Book Description
The specialized cuisine served at Kyoto's famed Kikunoi restaurant is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate, and
Kaiseki, by owner / chef Yoshihiro Murata, is at once a cookbook and a work of art. This sumptuously illustrated volume features-in seasonal format-the style of cooking that began as tea ceremony accompaniment and developed into the highest form of Japanese cookery.
Kaiseki celebrates the natural ingredients of each season with a spectacular presentation. After a front section explaining the history and components of kaiseki cuisine, Murata introduces his establishment's impressive menu. With candor and insight, he shares his thoughts on ingredients, preparation methods and the philosophy behind his dishes. He explains how the cuisine has changed over the years and continues to do so. His professional and personal accounts are enlightening; ranging, for example, from how some dishes evolve in the search for the proper combination of ingredients to a description of a learning encounter with a zen master.
Approximately twenty dishes from each season, chosen by chef Murata, have been lovingly and carefully photographed to convey the experience of being an honored guest at his restaurant. Also included are the exact recipes direct from the Kikunoi kitchen, and a glossary of kaiseki terms.
Customer Reviews:
Gorgeous. Sensual. But probably not for dinner tonight........2007-05-13
I have two sorts of cookbooks in my collection. There are the books that I cook from, in which many pages have food stains, folded-down corners, and bindings that fall open to favorite recipes. I also have cookbooks that I consider "picture books." Sure, they have recipes, but I look at them primarily for inspiration or entertainment or fantasy ("Yeah, like I'm gonna cook something with two pounds of fois gras!" or "That's over the top, but isn't it beautiful?"). I rarely cook anything from the picture books, but that's okay; I enjoy them nonetheless.
Kaiseki is very much in the latter category. If this book isn't nominated for an award on visual merit alone, I shall be appalled. Photographically, it's simply stunning. If you appreciate how beautifully food can be presented... well, it earns its five stars right there. It's also a stunning example of how good Japanese food can be; many of the photos make me yearn to consume them.
The cookbook is organized in an unusual manner. The recipes are all in the back of the book, in small type (too small, I think). Most of the book is given over to the delicious photos, menus, and text. The text is largely what you'd expect as a long headnote in a regular cookbook. For example, you get two long paragraphs about the seasonality of fresh bamboo shoots, accompanying a blow-you-away picture of bamboo shoot sushi (it looks like a bird of paradise flower arrangement). These sections are divided into Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, reflecting the restaurant's focus on eating whatever is ripe right now.
I can't imagine that I'm going to cook anything here, though. The author doesn't try to Americanize anything, or to suggest "if you can't find sea bream, substitute [something else]." It's definitely a Japanese book. Maybe, if you have more Asian markets than I do and you know the cuisine better, you're better able to contemplate the recipes. If so, you'll probably be interested in steamed tilefish with fresh green tea leaves; or abalone in a salt dome; or fresh black soybean skewered on pine needles.
But don't worry if your ability to make these recipes is as distant as my own. Kaiseki may spend more time on your coffee table than in your kitchen, and that's okay. This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book, and well worth it for anyone who simply loves to admire food treated well. It would make a superb present for any foodie, too.
Elegant Zen.......2007-05-09
Yoshihiro Murata's "Kaiseki" is a real beauty. It provides a walk through the most elegant of Japanese cuisines, showing off the fine purity of the tea ceremony meal with all of it's evocative wabi/sabi aesthetic. The photographs are stunning and well worth a perusal. The actual recipes are pretty arcane (I would refer the home cook to Tsuji's "Japanese Cooking" or Vitell's "The World in a Bowl of Tea"), but this will be a real addition to a cook's library or to the Japanophile.
COULD BE BETTER-PUEDE SER MEJOR.......2007-03-18
IT DESCRIBES TRADITIONAL JAPANESE CUISINE. BEAUTIFUL PICTURES AND THE BOOK IS MADE FROM EXCELLENT MATERIAL. BUT IT COULD BE BETTER.
the best in japanese cuisine.......2007-03-09
chef murata is one of the best kaiseki chef in japan, had the oppurtunity to met him once and learn a lot from a man with lots of passion and knowledge. the book allows non japanese reader to learn and open up to a very old tradition from japan.
a must buy book.
Book Description
Demystify the sushi bar experience
Stuffed with tips and tricks – you’ll roll, press, and mold sushi like a pro!
From rolling sushi properly to presenting it with pizzazz, this book has everything you need to know to impress your friends with homemade maki-sushi (rolls) and nigiri-sushi (individual pieces). You’ll find over 55 recipes from Tuna Sushi Rice Balls to Rainbow Rolls, plus handy techniques to demystify the art of sushi making – and make it fun!
