Valerie J. Bower, We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo), 2021, from Valerie J. Bower Photographs and Zines, photCL 747, The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.
During World War II, nutrient-rich powders were smuggled into Japanese-run prisoner-of-war camps in the Philippines. Nicknamed “magic food,” the Soyalac and darak cookies saved many Filipino and American lives from malnutrition, according to The Huntington’s programming materials. The woman who created them — Filipina food scientist Maria Ylagan Orosa — is now the subject of a biography being written by UC Berkeley professor Catherine Ceniza Choy, who will appear at The Huntington on Sunday, April 12, for a free family event called “Second Sundays: Filipino Food Magic.”
The event, in The Huntington’s Kitchen Garden just minutes from Pasadena, pairs Filipino food tastings with a conversation led by Choy about Orosa’s scientific and humanitarian legacy. Visitors can sample lumpia with banana ketchup, banana mousse, and hibiscus iced tea, plant garlic or onion in a small pot to take home, and browse a reading nook stocked with books about Orosa and Filipino food. The program runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free with general admission.
Orosa, who was born in 1893 in Taal, Batangas, in the Philippines, earned degrees in pharmaceutical chemistry and food chemistry at the University of Washington. She returned to her country in 1922 to address malnutrition, and is credited with more than 700 recipes using local fruits and vegetables, according to published accounts. Her most famous invention — banana ketchup, now an iconic Filipino condiment — was born from her drive to replace expensive imported goods with foods made from ingredients Filipinos could grow themselves.
She also invented the palayok oven, which enabled baking without electricity. On February 13, 1945, she was killed by shrapnel during the Battle of Manila. She was 51.
“There are all these amazing women scientists like Orosa who are hidden in plain sight because of the way we teach history and present them in the media,” Choy said in an interview published by Lady Science.
Choy, the Huntington’s Los Angeles Times Distinguished Fellow, delivered a sold-out lecture on Orosa at The Huntington in October 2025 as part of the institution’s “Active in the Archive” series. Family members of Orosa attended, according to The Huntington.
“We need more biographies,” Choy said during that lecture, according to a Huntington account of the event. “They can give a multidimensional sense of individual lives.”
The Kitchen Garden setting is not incidental. Orosa believed one of the best ways to improve access to healthy food was for people to grow their own kitchen gardens, according to The Huntington — a philosophy the planting activity puts directly in visitors’ hands.
Los Angeles County is home to approximately 321,000 Filipino Americans, according to recent census-based estimates, with significant populations across the San Gabriel Valley. The Huntington, though located in San Marino, sits adjacent to Pasadena and draws heavily from surrounding communities.
The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. April 12 falls during peak season; admission is $34 for adults, $24 for students, and $13 for children ages 4 to 11. Children under 4 are free. Advance online reservations are required. Parking is free. For information, call (626) 405-2100 or visit huntington.org.
“Mabuhay The Huntington and all of you and your support for the humanities,” Choy said in closing her October lecture. Mabuhay is a Filipino expression meaning “long live.”
SECOND SUNDAYS: FILIPINO FOOD MAGIC Date & Time: Sunday, April 12, 2026, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM | Venue: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens — Kitchen Garden, 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, CA 91108 | Phone Number: (626) 405-2100 | Website: https://www.huntington.org/event/second-sundays-filipino-food-magic
