LPT Cooks Up New Project at Rimbun Dahan Residency

Jenny and Blonski were selected as among the resident artists for the 2025 Southeast Asia Arts Residency in Rimbun Dahan. During their two-month residency in Malaysia, they developed a new work-in-progress performance titled An Inheritance of Taste. This piece is an (auto)biographical performance that explores the intersections of food, memory, grief and longing, and the reflection of one’s family legacy and its impact on one’s identity. 

The Garilao Cookbook. Written, compiled, and composed by Ma. Delise Garilao Logico

For the first phase of the residency, Jenny and Blonski selected the dishes that were to be dissected and cooked throughout the course of their stay. The plan was to strictly follow the instructions written down by Ma. Delise Garilao Logico (Jenny’s mother). No diversion or interpretations were allowed. This proved to be a challenge since some ingredients were difficult to source due to the limited meat and seasoning produces available in the neighboring groceries.

The artists' family became both assistant chefs and meal critics.

The second phase involved the most important acts of the experiment - the cooking, eating, and reacting of the meal. Every Sunday (known to Filipinos as family day) was reserved for an entire day of meal prepping, chopping, sautéing, frying, boiling, and grilling. On occasions, the artists’ children would help out during the assembly of the dish. To trigger a recollection from both past and present, Jenny would annotate the original family recipe with an associated memory, a note on a possible incorrect measurement, and reflections on the cooking technique or method suggested by her mother. Jenny drew the floor plan and narrated the scene where the dish was first consumed. This intention was to use such sketch as a possible scenography for future bigger scale performances. Through the weekly routine of researching, batch cooking, and meal sharing with the resident artists, these once forgotten family cuisines were relived and rejuvenated. This formed a communal relationship between the family tradition, the artist, and the individuals consuming the meal. 

From sautéing to scripting - Jenny forming the performance text from her cooking annotations.

The last phase of this residency resulted into an hour-long performance lecture that discussed the history, discovery, re-discovery, and reflections of memories through the food. Inheritance of Taste director Blonski Cruz explained their methods of activation and the manner as to how the performance text was created. Intersecting this was a performance by the project's co-director and writer Jenny Logico-Cruz. At the end of the one-hour presentation, both Blonski and Jenny shared their future plans for the piece.

The final result was a lecture performance given by Inheritance of Taste's director (Blonski Cruz) and performer (Jenny Logico-Cruz). Each visitor was given a free food-taster. Photos by Mao Sovanchandy

The final output was performed in front of a hungry, curious, and excited local audience who munched on a dessert sampler of the Garilao’s Food for the Gods. 

Visitors were encouraged to jot down their feelings, draw images, and narrate memories after tasting this desert.

Inheritance of Taste is planning to make its Philippine premiere at the end of 2026. So stay tuned for more details!