Cooking for the Heart: A healthy appetite for good food
I had to do a double take when I first saw the title of Thomas Wenger’s new cookbook. I thought it was Cooking from the Heart. But no, it is Cooking for the Heart. And there is a very good reason for that.
For more than 45 years, Swiss-born chef Thomas Wenger has devoted his life to creating delicious food, working in prestigious hotels and restaurants around the world, including the Philippines. He is also an established educator in the culinary arts and hospitality management. But a serious heart ailment in 2025 changed his approach to cooking and eating. He was advised to lose weight and drastically reduce certain foods, a challenge for someone whose career revolved around the pleasures of the table.
“There is no change in my desire for eating well and good, but I needed to adjust my diet and adopt a better lifestyle that included reducing or avoiding some food groups: from sugars and saturated fats to complex carbohydrates and salt,” Wenger shares. “Thankfully I always liked vegetables, even as a kid.”
Rather than sacrifice flavor, Wenger began experimenting with healthier dishes built around three principles: fresh and seasonal ingredients, nutritional balance, and delicious results.
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“The dishes I prepared for me and my family to eat, I photographed and recorded before serving them; initially for IG posts, then the idea of a cookbook project came, when quite a few dishes were already compiled.”
The result is Cooking for the Heart, a collection of more than 45 recipes that proves healthy food need not be bland, boring or restrictive. The recipes are categorized into markets: from spice markets of the Orient; European, Mediterranean and seafood markets; to the fresh vegetables of Baguio. In his recipes, the freshness and seasonality of the ingredients is a main factor of keeping the final dish nutritious and with maximum retention of vitamins and antioxidants.
His love of fresh markets and seasonal produce is rooted in his childhood in Switzerland. “Where I grew up, we had a huge garden and cultivated a fantastic palette of fruits and vegetables. From spring all throughout summer and into autumn, vegetables come into season, generally being in peak season for perhaps six weeks to two months. During that time, the produce is at its tastiest, juiciest, and will give the best results when cooking with it.
“I am inspired by the principles of Mediterranean cuisine, which involves cooking lighter, taking care of nutrients in vegetables, using olive oil rather than butter, incorporating pulses regularly and more. I tried to use these principles also for Asian and Oriental dishes.”
Chef Thomas Wenger discovers that healthy eating can be delicious, too.
Interestingly, he has not completely abandoned his favorite indulgences. “I did not give up any favorite dishes at all; I did drastically reduce the frequency of consumption for some, yes, but I did gain a lot of new favorites and I re-discovered some as well.”
Having lived in the Philippines for more than two decades, Wenger has also developed a fondness for Pinoy cuisine, especially seafood and vegetable dishes. “I like many Filipino dishes which are within the constraints of my diet—eggplant dishes in particular—as salad or as torta with crabmeat. I like simple dishes and many grilled fish and seafood or ampalaya, sautéed or as salad,” he says. “But my favorite is sinigang —especially seafood and fish sinigang and preferably with kamias or green mango. A great chicken binakol, especially when in a cooler region, is also great.”
While acknowledging that although some Pinoy dishes are not always prepared in the healthiest way, Wenger believes there are delicious alternatives. “I have never been anywhere where I could not find a really great alternative.”
His appreciation for local flavors is evident in dishes such as Sinigang Glazed Black Cod with Kamias-Tomato Broth and Rice Crackers, a creative interpretation of the Filipino classic. Other recipes include Japanese-Inspired Squid Salad with Green Tea Noodles, Thai Crabmeat and Pomelo Salad, Spicy Moroccan Chickpea Stew with Saluyot, and Roasted Grouper Fillet with Edamame-Kale Purée. He describes the Baked Celeriac Steak and Roasted Cauliflower with Warm Sprouted Lentils as “two dishes that represent completely new ideas and are two of my personal favorites.”
Even desserts are included in the book, like Baked Apples with Nuts and Dried Cranberries.
As a photography enthusiast, this is a self-made book, with the photos of dishes, recipes, and texts all “home-made” by Thomas Wenger himself.
One of the book’s forewords is by his physician, Dr. Sue Locnen, commending Wenger for transforming medical advice into practical, flavorful meals. Another foreword, by acclaimed chef Richard Ekkebus of the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Amber in Hong Kong, emphasizes that mindful eating is not simply about deprivation but about finding pleasure in food that nourishes the body.
Despite his health scare, Wenger’s philosophy about good food remains unchanged. “Eating well means the same to me now as it always has.”
And Cooking for the Heart is not about giving up enjoying food but rediscovering them in healthier, more creative ways. After all, eating healthy and eating deliciously should always go hand in hand.
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To purchase a copy of Cooking for the Heart, visit Instagram @eating_through_the_lens or email cookingfortheheart26@gmail.com.
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