Discover how to:
- Find the right equipment and ingredients
- Understand the special language of sushi
- Make fragrant sushi rice
- Prepare vegetarian and fish-free recipes
- Dish up sushi-friendly drinks and side dishes
Customer Reviews:
Sushi for Dummies.......2007-09-22
Excellent detailed book. Best part was the details on making the best rice you can as that is the main ingrediant.
"For Dummies" marches on!.......2007-05-30
This is the first "For Dummies" book I've seen with pictures. It's a nice try, but I wouldn't make this my only sushi cookbook. The explanations are pretty good and well in keeping with the "for dummies" tradition. I think sometimes they waffle a little bit on principles (saying one thing, but then admitting that they do it another way).
After reading reviews for this rather unlikely book and for another book with reputedly superb photography, I elected to purchase both and I wasn't disappointed: the other book with the amazing illustrations wasn't expensive and the two really complement each other: The Complete Book Of Sushi! The price is right: buy both.
Perfect book for sushi beginners........2007-05-19
I read this book from cover to cover twice. It's well laid out and covers most of the aspects of sushi making. It was a very easy read.
I wish it had more pictures. Had lots of illustrations though.
Blessing from the gods.......2007-05-12
I had no idea how to prepare sushi before I got this book but i really wanted to learn how becuase i love the stuff and its to expensive at sushi bars. I was very impressed with this book. Its very simple to understand (hence the title!) and has a great layout with lots of superb recipes, enjoy!
Well-written and informative.......2007-04-03
I used this book to make sushi over the weekend and found it to be very instructive and simple to use (as well as humorous and pleasant to read). I followed the directions for making the rice on the stove top and it turned out perfect! The detailed maki-rolling instructions/diagrams were easy to follow, and my rolls ended up looking (and tasting) great! My friends were all impressed. I also learned a ton about the cultural aspects of sushi that I didn't know before, and I considered myself fairly knowledgable.
The only reason I give four stars instead of five is that I didn't feel there were enough recipes for different types of rolls, or nearly enough pictures. But the focus of this book is on technique and the process of making sushi (not necessarily recipes) and for that it was invaluable. I plan to purchase another book to use solely for recipes.
Side Note: The only other special equipment I purchased was the Joyce Chen Sushi Mat and Rice Paddle Set. You can make great sushi using the techniques in this book without buying a lot of extra kitchen gadgets. I turned my rice out onto a large plastic bowl and it worked great.
Book Description
At last, what every Westerner in a Japanese restaurant or market needs: the first truly comprehensive dictionary of Japanese food and ingredients. Standard dictionaries can often mislead us--with akebia for akebi, sea cucumber for namako, plum for ume. Hosking's dictionary includes not only dishes and ingredients, everything from the delicate mitsuba leaf to the dreadful okoze fish: colorful appendices disclose such aspects of Japanese culture as the making of miso to the tea ceremony and the influence of vegetarianism.
With Japanese-English and English-Japanese sections, A Dictionary of Japanese Food explains the nuances and eliminates the mysteries of Japanese food.
Customer Reviews:
A valueable pocket guide to take shopping.......2006-11-26
This ten-year old dictionary remains unsurpassed
as a guide to the ingredients, methods and utensils
used in japanese cooking. It is a portable volume
with romanized, kana and kanji versions of all the
names and so is ideal for a trip to the market
where many unfamilar ingredients may be presented
to the english--speaking food lover.
There are seventeen useful appendices that cover
topics like:
Chopsticks
Katsuoboshi
The kitchen and its utensils
Kombu
The Meal
Miso
Sake
Salt
Sansai
Soy sauce
Sushi
Tea
The tea ceremony
Umami and Flavor
Vegetarianism
Wasabi
Wasabon Sugar
In addition, many of the entries have enough
detail to be useful to the Western chef who
wants to incorporate Japanese ideas into his
or her cooking. Hoskins is an admirably concise
writer who packs a lot of information into a
small amount of graceful prose.
Be aware that this is not an encyclopedia. If
you use the English-Japanese section to look
up `mushroom' for instance, you'll find the
translation `kinoko' but not a comprehensive
list of Japanese mushrooms or techniques for
cooking them.
So leave the browsing to other books and keep
this one for trips to the market You'll be glad
to have it.
--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and the forthcoming novel bang-BANG from Kunati Books. ISBN 9781601640005
Very useful book.......2006-10-29
I recently spent a month in Tokyo and I enjoy cooking. I found this book along with a good Japanese cookbook to be very useful both in the market and the kitchen. I would have like it to included a kana (Japanese syllabic writing) to English section, but understand most English speakers are not familiar with this Japanese syllabic writing. Luckily all Japanese know our alphabet and my fellow shoppers were always happy to help me find what I wanted. In fact, I believe they appreciated my interest in their food and culture.
