Nina Daza Puyat: The Making of Food Legends

Filipino food connoisseur and writer Nina Daza Puyat is on a mission to advocate flavoursome food journeys from farm to table for kids to appreciate where their food comes from. Her palatable children’s books are wrapped in a delightful fusion of savoury culture and rich history in snack-sized bites served on a platter garnished with a heap of take-away lessons while encouraging young readers to cook. 

“I believe that we would have a deeper understanding and appreciation of Filipino food if we could connect the dish to our land, people, traditions, and culture,” advocates Nina, who authored two children’s books because she wanted to tell fun stories about food with lessons that children can learn from.  

I have been inspired by Nina’s life journey, having known her for more than 50 years since our first holy communion, under the watchful eyes of our mothers who were friends.

Nina’s first book ‘Ang Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai’ (The Legend of Fried Spring Rolls) was released in 2023. Set in two towns with feuding families, it demonstrates the good values that are innate in Filipinos such as charity, respect and care for the elderly, and helping others for the good of all. The crispy and delicious Lumpiang Shanghai is cooked in thousands of kitchens in the Philippines and wherever there are Filipino families around the world.

The 36-page storybook comes to life with the illustrations of Filipino Sean Erwin Santia, a seasoned animator, visual artist and first-time book illustrator. Having grown up with ‘alamat’ stories from his ‘lola’ (grandmother), Sean “fell in love with the story” which took five months to illustrate. 

Nina’s second book ‘The Forlorn Rice Cooker’, published in 2024, taps into real-day consumer habits like eating out frequently or ordering food for delivery.  It teaches children about purpose. At the story’s core is a worn and weary rice cooker that complains about doing the same old boring task every day. Envious of the other kitchen appliances, it longs to cook exciting dishes like the others. Fortunately, a wise and caring friend is able to shift the rice cooker's perspective. This simple story teaches children to be grateful for what they have and what they can do. It shows how each person –  and everyday objects around the house – have a specific role and reason for being. Nina’s daughter Billie, who works in Communications, thinks it is very relatable.

Originally conceptualised as an e-book on Amazon Kindle, Nina printed a small batch as a giveaway for her 35th wedding anniversary.  She is married to Louie Puyat and they have four children.  But relatives and friends who read it really enjoyed it and thought a bigger audience would, too.  Hence, it is now commercially available. 

Currently working on a third book, she made it her mission “to teach young people to be more aware and appreciative of where their food comes from. There are people behind the dishes they eat, those who planted the vegetables, people who made the soy sauce, who caught that fish.  I want children to understand the source of ingredients and, thereby, have a deeper appreciation of the dish.” 

Riley, a young third grader of Filipino heritage whom she met at a book reading in Las Vegas, came up to her to express her gratitude. Her “Thank you for sharing about my culture” not only moved Nina but also affirmed that her books are reaching her target readers in a meaningful way.

Riley, thanking Nina for sharing about Filipino culture

With 10 million documented Filipinos working abroad, plus immigrants who left in the 1980s and 1990s and have given birth to foreign-born Filipinos or mixed-heritage children, the Filipino diaspora is huge and there is a market with a hunger for traditional knowledge and cultural experiences.

"At first, I only wrote the story in Filipino… But I realised that many children’s books are published in dual languages, and this format could reach a wider market. It would be another opportunity to teach Filipino-speaking children English, and English-speaking children Filipino,” Nina says. 

Moreover, Nina decided that she will end each of her books with a recipe to encourage young readers to cook. Her recipes for fried spring rolls in ‘Lumpiang Shanghai’ and fried rice in ‘Forlorn Rice Cooker’ are easy to follow.

To reach a diverse audience, the avid traveller has gone on book tours in a number of Philippine schools as well as classrooms and Philippine embassies in Malaysia, France and the USA.

All her adult children have contributed to producing the books and events. Her sound engineer son, Joseph, recorded the accompanying soundtrack and sound effects for a more enriching audience experience during Nina’s reading engagements. The books also have a QR code which provides an audio guide describing the characters.

