OISHINBO: Japanese Cuisine
3 journalers for this copy...
A dance of fish
on a pretty plate,
while everyone claps.
on a pretty plate,
while everyone claps.
This lucky little book had become part of a trade! :)
So off it goes! ;)
So off it goes! ;)
The big-box-o-trade-books arrived safely today; many thanks! This is the first book in a series of English-language trade paperback editions, grouped by food-type, and taken from a long-running series about competing gourmands.
Later: From the opening recipe ("Seabream Pine-skin Style") to the first confrontation between our (often difficult) hero Yamaoka and his overwhelmingly belligerent father (where we get a glimpse at the reasons for their rupture), the descriptions of the food made my mouth water. There's a chapter in which knife skills mean the difference between an exquisitely-flavored dish and a mouthful of mush; another in which a chef's secret smoking habit isn't so secret when his food is tasted by super-gourmet Kaibara. Another section touches on chopsticks and the making (and using) of same - with a little Aesop about one character's daughter who thinks that chopsticks are "backwards and uncivilized". [She learns better, of course!]
I admit that when Kaibara, Yamaoka's overbearing father, weighs in on the etiquette of using chopsticks, I got rather nervous; he maintains that one should use them so delicately that only the very tips get damp from the food. [He was doing this mainly to throw his weight around, I think, but it made me remember my own sloppy chopstick-usage with some chagrin. Guess I'll have to practice with them more often {grin}.]
Kaibara isn't the only one who seems a bit too picky, though. At one point, in a discussion of a tea ceremony, characters debate whether serving fresh strawberries with milk and sugar on them is a crime against the pure taste of the fruit. Yamoaka recounts a tale of a legendary tea master who, when served watermelon with sugar on it, said angrily "I have no need to eat with a person like you" and walked away. While I appreciate wanting to savor the true taste of foods, if you draw too hard a line here then there'd be no cooking at all!
But Yamaoka's simply trying to explain how a tea ceremony should not be given by someone who's bragging about the quality or expense of the teapot - it should be given to show consideration to others. [Unless, I suppose, they put sugar on their watermelon. Or in their tea, for that matter!]
There's a lot more here, all of it entertaining and/or appetizing. A great introduction to the series!
(I like the use of a tiny chef's knife and chopsticks replacing the letter "i" in the title.)
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
Later: From the opening recipe ("Seabream Pine-skin Style") to the first confrontation between our (often difficult) hero Yamaoka and his overwhelmingly belligerent father (where we get a glimpse at the reasons for their rupture), the descriptions of the food made my mouth water. There's a chapter in which knife skills mean the difference between an exquisitely-flavored dish and a mouthful of mush; another in which a chef's secret smoking habit isn't so secret when his food is tasted by super-gourmet Kaibara. Another section touches on chopsticks and the making (and using) of same - with a little Aesop about one character's daughter who thinks that chopsticks are "backwards and uncivilized". [She learns better, of course!]
I admit that when Kaibara, Yamaoka's overbearing father, weighs in on the etiquette of using chopsticks, I got rather nervous; he maintains that one should use them so delicately that only the very tips get damp from the food. [He was doing this mainly to throw his weight around, I think, but it made me remember my own sloppy chopstick-usage with some chagrin. Guess I'll have to practice with them more often {grin}.]
Kaibara isn't the only one who seems a bit too picky, though. At one point, in a discussion of a tea ceremony, characters debate whether serving fresh strawberries with milk and sugar on them is a crime against the pure taste of the fruit. Yamoaka recounts a tale of a legendary tea master who, when served watermelon with sugar on it, said angrily "I have no need to eat with a person like you" and walked away. While I appreciate wanting to savor the true taste of foods, if you draw too hard a line here then there'd be no cooking at all!
But Yamaoka's simply trying to explain how a tea ceremony should not be given by someone who's bragging about the quality or expense of the teapot - it should be given to show consideration to others. [Unless, I suppose, they put sugar on their watermelon. Or in their tea, for that matter!]
There's a lot more here, all of it entertaining and/or appetizing. A great introduction to the series!
(I like the use of a tiny chef's knife and chopsticks replacing the letter "i" in the title.)
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
I'm taking this book to today's BookCrossing meetup at the Panera at Porter Square in Cambridge; hope someone enjoys it!
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2019 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2019 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***
Caught at the Nov. 2019 Boston area Bookcrossing Meet-Up. Was going to give to son/of my co-worker, instead sending to college friends in New York that love Japanese anime and manga.
