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