MERCE JOSE-DELA CRUZ is the author of a UNESCO publication, Sourcebook of Philippine Traditional Art Motifs and Crafts Processes. A postgraduate in Sociocultural Anthropology and Archaeology, she was a recipient of a Hanns Seidel Foundation scholarship in Germany where she co-curated the traveling exhibit, Die Philippinen: Perle im Ӧstlichen Meer. Merce lives in sunny California where she ran a food imports business for 10 years. In retirement at home, she plays the piano, writes creative non-fiction, and cooks to keep her loved ones close by.

“Growing up in a family of 11 children, I was not compelled to cook. While my sisters and brothers learned to cook from our mother, I played the piano. Our father, who once played drums in a band for a living, recognized my talent and excused me from doing household chores. The rest of my siblings had to take turns cleaning the house, doing the laundry, washing the dishes, and cooking. I used to hear my father cautioning them about the damage to my wrists if they make me sweep the floor or cramping my hands and fingers if I cook our dinner after hours of playing my escalas and arpeggios.
The downside is obvious. I never learned to cook. But not learning to cook from family members does not mean there is no desire for me to learn. Belatedly and mostly because I crave the food of my youth that I cannot find in American restaurants, I finally traded my piano for the stove.
The cooking gene had surfaced, and now I am hooked!”—From the Introduction to The Food of My Heart: Essays on Filipino Food Culture by Merce Jose-dela Cruz (for publication)