With Christmas coming up, I was wondering if there's any new or newish Asian
food-related books out there that are unique and noteworthy?

Here's three I can think of:

1. Fuchsia Dunlop. _Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes_.
This one is from 2003, and has been mentioned several times here, so I won't
say more about it, except to say: It's a nearly 400 page book devoted only
to the Sichuan cuisine! Get it!

2. James D. McCawley. _The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters_.
This is a much-awaited reprint of a book first published in 1984. It has
also been mentioned numerous times on this group. If you have any interest
in food-related Chinese characters for whatever reason, the late University
of Chicago linguist's book is a must. Though he seems to have meant it as a
way to read Chinese-language menus, I use it as a reference dictionary.

3. Alan Davidson. _Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos_.
Ok, I only just saw this book on Amazon last night--I don't have a copy and
I've never held one in my hands. But one of my favorite food books in my
library is Davidson's _Fruit: A Connoisseur's Guide and Cookbook_. That
hardcover tome is filled with wonderful, full-page drawings of what seems
like most every edible fruit in the world. It give scientific names, a list
of what the fruit is called in other languages, and excellent descriptions.
It even includes the Pili nut, native to the Philippines, which I didn't
think any non-Filipino knew of--it's the nut with the highest oil content,
and is awesome roasted and coated in a sugar syrup.

Well, that book has been long out of print, as has been Davidson's _Seafood_
book, which is advertised on the flap of my fruit book. But on my recent
trip to NYC, I found out that some of his old seafood books had been
reprinted! One is _North Atlantic Seafood_ and the other is _Mediterranean
Seafood_. Both, like the fruit book, seem like excellent, one-of-a-kind
reference books. And searching Amazon last night, I also came up with this
intriguing-looking book on Laotion fish! Seems Davidson used to be the
British ambassador to Laos. It was his first book, from 1975, and this is a
reprint. If it is anything like his Fruit book, I'd highly recommend it,
especially considering that we are damned lucky that a book on the fish of
Laos is being reprinted. I can't imagine the printing continuing for long.
Oh, and there's also a reprint of his _Seafood of South-East Asia_!

Has any one seen any of these Davidson books? He's the one who wrote the
much acclaimed Oxford Companion to Food, which I've never looked at.

http://tinyurl.com/6cnxy -- Laos book.

http://tinyurl.com/3vf2n -- Seafood of SE Asia book.

So, any other new books out there? I seem to recall reading about a new
Goan cookbook somewhere.

Peter

Hi Peter,

I'm just back from holidays & tried this place out, I don't know how good
the book is but their restaurants are fantastic... to look at, dine in & the
food is very good too. But I think the book is a little hard to come by.
Only reference i have for it is here.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...449263-1320644
New Chinese Cuisine
Tunglok group
Hardcover 160 pages (March 31, 2004)
Publisher - Editions Didier Millet
ISBN - 9814068268

Just go have a look at their website... with a bucket under your chin please
to avoid a messy keyboard.
http://www.tunglok.com/

We were in LaoBeijing restaurant & the food was great.

DC.




"Peter Dy" wrote in message
. com...
With Christmas coming up, I was wondering if there's any new or newish
Asian
food-related books out there that are unique and noteworthy?

Here's three I can think of:

1. Fuchsia Dunlop. _Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes_.
This one is from 2003, and has been mentioned several times here, so I
won't
say more about it, except to say: It's a nearly 400 page book devoted only
to the Sichuan cuisine! Get it!

2. James D. McCawley. _The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters_.
This is a much-awaited reprint of a book first published in 1984. It has
also been mentioned numerous times on this group. If you have any
interest
in food-related Chinese characters for whatever reason, the late
University
of Chicago linguist's book is a must. Though he seems to have meant it as
a
way to read Chinese-language menus, I use it as a reference dictionary.

