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One thing we learned from the first place winner of the Doreen Fernandez food writing contest? That even a defective coconut is an awesome coconut.

Jenny B. Orillos’ ‘Moon Over Macapuno’ won first place in the 2014 Doreen Fernandez Food Writing contest.

Coconut was chosen as the subject matter of the year, “to call attention to the disease that’s killing what is regarded as our ‘tree of life,’” reports Mickey Fenix on Philippine Daily Inquirer.

READ: Cocolisap-infested areas down to 9 from 58 

Orillos’ essay, continues Fenix, is a well-researched, well-written essay on what is considered a “defective” coconut. “Which is an oddity because, when the macapuno is cut open, the meat fills up most of the space within,” the report continues.

According to Orillos’ piece, the production of macapuno was all left to chance until 1960 when two women scientists “Dr. Emerita V. de Guzman and Erlinda P. Rillo were able to “[produce] macapuno seedlings from tissue culture.”

Elmer Nochesada’s “Puso sa Lakay,” which is about food packets shaped from coconut leaves, won second place. Caesar Horatius Mosquera, who wrote about tuba, won third place. Lolita Lacuesta and Ruby Cariño were both honorable mentions. 

Photo: Bingbing/Wikipedia

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