In this fourth episode, Irene and Margaux welcome Jill Damatac, a writer, filmmaker and photographer. Jill’s first book, Dirty Kitchen, a blend of memoir, food writing and history, will be published by Astra House in 2023. You can read an extract on The Margins, here: https://aaww.org/dirty-kitchen/. Jill tweets @JillDamatac. 

With Jill, we talked about Tinola, grandmothers, two kitchens, the word dirty, the migrant condition, grief and healing through the acts of cooking and eating.  

Recommendations from today’s episode: 

Jill’s Filipino dishes: Chicken Adobo, fried fish with mango salad, Pork Sinigang (tamarind-based soup), Longanisa (a sweet sausage based on Spanish chorizo), Beef Tapa, Kare-kare (Filipino peanut oxtail stew), Tinola (ginger-chicken soup), Sisig, Pinakpet (vegetable stew) seasoned with Bagoong (a sweet and savoury shrimp paste)

Shakespeare Who?, a podcast hosted by Jill Damatac and Maxine Sibihwana

Tikim: Essays on Philippine Food and Culture by Doreen Fernandez (Anvil Publishing, 1994) 

Shuggie Bain by Stuart Douglas (Picador, 2020)

The Mousetrap, a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie at The St Martin’s Theatre