Essential if you plan to shop in oriental markets.......2006-03-17
This book was the connection I needed between the recipes in my Japanese cookbooks and the local Asian market. Many of the packages have no English word on the package. I have used this book every time I have shopped; when I can't figure out what I am looking for, I take the Japanese word (the book cross references in English and Japanese) to the service desk. The young Japanese woman takes me to exactly what I am looking for. It has saved hours of decoding the ingredients.
This is great for descriptions and translations, not for cooking assistance; it discusses pairings of flavors for ingredients you look up. It is the perfect dictionary to keep close to the Asian cookbooks.
Super Tool for Japanese Food Lovers.......2006-01-20
For those people who love Japanese cuisine but don't know much about the Japanese language, this pocket size dictionary is a wonderful tool. It focuses on most terms and words used in Japanese cuisine including drinks, entrees, ingredients, food terms, even some cooking and food container names. The dictionary allows readers easy to look up information. It is arranged in three sections: Japanese-English, English-Japanese, and Appendices with some interesting topics in Japanese cuisine. Each entry in the Japanese-English section provides the Japanese term in Roman script, Japanese character, as well as Kanji, along with the English definition details and possibly some additional culture notes. Truly, this dictionary is a MUST!
(Reviewed by Otto Yuen, 19-Jan-2006)
Authentic, resourceful, handy and enjoyable.......2005-12-03
As a Japanese native and a food enthusiast, I first approached this book skeptically. I must say that I am impressed. Another reviewer says that this book does not contain everything, but hey, it covers much more than I expected. I keep it handy when I cook Japanese food for guests, so I can answer questions without guessing all the time. Finding books like this one --straightforward and packed with trustworthy, interesting information -- is a joy.
Amazon.com
What does it mean that McDonald's has become an integral part of daily life throughout East Asia--so much so, in fact, that many Asians have ceased to consider the American hamburger chain "foreign" at all? The five scholars who contribute essays to Golden Arches East have taken a novel approach to cultural anthropology. Call it hamburger historiography, perhaps, but their analysis of McDonald's ascendancy in the East has much to say about both the corporation itself and the changing values of Asian societies. Despite widespread criticism of McDonald's as a symbol of global homogeneity and environmental degradation, not all of these changes have been negative. In Hong Kong and China, for instance, McDonald's has actually contributed to improving standards of bathroom cleanliness and table manners, according to the authors. And the transformation has cut both ways; McDonalds itself has been forced to adapt to local culture and tastes. In studying how McDonald's has been assimilated into Asian societies, Watson et al. provide a fascinating portrait of cultural accommodation, compromise, and change.
Book Description
McDonald’s restaurants are found in over 100 countries, serving tens of millions of people each day. What are the cultural implications of this phenomenal success? The widely read—and widely acclaimed—Golden Arches East argues that McDonald’s has largely become divorced from its American roots and become a “local” institution for an entire generation of affluent consumers in Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo. In the second edition, James L. Watson also covers recent attacks on the fast-food chain as a symbol of American imperialism, and the company’s role in the obesity controversy currently raging in the U.S. food industry, bringing the story of East Asian franchises into the twenty-first century.
Praise for the First Edition:
“Golden Arches East is a fascinating study that explores issues of globalization by focusing on the role of McDonald’s in five Asian economies and [concludes] that in many countries McDonald’s has been absorbed by local communities and become assimilated, so that it is no longer thought of as a foreign restaurant and in some ways no longer functions as one.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Book Review
“This is an important book because it shows accurately and with subtlety how transnational culture emerges. It must be read by anyone interested in globalization. It is concise enough to be used for courses in anthropology and Asian studies.” —Joseph Bosco, China Journal
“The strength of this book is that the contributors contextualize not just the food side of McDonald's, but the social and cultural activity on which this culture is embedded. These are culturally rich stories from the anthropology of everyday life.” —Paul Noguchi, Journal of Asian Studies
“Here is the rare academic study that belongs in every library.”—Library Journal
Customer Reviews:
Essential for any overseas business or Asian holding........2006-12-11
McDonald's Restaurants are to be found world-wide and books have been written on their business success and approach - but GOLDEN ARCHES EAST: MCDONALD'S IN EAST ASIA is something different, providing college-level readers with a blend of cultural insights and business savvy as it traces McDonald's role in five Asian countries. Chapters provide the author's first-person insights as he journeys to five Asian countries and asks questions on McDonalds management, promotion strategies, and impact on local culture. Also included are reflections on food and marketing within these nations, making GOLDEN ARCHES EAST essential for any overseas business or Asian holding.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Loaded tales of the mundane and everyday.......2005-12-29
Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia is an absorbing read that delves into more than just eating; it grapples with the big issues like the impact of local vis-à-vis the global by looking into the interplay of McDonald's in five Asian economies. Watson, et al come to the conclusion that in several spaces - particularly in Asia - McDonald's has been amalgamated into the local communities. McDonalds has integrated so well that the distinction between local and foreign has blurred. So disentangled is the distinction that McDonalds is no longer considered a foreign restaurant and arguably in many cases - such as the ones explored in this book - no longer functions as one. This is an essential book because it accurately portrays and cognizant of local nuance how a transnational culture is developing. Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia is a must be read for anyone interested in globalization studies. It is accessible and to the point that is can, should be, and will be used for courses in Asian studies, Political Science, and Sociology.
