Launched in late 2019, At the Company’s Table is a cookbook with 45 recipes gathered from 16 Jesuits of the Philippine Province. In the preface, Fr Rene Javellana SJ, who himself contributed several recipes, writes: “It is a way of sharing with co-workers, collaborators, benefactors, family, and friends, the joy and gift of the community table the Jesuit cooks have discovered.”
The recipes were kitchen-tested, then for the book beautifully styled and photographed. The dishes are divided into categories: Rice & Pasta, Soup & Vegetables, Meat, and Seafood, including Appetizers, Bread, and Dessert. The creativity of the Jesuit cooks is evident in the recipes: “Poor Boy’s Mushroom Risotto” uses a combination of jasmine rice and malagkit (sticky) rice instead of the more expensive Italian Arborio. Fr Herb Schneider SJ’s “Black Pepper & Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream” combines delicate coconut cream with piquant green and black peppercorns and balsamic vinegar. There are recipes uniquely Jesuit: from “Novitiate Nachos” from Fr Joel Liwanag SJ, who started making the dish when he was in the novitiate, to the “JR Christmas Eggnog” recipe, traditionally served at the Jesuit Residence in Manila, “when the Fathers would receive gifts from convents and schools” like Assumption tarts from the Assumption sisters, baked bread from the Good Shepherd sisters, and pannetone and pasta from the Canossian sisters. Interestingly, the cookbook includes a recipe for bread called “Pan de Kiko” by Fr Archie Carampatan SJ, which was made in honor of the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines in January 2015.
Proceeds of the cookbook’s sales go to the Sacred Heart Mission Station in Caloocan City, Philippines where the community struggles with poverty and lives with the violence of the Philippine government’s war on drugs. With over 1,000 copies of the cookbook already sold, they are able to raise funds to help students with transportation and school uniforms in the mission.
For orders or inquiries, please email sales@jescom.ph or atthecompanystable@gmail.com
For more information on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atthecompanystable
