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Sushi and Beyond: What the Japanese Know About Cooking by Michael Booth (view source)
Revision as of 13:43, 10 April 2018
, 13:43, 10 April 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Sushi and Beyond: What the Japanese Know About Cooking
|author=Michael Booth
|reviewer=Ruth Ng
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=336
|publisher=Vintage
|date=May 2010
|isbn=978-0099516446
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0099516446</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=0099516446|aznus=<amazonus>0099516446</amazonus>
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There is, as you'd expect, a lot about fish, as well as interesting pieces about Kobe beef and sushi. Yet the parts I enjoyed most were those about things such as wasabi, MSG, how sake is made and the various different soy sauces. I hadn't given them much thought previously other than the fact that our sauce shelf at home has both Chinese soy sauce and Japanese soy sauce which are noticeably different. Of course, now I've read the book I want to go back to Japan and get my hands on some of the really ''good'' stuff!
There are also some interesting thoughts about the health benefits of a Japanese diet, including a look at why Okinawan's Okinawans have such long life spans, and why the Japanese have generally seemed to be healthier than Westerners, although that of course is changing as more American fast food seeps into their culture, as it has in ours, eroding the traditional ways of cooking and preparing food.
He also visits a sumo training house to look at their diets and how they prepare their bodies to take part in sumo matches. He talks us through traditional meals that are all about beauty, tastes and textures of foods and the use of seasonal produce, as well as one special meal which takes place in a secret, exclusive little restaurant somewhere in Tokyo run by an elderly gentleman and his wife for just a handful of guests that you won't find on any map or in any guide book.
For more about Japan you could read [[Japan Through The Looking Glass by Alan Macfarlane]]. For foody travels in a different country try [[Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop]].
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[[Category:Travel]]