SEOUL, 3 November 2016 ? The National Library of Korea received a donation of cookbooks and commemorative stamps from a company founded by a pioneering Filipino food technologist and entrepreneur chef, with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, on Thursday, 3 November 2016.

In a simple ceremony held at the office of the National Library's Chief Executive, Mr. Lim Won-sun, Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez and the President of Mama Sita Foundation, Mrs. Clara Lapus, led the formal turnover of the cookbooks and stamps, with members of the Filipino community in Korea witnessing the event.

In his brief remarks, Ambassador Hernandez underscored the importance of such social and cultural exchanges in furthering bilateral ties between the Philippines and South Korea.

"The event we are undertaking now is one of those cultural exchanges which the Philippine Embassy strongly supports as it is aligned with our efforts in forging and furthering ties of friendship through culture and the arts," the Ambassador maintained.

He also highlighted the significance of the book donation in promoting Philippine cuisine to the Korean public. "The cookbooks which the Mama Sita Foundation will donate will not only present to the Korean readers the carefully-curated cuisines of the Philippines but more importantly, will hopefully make Filipino cooking more accessible and appreciated," he added.

The cookbooks were Mama Sita's Lutong Bahay, a collection of classic and contemporary recipes for practical home cooking; Mama Sita"s Homestyle Recipes cookbook, an update to an earlier edition; and Discover Mama Sita's Flavors of the Philippine Islands, Middle East Edition, a selection of recipes, including vegetarian and low-fat, made for home cooks in the Middle East.

The set of 10-peso postage stamps were issued by the Philippine Postal Corporation (PhilPost) in 2013 to commemorate in 2017 the 100th birth anniversary of Teresita "Mama Sita" Reyes, who is the mother of Mama Sita Foundation head Clara Lapus and a Philippine culinary products pioneer who introduced the 'flavors of the Philippines' all over the world.

Reyes, who passed away in 1998, comes from a clan famous for pushing the boundaries of popular appreciation for Philippine cuisine. The family matriarch is Dona Engracia Cruz-Reyes, who is known as the "Mother of Filipino Cooking." It was the Reyes clan that started the iconic Filipino family restaurant Aristocrat in 1936.

The National Library's Chief Executive Mr. Lim welcomed the addition of the cookbooks to their vast collection of 4.3 million books, stating that these books will enable the Korean public to better appreciate Philippine cuisine.

Located in Seocho-gu in Seoul, the National Library of Korea was established in 1945 as a comprehensive repository of national literature in hardcopy and digital format that has been systematically organized for Korean citizens. It houses over 10 million volumes, including over 1,134,000 foreign books and some of the National Treasures of South Korea.

Mama Sita is a Filipino brand of food mixes, condiments and sauces founded by Ms. Teresita Reyes in 1980 as a small business. Since then, Mama Sita became well known in the Philippines and amongst Filipinos living abroad. Sold in 46 countries around the world, Mama Sita earns 90 percent of its total income from exports.

The Mama Sita Foundation has arranged similar donations to libraries in Bangkok, London, Dubai, Hanoi, Moscow, Singapore and Washington DC.

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