‘No rules’ and ‘riotous flavour’: how to cook and eat like you’re on holiday in the Philippines

Watermelon ice with mango, recipe from Under Coconut Skies by Yasmin Newman, published by Smith Street Books. Photograph: Georgia Gold/Rochelle Eagle

For cookbook author Yasmin Newman, food was a gateway to appreciating her culture. Born in Australia to a Filipina mum and an Anglo dad, she grew up eating dishes her mother prepared, such as longsilog (Filipino sausage and fried rice) for breakfast, nilaga (beef soup) for dinner and biko (coconut caramel sticky rice) for snacks in between.

“[With] each bite, I’d absorb the Philippines’ distinctive culture,” Newman says. “Delicious and disarming, yet layered with history and meaning.”