IF WE’RE being honest, we’re starting to lose track of celebrity chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou’s wins at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. For this year, Mr. Sarthou’s Simpol Dishkarte won the 2023 Best Celebrity Chef Book in the World at the 29th Gourmand World Cookbook Awards held at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Nov. 28.
Mr. Sarthou got his first Gourmand World Cookbook award for Philippine Cookery: From Heart to Platter in 2017 for the Best TV Chef Book outside Europe category, while Simpol Kitchen Secrets won in two awards in 2021: Celebrity Chef – World, and Easy Recipes at home. According to a release, there were around 205 submissions this year, with Simpol Dishkarte coming out on top.
“The contents of Dishkarte span kitchen fundamentals, safety tips, cooking techniques, ingredient deep dives, and step-by-step recipes, accompanied by illustrations and personal reflections,” said BusinessWorld’s story about Dishkarte (https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/05/18/523457/chef-tatungs-book-dishkarte-uses-taglish-to-teach-cooking/). The book focuses on letting Filipinos learn more about cooking techniques, but also the logic behind procedure, conveniently worded in Taglish (a mixture of Filipino and English often used in casual conversation).
In a Facebook post about his latest win, Mr. Sarthou wrote, “Winning this prestigious award for the third time feels like winning the coveted Ms. Universe crown, pero wala pong lutuang naganap sa laban na ito (no cooking was done in this fight — taking after the Filipino expression that a rigged contest is “cooked”).”
“Allow me to express my deepest gratitude for the honor of having received the 2023 Best Celebrity Chef Book in the World, a grand award bestowed by the prestigious Gourmand World Awards,” he continued.
“Creating Simpol Dishkarte was a labor of love, and receiving this award validates the countless hours of dedication and hard work that went into its production. This achievement proves that hard work and perseverance does pay off. After all, when I started working on this book, there was a bit of skepticism: ‘Why invest in such a book?’ Yet here we are, winning two awards in a row. First the Filipino Reader’s Choice Award and now this very prestigious international award,” he said. “All this would have been difficult to achieve if I had been alone. And so, I am deeply thankful to everyone who contributed to the success of the cookbook; from the talented team who collaborated on the project, and to the supporters who have been with me every step of the way.”
It’s still all business for the chef: after this quite emotional post, he was already posting about their Ensaimada Grande, available at his latest venture, Gateway 2’s Tindeli. — Joseph L. Garcia