When Micky Fenix set out to write her book, Country Cooking: Philippine Regional Cuisines, she was motivated at least in part by a self-aware sense of curiosity. “This is my country and yet I didn’t know enough about our culinary culture” she once told Tatler, explaining the impetus for her to write the book.

She had already been a celebrated food writer by then, though, and so it was from a place of great humility that her book began. Which is to say that even then, she certainly knew a lot about Filipino food and cuisine.

Writing mainly for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Fenix-Macabenta has for years been one of the country’s most well-respected food writers. She’s covered everything from high-end restaurants to Madrid Fusion, to Filipino street food, and has been known for the personal, intimate quality of her writing. Through her book, which was published in 2016, she learned even more about Filipino cuisine. “I discovered that we have a diverse cuisine with similarities and differences. My writing about those celebrates that diversity which makes our cuisine very interesting.”