3. Alan Davidson. _Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos_.
Ok, I only just saw this book on Amazon last night--I don't have a copy
and
I've never held one in my hands. But one of my favorite food books in my
library is Davidson's _Fruit: A Connoisseur's Guide and Cookbook_. That
hardcover tome is filled with wonderful, full-page drawings of what seems
like most every edible fruit in the world. It give scientific names, a
list
of what the fruit is called in other languages, and excellent
descriptions.
It even includes the Pili nut, native to the Philippines, which I didn't
think any non-Filipino knew of--it's the nut with the highest oil content,
and is awesome roasted and coated in a sugar syrup.

Well, that book has been long out of print, as has been Davidson's
_Seafood_
book, which is advertised on the flap of my fruit book. But on my recent
trip to NYC, I found out that some of his old seafood books had been
reprinted! One is _North Atlantic Seafood_ and the other is
_Mediterranean
Seafood_. Both, like the fruit book, seem like excellent, one-of-a-kind
reference books. And searching Amazon last night, I also came up with
this
intriguing-looking book on Laotion fish! Seems Davidson used to be the
British ambassador to Laos. It was his first book, from 1975, and this is
a
reprint. If it is anything like his Fruit book, I'd highly recommend it,
especially considering that we are damned lucky that a book on the fish of
Laos is being reprinted. I can't imagine the printing continuing for
long.
Oh, and there's also a reprint of his _Seafood of South-East Asia_!

Has any one seen any of these Davidson books? He's the one who wrote the
much acclaimed Oxford Companion to Food, which I've never looked at.

http://tinyurl.com/6cnxy -- Laos book.

http://tinyurl.com/3vf2n -- Seafood of SE Asia book.

So, any other new books out there? I seem to recall reading about a new
Goan cookbook somewhere.

Peter

My one reservation on the Fuschia Dunlop book is that for all its
length, there aren't as many recipes as you would expect... she goes for
the "recipe plus a 3-page essay" style of cookbook design, where each
dish is placed in context and accompanied by an account of origin,
personal reminiscence or detailed explanation. Which is fine and dandy
in its own way - Sort of what I like in a cookbook actually, having cut
my teeth on Yamuna Devi's "The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking" and
Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art". Recently got Hi Soo
Shin Hepinstall's "Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen" and it's along the
same lines, even giving instructions for brewing Korean style soy sauce.
I guess what I find a little sad is that Dunlop's is not as ambitious in
scope as these other books, in terms of number of recipes or varieties
of dishes covered. The two things I look to first are vegetable dishes,
and sweets; there were far fewer vegetable dishes than I expected, and
the section with recipes for sweets and street snacks was fleshed out by
a bunch of descriptions of snacks for which no recipe was provided in
the book. Interesting to read but *frustrating* in a cookbook. When I
read about something in a cookbook I want to cook it, dammit! :-) That
goes for meat curing too... Dunlop talks about lots of home meat curing
going on in Sichuan, but gives a recipe for bacon only. Overall: the
glass is 3/4 full. Points for tackling Sichuan cuisine, points for
striving for authenticity, points for being detailed and interesting and
unique... points deducted for making a big, big deal about how important
it is in Sichuan cooking to cut the ingredients just so, and then not
provide drawings (let alone photos) of most of the recipes. Points
deducted for breathless excitement about using a cleaver :-) Points
deducted for not including more recipes, and for assuming readers will
most likely never have access to actual Chinese vegetables. I want a
good Sichuan radish recipe dammit! :-) I also want more info about
pickling and preserved food.

My review above is festooned with smiley faces :-) to make the point
that I do not hate Fuschia Dunlop or this book. I just wish it were
more, and better.

2001 doesn't really count as new, but I recommend "Growing Up in a
Korean Kitchen".

On Alan Davidson: I guess he has written the definitive work on trifle.
Also "The Oxford Companion to Food", but if it were my resume, I'd want
to highlight the trifle book myself (title: "Trifle").