At a time when academics frequently write impenetrably this book is a breath of fresh air. Golden Arches is very engaging and is deals with one straightforward question: how do countries act in response to McDonald's, and conversely what does the relation say about those countries? The inquiry is not petty. The book is an exploration of McDonald's in Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo. Undoubtedly, McDonald's has had a huge effect in Asia, impacting manners and values and also the way people interact. The most informative part of these studies is its exploration of how McDonald's changed each country. While Americans might see themselves as the bright light of global democracy and human rights its impact in countries in East Asia is proving to be more empirical.
Bathrooms in Hong Kong restaurants, according to this study had undergone a tremendous transformation. Riding into town with the McDonalds penchant for cleanliness, the other restaurants seem to have followed suit. It might seem like an exaggeration but Watson et al credits McDonald's for assisting in elevating the cleanliness and safety standard in public rest rooms in Hong Kong. Another thing that is happening in Hong Kong is the "disciplining" of the users. According to Watson et al the carceral community takes care of its own. Self reflective of exaggerating McDonalds impact in the milieu, Watson et al claim that even if McDonalds did not indeed take the active role in creating a form of queuing discipline - it s perceived to have done so .
Moving onto the perhaps the marquis section of the book, Japan's values have been changing for decades, becoming steadily more casual, and according to Watson et al McDonald's may be assisting as vehicle in that process. This proves at least one thing - that there is nothing primordial or essential about cultures but that culture and societies change, reinvent themselves, and reify their existence by the re-enforcement and performance or cultural play. To the chagrin of conservatives, this is reality. According to Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, Japan has a long standing taboo against "tachigui," (standing while eating) but that seems to be steadily breaking down. Ohnuki-Tierney suggests that perhaps the catalyst of this change is McDonald's - whose stores in Japan just did not accommodate sitting - there were no chairs. In Beijing, restaurants where known for their noise and dirt. But according to Watson et al, customers at McDonald's branches in Beijing spoke in hushed tones and were cognizant of the changing conditions regarding spitting and rubbish.
All this might look like American cultural imperialism - as is examined in the section on Seoul. However it is difficult to conceive of even the most zealous anti-American in East Asia disapproving of American exports like efficiency, smiles and clean rest rooms. The real potency of Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia is that the writers place in context not just the food side of McDonald's, but more importantly the and social and cultural impact of McDonalds on these ever changing societies. These are loaded tales of the mundane and everyday. In short, this is a rare academic engagement that should reside in all libraries and spawn similar studies.
Miguel Llora
Not Your Typical Book About McDonald's Expansionism..........2002-10-12
Most books dealing with the spread of American pop culture (and pop business) influences these days like Disney, Coca-Cola and McDonald's have very little good to say about the growth of any of them in previously unexposed markets. That's why, perhaps, it comes as surprising that "Golden Arches East" comes out with a mostly positive look at the effect McDonald's had had throughout East Asia.
In this book, five authors look at the impact McDonald's has had in five different East Asian entities: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Much of the early chapters is given over to looking at the material aspects of McDonald's in East Asia: the marketing aspects, the reconceptualization towards a standard Asian consumer, the effect on the Asian food industry, etc.. All of this makes for very fascinating reading and shows just how marketing has to be changed from country to country (or even region to region). Likewise, it deals with very nuts-and-bolts issues of how McDonald's has impacted the lives of the average Asian consumer - and the impact is bigger than you'd think.
However, later chapters (especially those dealing with Taiwan and Korea and the Afterword) move to more conceptual issues of McDonald's - issues of modernity. Americanization and cultural identity. In an anthropological context (which is what this book tries to maintain), these are all very important, but somehow the later efforts seem to either fall flat or fall back on the line used so often in studying Asia these days, "But things are changing now".
While the overall message of this book is positive, there are the standard overtones of just how much the world has changed in the past half-century. I really recommend this book for the nuts-and-bolts stuff in the first two or three chapters, but the later didacticism tends to fall a little flat. Nonetheless, this book offers useful information to both the business student and the cultural anthropologist. If either East Asia or McDonald's interest you, I recommend giving this book a shot.
