Hailed as the country’s well-loved “Lumpia Queen,” Abi Marquez has become a household name not just when it comes to her fun cooking videos, but also for her bubbly and charming personality. The 25-year-old multi-awarded content creator surprised the crowd during the Magnolia 100 Years of Goodness event last August 4 when she arrived in a wheelchair at the Shangri-la Hotel in BGC, Taguig City.
In an exclusive interview with PUSH ABS-CBN during the event, Abi shared how she ended up having to wear a walking boot (a plastic boot used for a cast designed to immobilize and protect the foot and ankle after an injury) for the past few weeks.
Photo Credit: Abi Marquez Facebook
Photo Credit: Abi Marquez Facebook
“It’s my first time for the right leg, but for the left ankle, I think (I injured it) three to four times already. Nung chineck nga ng doctor yung ankle ko, sabi niya, ‘Ang luwag ng ankle mo! This is not normal.’ So ayun, ang interesting thing lang about it is that this injured foot, it kind of broke on all sides. In the left, in the back, in the right side, even the leg, which is intriguing daw kasi usually a person would just injure one part. If you move your leg like this (to this side), you tear this (side), or if you move it (to the other side), you tear this (other side). But apparently, I tore all of them in one move. So I don’t know how that happened (laughs),” she shared.
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Even while nursing an injury, Abi said it has not stopped her love for creating food-related content for her viewers. “I can still cook. How I cook is I would kneel on one stool with my injured foot. So three weeks ago pa kasi ito, three weeks already healing but I’m still going to take two weeks daw, according to my last check-up,” she said.
Abi also admitted that another reason for her prolonged recovery was the inaccurate diagnosis during her initial check up. “Initially kasi they ruled it as a sprain, like a usual sprain. But after two weeks, hindi ko pa rin siya kaya ilakad or itayo kaya ipina-check up ko ulit with a foot specialist. Tapos dun nila nakita after getting an MRI na meron pala siyang fracture or bone contusion and a lot of swelling. But wala namang na-displace na bone. At first, nagsabi pa sila na baka operahan. But thank God wala naman. So it just really needs rest and compress, ice, all of those,” she added.
During the 100th anniversary event of Magnolia, Abi also shared one of her favorite moments with the brand growing up.
"My favorite Magnolia memory was nung first time ko bumili ng Magnolia unsalted butter (laughs). Kasi, I was super young and I would use the scraps in the kitchen, siguro when I was four years old to like eight years old, like for example may pasalubong yung tatay ko na tsokolate, di man pang-baking, i-be-bake ko siya and yung mga ginagamit ko na mga butter yung mga nakasupot lang. So sabi ko talaga nun napangarap ko makabili ng Magnolia butter one day. And yung first time na nagbenta ako ng cookies when I was in elementary, nag-ipon ako for ingredients and ayun, nag-invest ako sa Magnolia butter (laughs). Yes, pangarap ko yun! So I think that was a milestone for me as a cook as well. Kasi doon ako nagkaroon ng principles na when I cook, I will make sure that it’s also kind of like a promise of quality and care. As cooks, we all know we cannot make a good dish without the building blocks of quality ingredients. And that’s the reason why until now, hindi mawawala yung ingredient na yun,” she explained.
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Apart from being known as one of the best food vloggers in the country, Abi also earned recognition abroad as the first locally-based Filipina to win a Webby Award for Food & Drink in the People’s Voice category in 2024. This year, she won Food Creator of the Year award at the 2025 World Influencers and Bloggers Awards (WIBA) during the Cannes Film Festival last May.
She also received nominations from People’s Voice Awards, the 45th Annual Telly Awards, and the James Beard Media Awards for social media. She also earned a spot on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Asia list.