Turning over a copy of her book to the New York public library

“Through my children’s books about food, I hope to reach a wider audience of Filipino children around the world. I hope to continue my mom’s mission on a slightly different path – still talking about our Filipino food culture but also presenting it in a way that sparks people’s imagination and feeds their soul,” declares Nina, whose mom is the legendary Nora Daza acclaimed for elevating and bringing Filipino cuisine to the world.

Nina started writing stories during the pandemic and found inspiration when her grandchild was born in 2021. 

“I just started to feel this generational connection between my mom, me, my daughter, and my granddaughter,” shares Nina.  That’s four generations of Dazas experiencing a passion for cooking and storytelling through food.

Three generations of Dazas. L-R daughter Billie, mom Nora and Nina  (Photo: Caloy Legaspi) 

With granddaughter Charlie

Like Mother, Like Daughter

Nina is the youngest of four children of Nora Daza, Filipino veteran gourmet chef, restaurateur, food columnist, socio-civic leader, television host, and best-selling cookbook author. She left behind a treasure trove containing hundreds of recipes by the time she passed away in 2013. Her first cookbook ‘Let’s Cook with Nora’ (first published in 1965) with over 250 simple but savoury recipes was – and still is – considered the cooking bible by Filipinos, who default to her time-tested Filipino and Western favourites. I couldn’t do without it when I lived in London, having to teach myself to cook since eating out was so expensive. 

The grand dame of Philippine cuisine began an ambitious mission of bringing Filipino food to France some 40+ years ago. She introduced Filipino cuisine in Paris to a mainly French clientele. She was the original ambassadress, celebrity chef and influencer of Filipino cuisine. It would certainly make her proud to see where it is now in the global culinary arena.

Nina’s recent visit to Paris took her back to the city where her mother started. In 1972 mom Nora opened the 70-seat Aux Iles Philippines restaurant and ran it for 11 years. 

Nora Daza, chef, restauranteur, cookbook author, media personality

In a Facebook post about her book reading at the Philippine Embassy in Paris, Nina wrote: “I couldn’t help but wax nostalgic about how my siblings (Bong, Sandy, Mariles and Stella) and I used to help out in the restaurant in the summers. We all worked as waiter/waitress, bartender, cashier, kitchen dispatcher etc. at one time or another, proudly serving our mostly French customers Chicken Adobo, Lamb Caldereta, Prawn Sinigang, Lechon Kawali, Fresh Lumpia and Pancit Guisado, to name a few. Another special dish which could not be found in all of France was our Kuhol Bicol - escargots cooked in gata (coconut milk), bagoong (shrimp paste) and sili (fresh chili) with a scoop of white rice, of course!

“My Mom also included dishes that were not traditionally Filipino but with a definitive Pinoy taste. Duck being a flavoured protein of the French, she made up a dish called Pato Binondo – roasted duck served with Java Rice and a peanut-BBQ sauce. She also invented Sugpong Pampango, steamed prawns smothered with a rich, umami-bomb of a sauce of taba ng talangka (fat of small crabs) and crème fraîche.  

On a separate occasion, Nina couldn’t help feeling emotional when her book launch in New York City was held at The Philippine Center, formerly known as Maharlika, one of her mom’s restaurants.

“It was my mom who first showcased Filipino cuisine in a formal, elegant, sit-down restaurant in the U.S. in 1973. In 1974, Maharlika was listed as one of the top restaurants in New York City. She was so proud of our food. She always said that Filipino cuisine is unique because we have managed to blend and integrate the influences of the Spanish, American, and Chinese into our own Indo-Malaysian roots,” Nina proudly remarked in her speech.

“Today, there are so many restaurateurs, chefs, cooks, SME food producers, and food writers who are contributing to this increased awareness and appreciation for Philippine cuisine in many corners of the world, and I’m proud to say that my Mom took that brave first step.”