Fries taste better in East!.......2000-03-12
I tasted McDonald's french fries in East Asia. That tastes better than in the US. American french fries are overfried.
Good tale but facile understanding of business environment.......1999-05-17
An interesting tale of an importnat American icon. But, this book has little understanding of the local competitors that McDonalds and other foreign multinationals face in East Asia, many of whom are quite formidable. I recommend "New Asian Emperors" by George Haley et al. to understand the complex business environment in East Asia.
Book Description
"Yum!" thought Amy Kaneko when she tasted the Japanese home cooking she'd married into. Even better, turned out it uses easy-to-find ingredients, and she couldn't believe how simple the techniques are for food this delicious. This terrific cookbook showcases 70 of Amy's favorite recipes, including Tonkatsu (crispy pork cutlets in a tangy sauce) and Onigiri (cute little rice balls stuffed with salmon). A glossary describes the more unusual ingredients and a source list makes it a snap to find and use Japanese specialties such as daikon, miso, and wasabi. It's tasty, it's practical, it's a wow with family and friends so Let's Cook Japanese Food!
Customer Reviews:
Great Book.......2007-08-16
Amy Kaneko presents to the reader a form of healthy and fun to eat foods everyone can and will enjoy. Recipes are easy to follow and most of the food sources can be found at any major shopping food chain.
great book.......2007-06-19
i love this book. she makes recipes super, super easy... but all the food is also realy great. it's simple, so if you're into difficult recipes, this might not be your book... but if you want great food explained in an easy way, this is your book.
a good beginning for a new cuisine.......2007-04-26
I bought this book after a positive review was written in the Oregonian's Food Day section. I enjoy Japanese food, but haven't had the nerve to try making it at home. Amy Kaneko's descriptive details helped me get over the fear of trying it myself. The meal I chose was simple to prepare, and the ingredients were fairly easy to find. (Note to anyone else about to try this - mirin, or sweet sake, wasn't with the sakes in the wine department, but next to rice vinegars in the Asian food section - it's not a drinking sake.) I was very pleased with the results - a much more complex flavor than the simple preparation would have led me to expect.
The only negatives about this book are that vegetarians will be a little surprised to see how much pork and chicken winds up in the 'vegetable' section of the book, and that there is no dessert section.
Average customer rating:
- An excellent source for both pictures and recipes of tsukemo
- great book.
|
Tsukemono: Pickled Japanese Vegetables
Kay Shimizu
Manufacturer: Japan Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
Japanese
| Asian
| Regional & International
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0870409107 |
Customer Reviews:
An excellent source for both pictures and recipes of tsukemo.......1999-07-05
I've been a fan of Japanese food, especially sashimi and tsukemono, since the 70's and was delighted to find this book. It is well writted and provides historical, nutritional and equipment information, as well as pictures and recipes. Recipes include complex processes for making Umeboshi (pickled plums)and Takuan-zuke (rice bran pickled daikon) as well as quick and easy cucumber, radish, turnip and cabbage pickles. It also has a section on Pacific Rim pickles such as Vietnamese pickled bean sprouts and Korean Kim Chee. All in all a very well written and informative book about Asian pickles and the art of making them. A must for Asian food lovers and your cook book library. Thank you Kay Shimizu and might we expect another book from you soon? Now for that bowl of hot rice and some Hakusai-zuke .............
great book........1998-07-25
I am a Japanese and love pickles. This book shows me how to make many kinds of vegetable pickles which I can't get recepi in Japan.
Book Description
Located only blocks from Tokyo's glittering Ginza, Tsukiji--the world's largest marketplace for seafood--is a prominent landmark, well known but little understood by most Tokyoites: a supplier for countless fishmongers and sushi chefs, and a popular and fascinating destination for foreign tourists. Early every morning, the worlds of hi-tech and pre-tech trade noisily converge as tens of thousands of tons of seafood from every ocean of the world quickly change hands in Tsukiji's auctions and in the marketplace's hundreds of tiny stalls. In this absorbing firsthand study, Theodore C. Bestor--who has spent a dozen years doing fieldwork at fish markets and fishing ports in Japan, North America, Korea, and Europe--explains the complex social institutions that organize Tsukiji's auctions and the supply lines leading to and from them and illuminates trends of Japan's economic growth, changes in distribution and consumption, and the increasing globalization of the seafood trade. As he brings to life the sights and sounds of the marketplace, he reveals Tsukiji's rich internal culture, its place in Japanese cuisine, and the mercantile traditions that have shaped the marketplace since the early seventeenth century.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect Guide to a Tokyo Vacation.......2006-11-29
A fishing boat leaves from Barnegat Light, New Jersey
headed out for a week or more of long-line fishing for
swordfish, but two days later, it's back at the dock
meeting a refrigerated truck. What happened? Was their
trip cut short by mechanical failure? Bad ice?