Davidson and his group are behind the VERY esoteric quarterly magazine
or small food journal "Petits Propos Culinaires". Go take a look! A
subscription would be a great Christmas present if the recipient is just
crazy interested in all food, from the Meditteranean through Eastern
Europe, Africa, and all parts of Asia, and all historical periods,
including points such as
* Analysis of actual menus and dishes served at the Lord Mayor of
London's annual banquet in the 1700's
* Fact: At certain times of year, wild partidges in parts of Greece may
be toxic to humans! (Not only a fact, but a named fact: "coturnism")
* Dried wild fruits of Iran

krnntp

Peter Dy wrote:
With Christmas coming up, I was wondering if there's any new or newish Asian
food-related books out there that are unique and noteworthy?

Here's three I can think of:

1. Fuchsia Dunlop. _Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes_.
This one is from 2003, and has been mentioned several times here, so I won't
say more about it, except to say: It's a nearly 400 page book devoted only
to the Sichuan cuisine! Get it!

2. James D. McCawley. _The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters_.
This is a much-awaited reprint of a book first published in 1984. It has
also been mentioned numerous times on this group. If you have any interest
in food-related Chinese characters for whatever reason, the late University
of Chicago linguist's book is a must. Though he seems to have meant it as a
way to read Chinese-language menus, I use it as a reference dictionary.

3. Alan Davidson. _Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos_.
Ok, I only just saw this book on Amazon last night--I don't have a copy and
I've never held one in my hands. But one of my favorite food books in my
library is Davidson's _Fruit: A Connoisseur's Guide and Cookbook_. That
hardcover tome is filled with wonderful, full-page drawings of what seems
like most every edible fruit in the world. It give scientific names, a list
of what the fruit is called in other languages, and excellent descriptions.
It even includes the Pili nut, native to the Philippines, which I didn't
think any non-Filipino knew of--it's the nut with the highest oil content,
and is awesome roasted and coated in a sugar syrup.

Well, that book has been long out of print, as has been Davidson's _Seafood_
book, which is advertised on the flap of my fruit book. But on my recent
trip to NYC, I found out that some of his old seafood books had been
reprinted! One is _North Atlantic Seafood_ and the other is _Mediterranean
Seafood_. Both, like the fruit book, seem like excellent, one-of-a-kind
reference books. And searching Amazon last night, I also came up with this
intriguing-looking book on Laotion fish! Seems Davidson used to be the
British ambassador to Laos. It was his first book, from 1975, and this is a
reprint. If it is anything like his Fruit book, I'd highly recommend it,
especially considering that we are damned lucky that a book on the fish of
Laos is being reprinted. I can't imagine the printing continuing for long.
Oh, and there's also a reprint of his _Seafood of South-East Asia_!

Has any one seen any of these Davidson books? He's the one who wrote the
much acclaimed Oxford Companion to Food, which I've never looked at.

http://tinyurl.com/6cnxy -- Laos book.

http://tinyurl.com/3vf2n -- Seafood of SE Asia book.

So, any other new books out there? I seem to recall reading about a new
Goan cookbook somewhere.

Peter

Oh also: Vote!
(fellow US citizens of alt.food.asian)

I voted this morning (Ohio) at around 6:30 when the polls opened, but I
guess right now (11AM ET) there are tremendous lines outside the polls,
and there already were at 7:30, even out in the middle of nowhere,
according to a co-worker, who is registered in a more rural area of the
county.

krnntp

KR wrote:

My one reservation on the Fuschia Dunlop book is that for all its
length, there aren't as many recipes as you would expect... she goes for
the "recipe plus a 3-page essay" style of cookbook design, where each
dish is placed in context and accompanied by an account of origin,
personal reminiscence or detailed explanation. Which is fine and dandy
in its own way - Sort of what I like in a cookbook actually, having cut
my teeth on Yamuna Devi's "The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking" and
Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art". Recently got Hi Soo
Shin Hepinstall's "Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen" and it's along the
same lines, even giving instructions for brewing Korean style soy sauce.
I guess what I find a little sad is that Dunlop's is not as ambitious in
scope as these other books, in terms of number of recipes or varieties
of dishes covered. The two things I look to first are vegetable dishes,
and sweets; there were far fewer vegetable dishes than I expected, and
the section with recipes for sweets and street snacks was fleshed out by
a bunch of descriptions of snacks for which no recipe was provided in
the book. Interesting to read but *frustrating* in a cookbook. When I
read about something in a cookbook I want to cook it, dammit! :-) That
goes for meat curing too... Dunlop talks about lots of home meat curing
going on in Sichuan, but gives a recipe for bacon only. Overall: the
glass is 3/4 full. Points for tackling Sichuan cuisine, points for
striving for authenticity, points for being detailed and interesting and
unique... points deducted for making a big, big deal about how important
it is in Sichuan cooking to cut the ingredients just so, and then not
provide drawings (let alone photos) of most of the recipes. Points
deducted for breathless excitement about using a cleaver :-) Points
deducted for not including more recipes, and for assuming readers will
most likely never have access to actual Chinese vegetables. I want a
good Sichuan radish recipe dammit! :-) I also want more info about
pickling and preserved food.

My review above is festooned with smiley faces :-) to make the point
that I do not hate Fuschia Dunlop or this book. I just wish it were
more, and better.

2001 doesn't really count as new, but I recommend "Growing Up in a
Korean Kitchen".

On Alan Davidson: I guess he has written the definitive work on trifle.
Also "The Oxford Companion to Food", but if it were my resume, I'd want
to highlight the trifle book myself (title: "Trifle").

Davidson and his group are behind the VERY esoteric quarterly magazine
or small food journal "Petits Propos Culinaires". Go take a look! A
subscription would be a great Christmas present if the recipient is just
crazy interested in all food, from the Meditteranean through Eastern
Europe, Africa, and all parts of Asia, and all historical periods,
including points such as
* Analysis of actual menus and dishes served at the Lord Mayor of
London's annual banquet in the 1700's
* Fact: At certain times of year, wild partidges in parts of Greece may
be toxic to humans! (Not only a fact, but a named fact: "coturnism")
* Dried wild fruits of Iran

krnntp

Peter Dy wrote:

With Christmas coming up, I was wondering if there's any new or newish
Asian food-related books out there that are unique and noteworthy?

Here's three I can think of:

1. Fuchsia Dunlop. _Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes_.
This one is from 2003, and has been mentioned several times here, so I
won't say more about it, except to say: It's a nearly 400 page book
devoted only to the Sichuan cuisine! Get it!

2. James D. McCawley. _The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters_.
This is a much-awaited reprint of a book first published in 1984. It
has also been mentioned numerous times on this group. If you have any
interest in food-related Chinese characters for whatever reason, the
late University of Chicago linguist's book is a must. Though he seems
to have meant it as a way to read Chinese-language menus, I use it as
a reference dictionary.

3. Alan Davidson. _Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos_.
Ok, I only just saw this book on Amazon last night--I don't have a
copy and I've never held one in my hands. But one of my favorite food
books in my library is Davidson's _Fruit: A Connoisseur's Guide and
Cookbook_. That hardcover tome is filled with wonderful, full-page
drawings of what seems like most every edible fruit in the world. It
give scientific names, a list of what the fruit is called in other
languages, and excellent descriptions. It even includes the Pili nut,
native to the Philippines, which I didn't think any non-Filipino knew
of--it's the nut with the highest oil content, and is awesome roasted
and coated in a sugar syrup.

Well, that book has been long out of print, as has been Davidson's
_Seafood_ book, which is advertised on the flap of my fruit book. But
on my recent trip to NYC, I found out that some of his old seafood
books had been reprinted! One is _North Atlantic Seafood_ and the
other is _Mediterranean Seafood_. Both, like the fruit book, seem
like excellent, one-of-a-kind reference books. And searching Amazon
last night, I also came up with this intriguing-looking book on
Laotion fish! Seems Davidson used to be the British ambassador to
Laos. It was his first book, from 1975, and this is a reprint. If it
is anything like his Fruit book, I'd highly recommend it, especially
considering that we are damned lucky that a book on the fish of Laos
is being reprinted. I can't imagine the printing continuing for long.
Oh, and there's also a reprint of his _Seafood of South-East Asia_!

