MANILA -- Fresh from winning the Best Book by a Celebrity Chef and the Easy Cookbook awards at the 2021 World Gourmand Awards in Paris for his bestselling "Simpol: The Cookbook," one would think chef Tatung Sarthou would take it easy.

But instead, he comes up with two all-new books, "Simpol Kitchen" Secrets and "Baking Simpol," to help home cooks and bakers level up their culinary skills.

The two books are very different from his past works that were more centered on recipes and Philippine culinary history. These two books deal with method and technique.

Chef Tatung recommends aspiring chefs who are thinking about going to culinary school to try the processes to get their foot in the door and see if full-time study is for them. Basics and fundamentals are also covered so home cooks and enthusiasts will still benefit a lot from the books. The books feature QR codes that link to online videos and resources to further explain the concepts and processes.

“The books will help a lot because they help you understand technique and method. In cooking, technique is really key. You can disregard the recipe and you attack your ingredients using appropriate techniques so that you can actually create anything. You can cook beyond a recipe, or even create your own recipes.,” he said.

As with his previous books, the production of "Simpol Kitchen Secrets" and "Baking Simpol," from the photography to the thick glossy paper, are top-notch. One would expect to pay a lot more for these books if published and sold abroad.

The new books are published by Vertical Publications, a spin-off of his own multi-media Vertical Productions that create videos and content for the chef’s Simpol YouTube videos, one of the most followed Filipino channels on the platform that grew during the pandemic lockdowns.

Chef Tatung has more publishing projects in the works including children’s books, dish-specific cookbooks, more deep dives into Philippine culinary history, as well as updating past works for later editions.

“Simpol Kitchen Secrets” and “Baking Simpol” are now available with an SRP of P390 each at the Simpol online stores on Shopee and Lazada. The books will also be available soon at National Bookstore branches nationwide, and in North America through Amazon.