Random
Stuff - book recommendations
Space for
a few books you might like to read if you are interested in
Chengdu.
Sichuan
Cookery, by Fuchsia Dunlop. Superb
recipes and background info.
History,
Culture, Recipes, Menu translator, fly swatter
Fuchsia Dunlop's book can be read just for interest, or
used as a normal recipe book The historical and cultural
background to Sichuan food is fascinating. Translations
of names of dishes and ingredients are given, too. If you
live in Chengdu, or anywhere else in China, the book's
worth having even if you use it only as a food dictionary
for non-Chinese speakers tired of a few dishes they can
order, or tired of pointing and hoping. Even for speakers
of Chinese, the book is an inspiration in that it covers
the vast variety of dishes that Sichuan has to offer, so
if you're not sure what to eat, just flick through Sichuan
Cookery and you are bound to get some good ideas.
Thorough,
comprehensive, all-embracing, wide-ranging, thesaurus
Having studied Sichuan cookery in the province's capital,
Chengdu, Fuchsia Dunlop knows the subject in depth. The
book lists the number of different ways to cut, slice,
chop, sliver etc food (52 ways of sorting out food with
a sharp knife, we think we recall) and gives many other
such lists, a look at which shows just how seriously
good cooking is taken. The lists and descriptions of
ingredients are helpful even to natives of Chengdu, so
comprehensive are they. The author advises on purchase
and preparation of the ingredients, and offers alternatives,
for those unable to track down the rarer items.
The real deal, pretty much-
local knowledge The recipes have been slightly adapted for the U.K., but Dunlop
does not want to blanden / blandify / blandiforise / blandate
/ blandish the dishes. The introduction explains the delights
of extremely spicy food and of the numbing effect of hua jiao,
the Sichuan pepper. There's also praise for the different way
that Chinese people enjoy food. For instance, the feel of the
food in the mouth and the actual process of extracting the edible
parts from the bones, for example, is an intrinsic part of enjoying
food. This helps explain why meat is often served in small chunks
on the bone, and why chicken feet are a popular dish.
To sum up, in conclusion, at
the end of the day, in summarizary conclusiondom... We really love the book. If you are in any way interested
in Sichuan cookery, buy this book. If not, think about buying it
anyway. It's well worth having. It might even make you want to
come to Chengdu.