At the relaunch of Let’s Cook with Nora

In 2016 publisher Anvil wanted to update ‘Let’s Cook with Nora’ and asked Nina to review a few recipes. Instead of simply editing the recipes, she decided to retest all 260 recipes.  She updated them with ingredients that are accessible today (like different types of dairy, cheese or fresh herbs), re-shot the food photos and documented the steps clearly so that the cooking procedures leave no room for error. It took her about a year to finish the updated edition, which was published in 2019.

The response to Nora’s refreshed cookbook has been enthusiastic. Previous owners of the original book were just thrilled to secure a new copy to replace their old book, now stained from repeated use with yellowing pages falling out of their binding.  Readers rediscovered family favourites like Beef Stroganoff, Shrimp Toast and Daza Chicken Relleno.

Insatiable Appetite

Nina’s entire career and projects are immersed in the food industry.  How she keeps her svelte figure whilst surrounded by sumptuous dishes, pastries, chefs, foodies, food festivals and restaurant openings is a mystery to me.

Growing up in a food-obsessed household, Nina thought she might work in a hotel’s F&B department, and enrolled at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration from 1983-1986.  As part of her on-the-job training she worked in a two-star Michelin restaurant back in France where the chefs were all men and she was the only Asian in the entire town.  At first she was doing manual tasks like mopping the floor and picking herbs from the garden, but later her responsibilities increased as she earned their trust, doing dishes like flan de foie gras, on her own. 

“At the end of the training, I treated them to food they had never tasted,” Nina recalls.  “It was summer and I used avocados to make avocado ice cream, gaining a compliment of ‘C’est Bon!’ from my chef-mentor.  I also made pancit canton [a Filipino adaptation chow mein] and chicken adobo [a classic stew], borrowing the cashier’s car to go to the next town to buy ingredients.”

Nina at Cornell graduation with brother and fellow alumnus, Sandy

Nina worked as editor-in-chief of Appetite magazine from 2011 to 2017 and left when the publication was becoming more digital.  It was a magazine targeting the luxe market but Nina felt that it needed to add content and recipes catering to homemakers. Home cooks are always looking for recipes to try, those that are easy to follow, with ingredients that are easy to find. Twice a year they also published recipes which were from different parts of the Philippines, realising that there are so many dishes an average homemaker doesn’t know about. 

Demonstrating how to make Lumpiang Shanghai (Photo: Claire Mercado Obias)

(Photo: Nikki Arenal)

Book reading with toys as props

“My dream is to have households and communities document and pass down family recipes. There is so much to learn from regional cooking!” says Nina, who is afraid that recipes will disappear.  She encourages writing down those measurements and procedures so that the next generation, and hopefully generations after will have a guide.

Eating dishes from your childhood are emotion-laden experiences.  In my own family Viber chat with cousins in the US, Canada, Singapore and the Philippines, we exchange recipes; I love receiving photos of stained index cards of dishes and desserts we grew up with.  I see the tremendous value of what Nina is encouraging: “wanting recipes to live on”.  There is an emphasis that these are for and by everyday cooks, not chefs. 

“So, if you are that cook, share that recipe, and pass it on. Don’t be selfish about those recipes,” Nina encourages boldly.

As I write, Nina’s Facebook wall is full of photos of a National Food Showdown.  She has been invited to be one of the judges in this competition that brings together top culinary, hotel and restaurant schools, alongside industry professionals to showcase their expertise, creativity and passion, an Olympics of sorts.

Nina is a modest, kind, friendly soul. She may not recognise it, nor want the attention, but in my eyes, her life is a legend-in-the-making, too. Nina continues to feed her passion for food, reaching out and advocating cooking as her language of love.

-Roxanne | ws

Images courtesy of Nina
“Ang Alamat ng Lumpiang Shanghai” and The Forlorn Rice Cooker by Nina Daza Puyat are available on Shopee.ph, Lazada.com.ph  Philippinebooks.com | In addition, The Forlorn Rice Cooker e-book is available on amazon.com |
Nina Daza Puyat’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/nina.puyat |