Traveling Fil-Am chef’s kamayan book in the works

Chef Yana Gilbuena toasting pop-up kamayan guests during her Denver stop. FACEBOOK

NEW YORK – A Filipino American chef is raising funds to publish a compilation of stories and portraits of the people she met during her 50-state tour project to bring Filipino food to America in a span of a 52 weeks.

Yana Gilbuena has started a Kickstarter drive for the publication of her book, No Forks Given: A Chef’s Quest to Spread Kamayan in America.

Gilbuena describes her book as “not just a cookbook, not just a memoir and not just a travelogue,” but also a record of her resilience, faith and trust in the goodness of people.

“This book is all about the community who supported me and contributed their own thread into this tapestry. It’s an homage to the Good Samaritans who’ve been kind and generous to me and whom I now consider my family in America.”

Gilbuena’s book project is “community-driven” with a production team of mostly Filipino Americans.

Prototype of Gilbuena’s book. KICKSTARTER

Helping her create the video of the what’s and why’s of this project are Irene and Lisa Yadao and Michelle Sampior (and rounded out by Krystle Cansino and Diana Park) of Paper Tongue Productions.

The book designer is Nicole Bonsol who is based in Oakland, California, and is an overall creative, from graphic and web design to songwriting.

Her featured illustrator/artists are Anthony Manal Castro and Malaka Gharib. Castro is a New York-based artist known for mixed media and line work and has designed the American map artwork for the project (his art will be on the tote bag). An exploded view of the map of each state will be illustrated in each chapter, Castro-style.

Malaka Gharib is a Filipina-Egyptian-American editor and illustrator based in Washington, DC. Her work explores her multicultural heritage with illustrations. Each recipe in each chapter will showcase her illustrations.

Another Gilbuena kamayan pop-up. KICKSTARTER

The book’s photographer is Celeste Noche, who’s based in Portland, Oregon. Noche is not only a photographer, but also writer. Her work will focus on the dinners, the people and the behind-the-scenes shots, be they prepping for the dinner or going to the market.

Lastly, the book will be printed in the United States to support a small and local printing press.

“Why a book? Why now? It’s all for love and passion. Love for my Filipino culture, heritage and its preservation through food. Passion to share it with new people,” states Gilbuena.

For more information click the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056987524/no-forks-given-a-chefs-quest-to-spread-kamayan-in