Has any one seen any of these Davidson books? He's the one who wrote
the much acclaimed Oxford Companion to Food, which I've never looked at.

http://tinyurl.com/6cnxy -- Laos book.

http://tinyurl.com/3vf2n -- Seafood of SE Asia book.

So, any other new books out there? I seem to recall reading about a
new Goan cookbook somewhere.

Peter

For the record, I voted for KERRY

KR wrote:

Oh also: Vote!
(fellow US citizens of alt.food.asian)

I voted this morning (Ohio) at around 6:30 when the polls opened, but I
guess right now (11AM ET) there are tremendous lines outside the polls,
and there already were at 7:30, even out in the middle of nowhere,
according to a co-worker, who is registered in a more rural area of the
county.

krnntp

KR wrote:

My one reservation on the Fuschia Dunlop book is that for all its
length, there aren't as many recipes as you would expect... she goes
for the "recipe plus a 3-page essay" style of cookbook design, where
each dish is placed in context and accompanied by an account of
origin, personal reminiscence or detailed explanation. Which is fine
and dandy in its own way - Sort of what I like in a cookbook actually,
having cut my teeth on Yamuna Devi's "The Art of Indian Vegetarian
Cooking" and Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art".
Recently got Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall's "Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen"
and it's along the same lines, even giving instructions for brewing
Korean style soy sauce. I guess what I find a little sad is that
Dunlop's is not as ambitious in scope as these other books, in terms
of number of recipes or varieties of dishes covered. The two things I
look to first are vegetable dishes, and sweets; there were far fewer
vegetable dishes than I expected, and the section with recipes for
sweets and street snacks was fleshed out by a bunch of descriptions of
snacks for which no recipe was provided in the book. Interesting to
read but *frustrating* in a cookbook. When I read about something in a
cookbook I want to cook it, dammit! :-) That goes for meat curing
too... Dunlop talks about lots of home meat curing going on in
Sichuan, but gives a recipe for bacon only. Overall: the glass is 3/4
full. Points for tackling Sichuan cuisine, points for striving for
authenticity, points for being detailed and interesting and unique...
points deducted for making a big, big deal about how important it is
in Sichuan cooking to cut the ingredients just so, and then not
provide drawings (let alone photos) of most of the recipes. Points
deducted for breathless excitement about using a cleaver :-) Points
deducted for not including more recipes, and for assuming readers will
most likely never have access to actual Chinese vegetables. I want a
good Sichuan radish recipe dammit! :-) I also want more info about
pickling and preserved food.

My review above is festooned with smiley faces :-) to make the point
that I do not hate Fuschia Dunlop or this book. I just wish it were
more, and better.

2001 doesn't really count as new, but I recommend "Growing Up in a
Korean Kitchen".

On Alan Davidson: I guess he has written the definitive work on
trifle. Also "The Oxford Companion to Food", but if it were my resume,
I'd want to highlight the trifle book myself (title: "Trifle").

Davidson and his group are behind the VERY esoteric quarterly magazine
or small food journal "Petits Propos Culinaires". Go take a look! A
subscription would be a great Christmas present if the recipient is
just crazy interested in all food, from the Meditteranean through
Eastern Europe, Africa, and all parts of Asia, and all historical
periods, including points such as
* Analysis of actual menus and dishes served at the Lord Mayor of
London's annual banquet in the 1700's
* Fact: At certain times of year, wild partidges in parts of Greece
may be toxic to humans! (Not only a fact, but a named fact: "coturnism")
* Dried wild fruits of Iran

krnntp

Peter Dy wrote:

With Christmas coming up, I was wondering if there's any new or
newish Asian food-related books out there that are unique and
noteworthy?