No, they caught a giant bluefin tuna as a `bycatch'
and a buyer in Tokyo, notified by radio, sent a truck t
o pick it up and get it on the next plane to Japan.
At the heart of all this remarkable transport is
the soon-to-be closed Tsukiji, a giant market next
to the posh Ginza and tacky Shinbashi neighborhoods
that currently handles ten per cent of the world's
trade in fresh fish.
As a piece of social history, this book would be
fascinating and for the anthropologist concerned
with community and institution, it's a milestone.
But that's not why I am recommonding this book so
highly. I urge you to buy it because it's the key
to a particular kind of travel.
If you are going to Tokyo, there is a guidebook
and a list of recommended sights. You can even go
on a tour and have someone decide what you should
see. Or you can take the time to get familiar with
Tsukiji before you leave. You can spend your mornings
(it opens before dawn and is closed just after noon)
wandering the inner and outer market. You can have
the freshest, cheapest sushi you've ever tasted and
shop for sushi knives and other cutlery. You can
speak not a single word of Japanese and have the
time of your life.
Better yet, if you do this, it will change the way
you travel forever. You will no longer be content
to see what you've imagined seeing and what all your
friends have seen. In fact, the whole idea of `seeing'
a city will change. You'll want to taste it, hear it,
smell it and wake up with it too.
This splendid book is nicely written, Bestor has a good
touch with words, a quality not common among
anthropologists. There is also a visitors' guide to
the outer market. So whether your traveliing is ocean-spanning
or armchair-sprawling, Tsukiji is a delight.
--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and the forthcoming novel bang-BANG from Kunati Books. ISBN 9781601640005
This book is not just about fish.......2006-11-22
"If a maritime species can be consumed by human beings, in Japan, it almost certainly has been," writes Harvard anthropologist and sushi aficionado Theodore Bestor.
And the place to get it is Tsukiji at the mouth of the Sumida River in Tokyo, the world's biggest fish market, where millions of pounds of fish a day and billions of dollars worth of seafood a year are received, sold (usually more than once) and shipped. That's about five times bigger than New York's (lately extinct) Fulton Fish Market.
Although Tsukiji controls only a tenth of Japan's seafood business, the Japanese are so devoted to seafood and have so much money that fisheries around the world operate on Tsukiji's beat.
New fisheries have been created just for Tsukiji, like the air-flown fresh Atlantic bluefin tuna business. Tuna is king at Tsukiji, to the point that conservationists fear the extinction of the Atlantic bluefin.
Bestor's "Tsukiji" is comprehensive, neatly fitting the market into both historical and present-day contexts, but his main interest is in what he calls intermediate wholesalers.
There are about 1,600 of them, narrowly specialized. They are proud of their alleged origin as supporters of the first ruling Shogun in Edo (now Tokyo), of their knowledge of fish (but, of course, the younger generation doesn't know what the old-timers think they should), of their hometowns, their high schools, their religious sodalities, family ties, festivals and staying power.
Staying power especially. Some dealers claim to be of the 17th generation. Tsukiji was the famous fish market of Nihonbashi until the Great Kanto earthquake destroyed it in 1923. Rebuilt in a new location, Tsukiji seems to have carried its history along with it successfully.
It is facing an uncertain future again, as usual, says Bestor. The challenges come from the market structure, which is shifting from auctions to direct, negotiated deals. And from the municipal government, which wants to move the cramped, decaying market.
It's within walking distance of Ginza, and many dealers worry that moving away will kill the market. It will almost certainly kill the "outer" market of little stalls and restaurants that congregates around the inner market. (Bestor provides a guide for tourists.)
All markets have, to anthropologists, a certain sameness, but Tsukiji has some uniquely Japanese features. Sakidori is the oddest, compared with American methods.
The auctions begin around 5 a.m., too late for supermarket chains that have to wrestle their purchases through Tokyo's traffic and also need extra time to clean, cut, wrap and price packages. Smaller local shops don't need so much lead time.
Sakidori allows the big guys to carry off whatever they want before the auction, which gives them an advantage in obtaining the best quality items. But the price is set by the smaller guys who stay later.
Another obvious difference between Tsukiji and American markets is the place of religious rites at Tsukiji. Japanese fishmongers may not be any more religious than American businessmen, but they are more likely to organize business matters in religious contexts, from parading at festivals to going as business groups to famous shrines.
Bestor has attempted to write a book for both academic anthropologists and for general readers, and cheerfully invites the general reader to skip some chapters.
