and video productions.” Telly award makers are the same makers of the Oscars and Emmys.

Carissa was most recently a featured speaker at the Mensa Society of Greater New York, to discuss some themes of Surreality. With over 50,000 members, American Mensa is the largest national Mensa operating under the auspices of Mensa International Ltd. To qualify for Mensa, members must have scored in the top 2 percent of the general population on an accepted standardized intelligence test.

She became the youngest Distinguished Service Honoree for Excellence in Community Service in the 43-year history of Philippine New York Junior Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Service Awards. She was also honored for Outstanding Achievement in Contemporary Literature at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, New York.

Villacorta also holds the distinction of being the first Filipino author to launch at a Borders bookstore in the United States. Carissa works at the community and cultural section of the Philippine Consulate General in New York and writes as a hobby on personalities, events and places in New York.