Here's three I can think of:

1. Fuchsia Dunlop. _Land of Plenty: Authentic Sichuan Recipes_.
This one is from 2003, and has been mentioned several times here, so
I won't say more about it, except to say: It's a nearly 400 page book
devoted only to the Sichuan cuisine! Get it!

2. James D. McCawley. _The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters_.
This is a much-awaited reprint of a book first published in 1984. It
has also been mentioned numerous times on this group. If you have
any interest in food-related Chinese characters for whatever reason,
the late University of Chicago linguist's book is a must. Though he
seems to have meant it as a way to read Chinese-language menus, I use
it as a reference dictionary.

3. Alan Davidson. _Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos_.
Ok, I only just saw this book on Amazon last night--I don't have a
copy and I've never held one in my hands. But one of my favorite
food books in my library is Davidson's _Fruit: A Connoisseur's Guide
and Cookbook_. That hardcover tome is filled with wonderful,
full-page drawings of what seems like most every edible fruit in the
world. It give scientific names, a list of what the fruit is called
in other languages, and excellent descriptions. It even includes the
Pili nut, native to the Philippines, which I didn't think any
non-Filipino knew of--it's the nut with the highest oil content, and
is awesome roasted and coated in a sugar syrup.

Well, that book has been long out of print, as has been Davidson's
_Seafood_ book, which is advertised on the flap of my fruit book.
But on my recent trip to NYC, I found out that some of his old
seafood books had been reprinted! One is _North Atlantic Seafood_
and the other is _Mediterranean Seafood_. Both, like the fruit book,
seem like excellent, one-of-a-kind reference books. And searching
Amazon last night, I also came up with this intriguing-looking book
on Laotion fish! Seems Davidson used to be the British ambassador to
Laos. It was his first book, from 1975, and this is a reprint. If
it is anything like his Fruit book, I'd highly recommend it,
especially considering that we are damned lucky that a book on the
fish of Laos is being reprinted. I can't imagine the printing
continuing for long. Oh, and there's also a reprint of his _Seafood
of South-East Asia_!

Has any one seen any of these Davidson books? He's the one who wrote
the much acclaimed Oxford Companion to Food, which I've never looked at.

http://tinyurl.com/6cnxy -- Laos book.

http://tinyurl.com/3vf2n -- Seafood of SE Asia book.

So, any other new books out there? I seem to recall reading about a
new Goan cookbook somewhere.

Peter

KR wrote:

My one reservation on the Fuschia Dunlop book is that for all its
length, there aren't as many recipes as you would expect... she goes for
the "recipe plus a 3-page essay" style of cookbook design, where each
dish is placed in context and accompanied by an account of origin,
personal reminiscence or detailed explanation. Which is fine and dandy
in its own way - Sort of what I like in a cookbook actually, having cut
my teeth on Yamuna Devi's "The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking" and
Shizuo Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art".

[snip]

... Dunlop talks about lots of home meat curing
going on in Sichuan, but gives a recipe for bacon only. Overall: the
glass is 3/4 full. Points for tackling Sichuan cuisine, points for
striving for authenticity, points for being detailed and interesting and
unique... points deducted for making a big, big deal about how important
it is in Sichuan cooking to cut the ingredients just so, and then not
provide drawings (let alone photos) of most of the recipes. Points
deducted for breathless excitement about using a cleaver :-) Points
deducted for not including more recipes, and for assuming readers will
most likely never have access to actual Chinese vegetables. I want a
good Sichuan radish recipe dammit! :-) I also want more info about
pickling and preserved food.

My review above is festooned with smiley faces :-) to make the point
that I do not hate Fuschia Dunlop or this book. I just wish it were
more, and better.

I agree with what you say about Dunlop's book. Not enough pix, not
enough recipes. I'm usually working from the perspective of "What can I
do with this chicken breast?" and the choices she offers are quite
limited. OTOH, I love many of the recipes that ARE there. I'd buy it
again, and I'd give it as a gift - but I still wanted more!

Ian