It's worth the effort of reading it all. This book is not just about fish.
Detailed book on a fascinating subject.......2006-06-30
I've never seen the Tsukiji fish market in operation, but I'm quite sure that it's fascinating, and one of the best reasons I have for thinking that is this big and detailed book. Theodore Bestor is a professor of anthropology at Harvard, but unlike a stereotypical anthropologist, he doesn't study fossils or primitive tribes. He studies contemporary Japanese economic institutions.
The book is a serious work of academic scholarship but, happily, it's only a little less readable for that. Professor Bestor descends into opaque academic jargon only once and then pretty briefly. (It rather feels as though he does it once just to prove that he can.) Other that that brief bit, there's only a smattering of academic jargon in the book and most of it is perfectly understandable. Professor Bestor is occasionally a bit repetitive, and there are a few inelegant chapter introductions and summaries ("In this chapter I have..."), but there's very little here that hinders an interested lay-person's enjoyment. Besides, who but an academic would spend 15 years visiting and learning about a fish market? Anyone who has an interest in Japanese culture should be glad that Professor Bestor did because there's a lot to learn from reading the book.
Professor Bestor explains the market's history, its seventeenth-century origin in nearby Nihonbashi, its move to Tsukiji in 1923, its move into the current buildings in 1935, its closure during the second world war, its resurgence in the 1950s, and its likely future move to a new location across the Sumida river. In equally careful detail, he tells us about the market's mechanisms and its participants: the auctions and the seven auction-houses, the hundreds of wholesalers and how they do business, how the market changes in anticipation and reaction to consumers' changing preferences, and so on.
There's no question that there are a lot of interesting facts here. I'd never have guessed that sushi as we know it was invented in the middle of the nineteenth century. But, perhaps not surprisingly, Professor Bestor is at his best when he's interpreting and analyzing as an anthropologist. Economic transactions don't happen in a vacuum.
We get a wonderfully clear picture of the numerous overlapping formal and informal relationships among the market's participants and between them and the various parts of local and national government that license and regulate the market. We also get to see wholesalers changing their businesses, not just in response to short-term market changes, but also in response to larger-scale economic trends. While they were once exclusively family businesses, many are now becoming increasingly like ordinary corporations.
Japanese social structures are famously opaque to outsiders and Professor Bestor has done a fabulous job learning about and explaining a fascinating place. And his descriptions are good enough that you can almost smell the fish. There's also a useful guide to to visiting the market at the end of the book.
Hope you're good at skimming..........2005-01-10
A great subject, tackled by a writer who has a nice sense of language -- but please, somebody take a red pen to this book! This isn't a dissertation anymore (I assume it once was -- it certainly reads like one). Every point is belabored. Most of what needs to be cut are repetitive descriptions of the anthropological grounding for his approach to the fish market... but then, there are passages like the one I will take the liberty of quoting below, which truly strain the limits of credulity. Here, from pages 77 and 78 of the hardback version, is an actual description of how to play rock-paper-scissors:
"From time to time, bidders break a tie by a quick round of the child's game of jan-ken (rock-paper-scissors). Two or more people -- on the count of jan, ken, po! -- simulatenously thrust out a hand: a fist to represent a rock, an open palm for paper, or two fingers extended for scissors. Each of the three objects can be defeated by one of the others and can in turn defeat the third: rock smashes scissors (and rock wins); paper covers rock; scissors cut paper. It is a simple mechanism for deciding among ties as long as the group is not too large; this and related hand games are commonplace legacies of Edo's popular culture.
There's the book in a nutshell: the author makes an interesting observation, then beats you over the head with it.
An essential reference for for food lovers going to Tokyo.......2004-10-22
I am not an anthropologist or a foodie who is steeped in the industry. But I did go to Tokyo for 4 days with some friends to find excellent sushi. Having seen Tsukiji in a couple of television specials and worked in a much smaller market in the past I thought it would be interesting to see the real thing. Perhaps I should blame Dr. Bestor for the fact that I ended up spending two half-days engrossed in Tsukiji market but once I read the book and got over the initial shock of the place I felt like I had an inside edge and couldn't pull myself away. The book does an excellent job of balancing personal insights and experiences with objective accounts of the market's history and statistics and provides a behind the scenes understanding of supply and distribution activity as well as the multigenerational, family-run stalls. It's one thing to see the tuna auctions; it's another to have an understanding of how the fish got there, who buys them, how they are sold to the supply and distribution chains, the role of the vendors, the history of the building and other details that give it depth. In the end, after four days of tramping around Tokyo to sample great sushi and other foods, we agreed that the best sushi we had was at a tiny restaurant in the outer market. And my visits to Tsukiji - which is sadly be being replaced by a more modern facility that can better meet the needs of a city that has grown since the facility was built - were the most fascinating part of my visit thanks largely to Dr. Bestor's book.
