“The writing done about food must be worthy of its subject,” writes Doreen G. Fernandez. “It should be not just utilitarian reportage, but writing that depends heavily on the unsaid, on the assumed, on the subtext of culture. It should require full participation from the reader.”

Brazo de mercedes cake was my aunt’s favourite dessert. When I was a kid, I often enjoyed a generous slice (or two) in exchange for spending an afternoon with my younger cousins. I watched Doc Brown and Marty McFly with them so many times on VHS that I still crave that pillowy, lemony meringue every time I hear Christopher Lloyd’s voice.

Doreen was my gateway to food writing. I didn’t even know the genre existed - much less how it flourished in her hands, in the Philippines. For that reason alone, Tikim will always be my favourite book of essays.