Baboy Club
A sharing feast of Filipino food cooked home-style in London
Salty, sour and sweet, Filipino cookery combines influences from Spain, China and South America. Think smokey streetside BBQs, fiestas and family gatherings. It's food made for sharing.
Born and raised in Manila, of Filipino-Japanese-English-Irish descent, I moved to London when I was nine. Missing the food of my childhood, I started Baboy Club in 2018 to recreate my favourite dishes like lechon kawali, sinigang, and turon and share them with friends in publishing (my day job) and beyond.
With my good friend Charlotte Humphery cooking alongside me, Baboy Club has hosted sold-out supper clubs at pubs like the Oxymoron in Lambeth and the legendary music venue The Social near Oxford Circus. I also do private catering gigs occasionally, including BBQs for 30-40 people (and a couple of banquets for a cruise-themed house party weekend once - dressed as a mermaid, of course).
I wrote my first recipe for Lecker Zine’s inaugural issue last year and we’ve been featured in TimeOut, Refinery29, the Philippine Inquirer and the Manila Bulletin (see below). I was invited to be a guest on BBC1 Masterchef’s ‘Lockdown Food Heroes’ episode for my work launching #FilipinoFood4NHS. In 2021 I was shortlisted for the Yan Kit So Award, an Asian cookery writing grant from the Oxford Cultural Collective, judged by Fuschia Dunlop.
#FilipinoFood4NHS
In the first lockdown of 2020, I started #FilipinoFood4NHS with my fellow supper clubbers The Adobros and Food with Mae, cooking once a week to provide Filipino meals for our local hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic. We collaborated with the Filipino migrant charity Kanlungan and a dozen Filipino Food UK group members got involved across the country, including LUTO, SARAP, and FilliFalt in London, Roni B in Surrey, plus Rachel Stockley and Mama Z in Manchester. Together we raised nearly £5,000 and provided over 2,500 Filipino meals for healthcare workers across the UK. You can donate here.
As featured in:
TimeOut: ‘Launched in June, this Filipino supper club was a response to founder Maria’s desire to keep in touch with her Manila heritage. Through vibrant flavours and family-style sharing of Asian dishes like lechon kawali and turon, Baboy Club offers a peek into her wistful memories of the Philippines alongside tasty communal feasts.’ Paula Akpan
Refinery29 6 Women Of Colour On How Food Connects Them To Their Identity - by Poonam Dhuffer
Phillippine Inquirer: Filipino chefs in London raise funds cook for NHS frontliners - by Melissa Legarda
Lecker Zine: Recipe for Aubergine frittata with coriander-lime salsa (inspired by tortang talong) - p. 72-75
Manila Bulletin: ‘To date, at least 20 Filipino healthcare workers in the UK have died of Covid-19. Aside from risking their lives on a daily basis, fighting the deadly disease means Filipinos at the NHS are working extra hours and spending time away from their families. It’s no secret that food plays a central role in Filipino culture, and it is often the familiar flavors of our homeland that help us through trying times. “A Filipino nurse reached out to the Kanlungan Filipino Consortium asking if they knew anyone who could provide Filipino food for a group of 30 NHS workers who were feeling homesick, as they had arrived in London just before the travel ban,” shared Maria Garbutt-Lucero, founder of Filipino supper club Baboy Club. Garbutt-Lucero, together with other members of the UK Filipino Food Movement—a group of chefs who have spent several years working together to elevate Filipino food throughout the country—have been raising funds to cook and deliver Filipino favorites to NHS frontliners.’ Ina Yulo, Manila Bulletin
Philippine Inquirer: London supper clubs spread joys of Filipino food - by Pam Pastor