By: Andrea Suarez, ACMobility
From 8 to 5, Sharyn Jacobsen makes high-stakes decisions as the Chief Finance Officer of ACMobility. But after hours, she trades spreadsheets for spatulas. Come evening, she’s in the kitchen—apron on, hands dusted with flour—baking sourdough bread from scratch using a starter she’s kept alive since 2016.
Sharyn’s love for cooking and baking began in childhood, in a kitchen filled with the warmth of her mom, Meriam, and lola. “I was always in the kitchen with them,” she recalls. As a young girl, she started experimenting with recipes—sometimes with questionable results—but her mother never discouraged her. “She’d buy me ingredients even if the food didn’t turn out well or had to be thrown away.”
Her passion grew over the years and led her to take short culinary courses at Enderun to hone her skills. Eventually, Sharyn started to bring homemade dishes to family gatherings—dishes made entirely from scratch. “It’s those moments that kind of sealed it,” she says. “We’d each share what we cooked.”
When asked what dish reminds her most of her mom, she says: “Adobo and Leche Flan. Until now, my mom still makes really good Adobo and the best Leche Flan.”
Over time, Sharyn developed her own cooking identity—still rooted in the past, but with new flavors and influences. “My style now is very different from my mom’s,” she says. “I’ve developed my own take on Adobo. I learned from her, but I’ve made it my own.” Her culinary interests have also expanded beyond Filipino dishes, with a growing focus on European flavors.
These days, her signature is sourdough bread—a staple in their home. “Unlike most home bakers, I don’t use instant yeast. I maintain my own starter—it’s like a pet. You have to feed it to keep it alive.” She even adapts her recipes, making gluten-free loaves for her husband, who is gluten intolerant.
Sourdough bread—baked from scratch by Sharyn—is a staple at home.
For Sharyn, cooking is more than a hobby, it’s a form of self-care and creative expression. “When I’m in the kitchen, I get lost in a different world,” she says. “It’s something completely different from what I do for work. It helps keep my work-life harmony in check.”
For Sharyn, cooking is a form of expressing her creativity.
To those just starting out in cooking or baking, her advice is simple: keep going. “Even if the first few dishes aren’t great, just keep trying until you find your style,” she says. “Remember that when you cook, you’re doing it for the people you love. There’s an expression of love in every dish.”
As to what to serve at your next family gathering, Sharyn doesn’t prescribe a particular menu. “What matters most is sharing food that everyone enjoys—and more importantly, sharing the moment. Food brings people together, but it’s the time spent with your mom that really counts. It doesn’t matter what’s on the table, as long as it’s something you all love.”
As a special treat for readers, Sharyn shares her go-to sourdough recipe and her own spin on her mother’s Adobo recipe.