Book Description
Americans are familiarizing themselves with Japanese food, thanks especially sushi's wild popularity and ready availability. This timely book satisfies the new interest and taste for Japanese food, providing a host of knowledge on the foodstuffs, cooking styles, utensils, aesthetics, meals, etiquette, nutrition, and much more. Students and general readers are offered a holistic framing of the food in historical and cultural contexts. Recipes for both the novice and sophisticated cook complement the narrative. Japan's unique attitude toward food extends from the religious to the seasonal. This book offers a contextual framework for the Japanese food culture and relates Japan's history and geography to food. An exhaustive description of ingredients, beverages, sweets, and food sources is a boon to anyone exploring Japanese cuisine in the kitchen. The Japanese style of cooking, typical meals, holiday fare, and rituals--so different from Americans'--are engagingly presented and accessible to a wide audience. A timeline, glossary, resource guide, and illustrations make this a one-stop reference for Japanese food culture.
Customer Reviews:
Astringent Aftertaste.......2006-02-07
Ashkenazi and Jacobs write a straightforward introduction to Japanese food culture. They present a brief analysis of the cultural, ecological, and historical factors shaping Japanese cuisine, which is helpful for someone writing a school report or something needing a basic survey such as this. However, they do not cite their sources, instead putting them in a brief but not very helpful bibliography in the back of the book, with hardly any Japanese sources! What's worse, they make careless mistakes, such as writing that the Heisei period began in 1991, when it began in 1989, and citing the origin of kasutera (castella) as the Spanish word for castle (castillo). While castella is indeed originally from Spain, it is named such after the Spanish kingdom of Castile.
Book Description
Over the past two decades, the popularity of Japanese food in the West has increased immeasurably—a major contribution to the evolution of Western eating habits. But Japanese cuisine itself has changed significantly since pre-modern times, and the food we eat at trendy Japanese restaurants, from tempura to sashimi, is vastly different from earlier Japanese fare. Modern Japanese Cuisine examines the origins of Japanese food from the late nineteenth century to unabashedly adulterated American favorites like today’s California roll.
Katarzyna J. Cwiertka demonstrates that key shifts in the Japanese diet were, in many cases, a consequence of modern imperialism. Exploring reforms in military catering and home cooking, wartime food management and the rise of urban gastronomy, Cwiertka shows how Japan’s numerous regional cuisines were eventually replaced by a set of foods and practices with which the majority of Japanese today ardently identify.
The result of over a decade of research, Modern Japanese Cuisine is a fascinating look at the historical roots of some of the world’s best cooking and will provide appetizing reading for scholars of Japanese culture and foodies alike.
Book Description
A comprehensive and authoritative guide to the healing powers of Japanese foods, this book includes an in-depth look at over seventeen traditional ingredients, including miso, shiitake, toasted sesame oil, tofu, amazake, and seitan. Each food item is given its own chapter, which includes a detailed discussion of the nutritional and medicinal benefits, how to make it or buy it, cooking with it, and recipes featuring it. This book also features a pronunciation guide, which is great for ordering from restaurants or shops, and a guide to composing meals.
Books:
- Lean and Luscious Favorites: The World's Best 301 Lowfat Recipes: Delicious, Easy to Prepare, Fun, and Healthful! (Lean and Luscious)
- Life Is Meals: A Food Lover's Book of Days
- Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent
- McDonald's Happy Meal Toys in the U.S.A. (Schiffer Book for Collectors With Prices)
- Mensa Guide to Solving Sudoku: Hundreds of Puzzles Plus Techniques to Help You Crack Them All (Mensa)
- Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven: Over 200 Recipes Uncommon Soups, Tasty Bites, Side-by-Side Dishes, and Too Many Desserts
- More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally
- Nathalie Dupree's Shrimp and Grits
- Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook
- On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Real Estate Riches: How to Become Rich Using Your Banker's Money
- Gouldian Finches: Everything About Purchase, Housing, Care, Nutrition, Breeding, and Diseases
- WITH NAVAL WINGS: The Autobiography of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot in World War II
- America's Coming War with China: A Collision Course over Taiwan
- Christine Falls: A Novel
- HOME RULES: TRANSFORM THE PLACE YOU LIVE INTO A PLACE YOU'LL LOVE
- Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life
- You Can Do It: Learning the Y Sound
- African Development Indicators 2004
- Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Vol. 1
Nobu West
Heston Blumenthal: In Search of Perfection: Reinventing Kitchen Classics
Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking
Working the Plate: The Art of Food Presentation
Decoding Ferran Adria: Hosted by Anthony Bourdain
