Two Philippine navy officers in detention for their role in a failed 2003 coup have taken a novel approach to dealing with jail: They’ve written a cook book.

The culinary manifesto is filled with over 100 recipes gleaned from fellow plotters, friends, family and even their prison guards during breaks in court hearings and long days in their cells.

Entitled Pulutan – From the Soldiers’ Kitchen, authors Elmer Cruz and Emerson Rosales, focus on tasty small meals, known as pulutan, to accompany drinking sessions.

"Our contributors have tried out the pulutan recipes in this book and

stake their honour on them," the authors say. "As to the state of their intoxication, that is an altogether different matter." The recipes are not for the weak of stomach.

There is Insectxotic, which is beetle stir fried in soy sauce, Kinilaw na Tamilok or woodworm served with freshly squeezed cala-mansi juice as well as the innocent-sounding Soup No.5, which involves a bull’s penis and testicles.

The penis and the woodworm are believed to be aphrodisiacs, as is a seafood stir fry called Gising Gising or Wake Up. Meat dishes – often involving intestines and innards – abound and the cooking instructions are no-nonsense.

For French Kiss, which requires a beef tongue, the reader is told to scald the organ thoroughly before scraping it clean. For Vampire’s Delight, three cups of fresh pig’s blood is called for.

The authors, who have been in detention since 2003, preface each chapter with some background on the recipes.

"My stomach grumbled while I was taking down notes," Cruz says of a particularly delicious recipe for leftover roast pig which was given to him by a fellow detainee during a court session.

The authors agreed to a plea bargain this year for their role in seizing an apartment block in Manila’s financial district for several hours in 2003 and calling for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The siege, involving over 200 soldiers, ended without violence. Rosales and Cruz will be released in January and discharged from the military.

The officers, whose original title for the cookbook was Drunkards’ Delight, lament their inability to wash down the recipes, including Tequila Combo and Groggy Chicken, with the requisite cold beer or spirit.

But they warn their readers to behave sensibly. "Drink responsibly. Remember: Don’t take the throttle when you’ve come from the bottle." – Reuters