Fil-Aussie cookbook celebrates Filipino cuisine and friendship

June 12, 2023
2 min read

It was a celebration of great food and great friendship during the recent launch of Australian-Filipino food and travel writer, photographer, and cookbook author, Yasmin Newman’s Under Coconut Skies: Feasts and Stories from the Philippines at SM Aura Premier.

The event organized by the Australian Embassy and the Australia Global Alumni in the Philippines brought together members of the Filipino-Australian community, alumni, and corporate executives.

*Australian-Filipino food and travel writer Yasmin Newman with SM’s Millie Dizon and Australian Embassy Second Secretary Alex O’Hara at the Book Nook at SM Aura Premier*

*Members of the Australia-New Zealand Association at the afternoon tea reception at the SM Aura Skypark Lawn*

Under Coconut Skies is Yasmin’s second Filipino cookbook. The book is a celebration of the Philippines and its food, and takes her readers on a journey to discovering classic Filipino dishes through stunning photographs and unique culinary traditions, folklore, and personal stories.

Australian Ambassador to the Philippines HK Yu PSM said, “One of the things that Filipinos and Australians share is our love for food—we love bringing people together to enjoy great food and have great conversations. We are delighted to have Filipino-Australian Yasmin Newman here in the Philippines, to celebrate Philippine culinary heritage with the best of Australian products—a culinary fusion of the best of both countries.”

In this vivid cookbook, Yasmin Newman invites you into her kitchen and into the homes of friends and locals, sharing traditional dishes, and vegetarian and modern interpretations on the classics. From sizzling wild mushroom sisig, golden turmeric and cassia bark rice from the Muslim south and pork belly adobo to glistening candied kalamansi cake, Filipino food celebrates and satisfies all the senses.

As a proud ambassador of Filipino cuisine and Australian food products, Yasmin also shares her love for food and her Australian and Filipino influences in a series of cooking videos called A Taste of the Philippines produced by the Australia Philippines Business Council (APBC) in partnership with the Australian Government.

In 2013, she also wrote and published her debut cookbook 7000 Islands: A Food Portrait of the Philippines.

Under Coconut Skies – Feasts and Stories from the Philippines is available here.