What Recipes Don’t Tell Book Cover project for Ateneo University Press
Not all modern illustrations are done digitally. In some cases, they are made by hand. For What Recipes Don’t Tell by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria, launched during Harvest 2026. For its cover, Ateneo University Press worked with Marz Today to introduce a subtle, analog touch through a series of custom rubber stamps, bringing to life the cover design by Ace Molo.
The stamps were created using a list of fifty food-related words drawn from the book itself. Think ingredients, kitchen actions, tools, and small culinary cues that feel familiar without spelling everything out. These words were turned into stamps.
The stamps quietly do their job in the background. They bring in a tactile quality that reflects the spirit of the book, which looks at food knowledge as something learned through doing, tasting, and repeating, rather than strictly following instructions.
The analog touch makes the book feel considered, much like the cooking traditions the book talks about.
By weaving hand-stamped elements into the cover design. Proof that sometimes, it’s the quiet, handmade touches that make a book feel right at home in your hands.
With the project completed, these stamps will be added to Marz Today’s growing studio collection. They will continue to be used in workshops and demonstrations, where they serve as tools for introducing basic printmaking concepts and material processes. From time to time, the stamps may also appear in limited studio-made merchandise, extending their use beyond the book while remaining connected to the project’s original context.
Excerpt from Ateneo University Press’ website:
Every dish we eat and every beverage we drink is not only the product of discovery, precision, innovation, and affection. It is likewise a creation of historical and cultural contexts. This book reveals the documented precolonial and colonial circumstances behind Filipino cuisine and food heritage. Uncovered are forgotten, hidden, and ignored details of fifty culinary words foundational to deepening appreciation for native fare: from guisa to kilaw, ensaymada to halohalo, tuba to tsokolaté, and linamnam to nayánayá.Through the stories behind these now-commonplace food-related terms, we can see that the cuisine Filipinos like and want to be liked for has a proud and resilient record when confronted by colonialism, wars, natural catastrophes, and international food fashions.
What Recipes Don’t Tell celebrates the products of blending native, endemic, indigenized, and hybrid elements and influences into a gastronomy that is confidently, singularly, and delightfully Filipino.
Published in 2025.
Looking for a fresh take on illustration or book cover design? Contact us to work together on your next book cover or book projects.
Purchase the book here.
What Recipes Don’t Tell Mentions in media:
Rolling Stone
The Colonial Department
