Luto na! Treasure trove of vintage Philippine cookbooks now available online

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The free Google Drive link has over 70 cookbooks dating as far back as the 1900s to the 1970s

MANILA, Philippines – Knowledge-sharing has taken the Philippine culinary community by storm!

Thanks to the efforts of a passionate Reddit user and researcher, a treasure trove of over 70 vintage Filipino cookbooks — dating as far back as 1908 and until the 1970s — has been compiled and made freely accessible online via a public Google Drive link.

The link started making its rounds online on Wednesday, March 26, after Philippine food biodiversity documentarist John Sherwin Felix, the founder of Lokalpedia, shared it on his page, thanks to Erwan Heussaff’s tip.

Felix, a staunch advocate for democratizing information, lauded both Reddit user Chill_Boi and Heussaff for democratizing information as this rightfully makes knowledge accessible to everyone. He believes that knowledge shouldn’t be treated as a “limited resource”; instead, it should be made freely available.

“That’s why I appreciate people like Chill_Boi, who compiled cookbooks dating back to 1908 and made them publicly available, and Erwan Heussaff, who not only shared the link to that compilation with me but also so consistently fosters knowledge-sharing through storytelling on FEATR,” Felix added, referring to the digital video channel founded by Heussaff.

Felix also believes in this same principle, which is why he’s “shared hundreds of [his] field research findings through Lokalpedia.”

“Because knowledge should be passed on, not gatekept,” he wrote.

The collection, which includes titles such as 1908 Domestic Science, 1925 Elementary Home Economics, 1936-1938 Good Cooking and Health in the Tropics, 1946 Recipes out of Bilibid, and 1969 Let’s Cook with Nora Daza, is like a a historical lens into the evolution of Filipino cuisine — it captures decades of regional trends, food preservation techniques, indigenous ingredients, and local flavors.

It even gives us a sneak peek into how Filipino households back then adapted to cultural influences and different economic climates — there’s a 1952 book called Saga of Soy Sauce that traces the history of the widely used condiment, while the 1974 Finger Licking Pampanga Delicacies celebrates Kapampangan cuisine. There’s also 1956 What’s Cooking in Subic, 1963 Good Home Recipes for Philippine Fishes, and 1966 Preservation of Philippine Foods.

In his original Reddit post, Chill_Boi encouraged others to contribute by sending him digital copies of any pre-1976 Filipino cookbooks they might have. “Credits to all original owners and holders of cookbooks. This is in the name of Filipino culinary heritage and not profit. More to come hopefully,” he wrote.

He shared that this project began after classes became face-to-face again — he started finding cookbooks from around the country and decided to produce an online compilation of them, free for all.

You can check out the extensive collection here. – Rappler.com