14/01/2026
Nana Conching’s Piaya traces its roots to a distinguished lineage of Visayan home cooking, beginning with Concepcion “Conching” Montelibano Bailon, a revered Negros matriarch whose recipes helped elevate Visayan cuisine to prominence at Manila’s most exclusive tables.
Affectionately known as "Inday Conching", she inherited her culinary foundation from her own mother, Teopista Unson, a great-grandmother renowned within the Unson family for her exceptional cooking. From this heritage came the recipes that would later define Nana Conching’s legacy—most notably her sesame seed and muscovado piaya, crafted from thin, paper-light dough, kneaded with rich muscovado sugar filling and delicately sprinkled with sesame seeds. Elegant in its simplicity, the piaya stood apart from heavier regional versions and became a quiet marker of refined Visayan taste.
This culinary tradition was brought into wider society through Nana Conching’s daughter, Lourdes “Lulu” Bailon, married to Nicholas Tanpinco. who became known for hosting and serving select Manila gatherings, establishing a clientele that included the top 100 families of Metro Manila. At these high-society occasions, Visayan dishes such as lumpia ubod and Nana Conching’s piaya held their place alongside classic Filipino haute cuisine—earning admiration for their delicacy and depth of flavor.
True to tradition, the piaya recipe followed an unbroken maternal line, the original recipe was passed to the granddaughter, Therese Tanpinco, who married into the Suanico family. A trained pastry chef, Therese became the next steward of Nana Conching’s piaya, preserving its original method, texture, and flavor while ensuring its continuity for future generations.
Today, Nana Conching’s Piaya is more than a cherished delicacy—it is a living heirloom of Visayan culinary heritage, shaped by generations of women, served at the finest tables, and lovingly shared, one thin piaya at a time.
