When we lived in Manila, there was a hotel that had a restaurant on top. The views at night from there were, needless to say, very pretty. We didn’t go there often, but some friends of ours went quite regularly. One of the soups on the menu was corn and crab — not particularly unusual for that part of the world, but I have to admit, that restaurant’s version was particularly good.
The wife of the couple that made the restaurant a regular stop told us numerous times that she would love to have the recipe, but it was apparently a closely guarded secret. She even told a story that some famous magazine, like Gourmet, had requested the recipe and been refused. We went to that roof-top restaurant a number of times with the couple — always ordering the soup — but after about a year, their tour was up and they left, being assigned back to Washington.
Some time after they left, we went to the restaurant by our selves one night — and of course, ordered the soup. Claire remarked to the waiter how much she liked the soup and wished she had the recipe. A few minutes later, he brought her the recipe with the compliments of the cook.
(Claire did mail the recipe to our friends.)