Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art [Hardcover]

This encyclopedic volume explores ingredients, utensils, techniques, food history and table etiquette. "Mr. Tsuji's book does for Japanese cooking what Julia Child did for the French..."

"I found in Mr. Tsuji's elegant presentation a real-world
articulation of the aesthetic and ideological purity that i had perceived
as the essence of the Kurosawa film; if Kurosawa had ignited my love for
the country, Mr. Tsuji deepened and defined it." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"Rare is the cookbook you can read from cover to cover. Rarer
still is one that gives the reader a novel sense of a world discovered...
[Japanese Cooking] is just such a cookbook. For those with even a passing
interest in Japanese cuisine, it is indispensable." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Japanese food continues to grow in popularity in the United States. Yet enjoyment of Japanese cooking is still largely limited to an occasional night out at a Japanese restaurant, and for far too long it has been assumed that this food is difficult to make in one's own kitchen. Actually, Japanese cooking is surprisingly simple. Raw ingredients should be glistening fresh and of the best quality, and flavors, however elaborate, are built up from just two basic seasonings - dashi, an easily made, delicate stock, and shoyu, naturally brewed Japanese soy sauce.
This cookbook is much more than an accumulation of recipes. In his preface, the author (whom Craig Claiborne calls "a sort of Renaissance man of Japanese and world gastronomy") discusses the essence of Japanese cooking, with its emphasis on simplicity, a balance of textures, colors, and flavors, seasonal freshness, and beauty of presentation. The expertise of the staff of the professional cooking school headed by the author is evident throughout the book.
After introducing ingredients and utensils, the 20 chapters of Part One are made up of lessons presenting all the basic Japanese cooking methods and principal types of prepared foods-grilling, simmering, steaming, noodles, sushi, pickles, and so on-with accompanying basic model recipes. Part Two consists of 130 carefully selected recipes. These range from simple dishes for daily fare to well-chosen challenges for the adventurous cook. Together with the 90-odd recipes included in Part One, these enable the cook to build up a repertory, dish by dish, from the basic everyday "soup and three" formula to a gala banquet.
Whether preparing a snack for oneself or something special for friends, readers will find themselves reaching for this volume. Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art is a sourcebook of cooking concepts and recipes from one of the world's outstanding culinary traditions.
Over 220 recipes 510 sketches 16 color pages chart of North American and Japanese fish extensive list of shops in North America where ingredients can be purchased calorie and weight chart of typical Japanese foods metric conversion tables.

SHIZUO TSUJI (1933-1993) was born into a family that operated a <BR>traditional confectionery and graduated from prestigious Waseda University <BR>in Tokyo with a degree in French Literature. He worked first as a reporter <BR>for the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and then in 1960 established the Tsuji <BR>Culinary Institute in Osaka to train professional chefs (now the largest <BR>such school in Japan). After extensive training in Japanese cooking, he <BR>studied the cooking of the greatest chefs in France. The French government <BR>named him Meilleur Ouvrier de France (M. O. F.) in recognition of his <BR>study, mastery, and promotion of French cuisine. He published over thirty <BR>books, including works on gastronomy, music, essays, and translation. <BR>He followed Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art with Practical Japanese Cooking: <BR>Easy and Elegant, a full-colour presentation of some of the most popular <BR>Japanese dishes. <P>Few writers have written more eloquently about food than M. F. K. FISHER <BR>(1908-1992). Her books include The Art of Eating and The Gastronomical Me, <BR>and she also translated and annotated Brillat-Savarin's Physiology of <BR>Taste. <P>YOSHIKI TSUJI was born in Osaka and moved to Edinburgh when he was twelve <BR>years old. He continued his education in the United States, and in 1993 <BR>became president of the Tsuji Culinary Institute. Continuing his father <BR>Shizuo Tsuji's work, he enthusiastically researches contemporary currents <BR>in European and American culinary culture to educate professional chefs, <BR>and is dedicated to promoting Japanese food culture overseas as the <BR>vice-president of the Japanese Culinary Academy. He has authored two books; <BR>The Theory of Evolution of Epicurism (Bishoku Shinkaron) and An <BR>Introduction to the Food Industry (Ryori no Shigoto ga Shitai). <P>RUTH REICHL is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine and the author of <BR>the bestsellers Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, and Garlic --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.