IRRI's rice recipes calendar wins international publishing gold award

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA—The 2016 Heirloom Rice Recipes Calendar, produced by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), has won a Gold Award (1st place) in publishing from the U.S.-based Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences. The award—in the promotional publications class—was presented during ACE’s annual international meeting, this year in Memphis, 13-16 June.

The judges commented that, “the writing really captured the chefs' passion for rice without seeming hokey. The best dishes and recipes are, after all, the ones that have stories behind them as depicted in this calendar. The mix of history with modern issues around rice production gave the calendar real authenticity. The chef and farmer stories were compelling and sophisticated.”

To produce this very special calendar, the Heirloom Rice Project, a joint effort of the Philippine Department of Agriculture and IRRI, provided funding and teamed up with top celebrity chefs in Manila. The goals were to help raise awareness of rice farming in the Cordillera Region in the northern part of the country and contribute to preserving the local cultural heritage there.

The calendar features a different recipe each month contributed by chefs Robby Goco, Chele Gonzales, Gaita Forés, Anthony Raymond, Jessie Sincioco, and Sharwin Tee. The chefs, who created the culinary dishes especially to bring out the excellent culinary traits of heirloom rice, provided the recipes free-of-charge. Proceeds from sales of this calendar will be donated to the rice-farming communities in the Cordilleras.


The IRRI Communication team responsible for producing this masterpiece included Tony Lambino and Gene Hettel (concept); Gigi Evangelista-Caballero (coordination); Grant Leceta (design and layout); Alaric Francis Santiaguel and Leah Baroña-Cruz (text); Isagani Serrano, Jec Narciso, and Chris Quintana (photography); and Cynthia Quintos and Isabella Jhocson (additional research).Members of IRRI’s scientific staff and the Heirloom Rice Project who contributed to the calendar’s technical accuracy included Casiana Vera Cruz, Digna Manzanilla, Ana Cope, Aileen Lapitan, and Jonas Victor.

In addition to being a handsome desk calemdar, this publication is distinctive because of its tasty recipes and its mix of historic information and great photography. So, although 2016 is half over, the calendar is still available as a unique collector’s item, which can be later filed with your favorite recipe books and keeping in mind that all proceeds above costs will be going to the Cordillera’s farming communities that produce the heirloom rice. Contact IRRI at info@irri.org regarding discount prices for single and multiple purchases.



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