- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Broadway Books; Reprint edition (May 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 076790852X
- ISBN-13: 978-0767908528
- Product Dimensions: 14 x 1.3 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 793,591 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Two years out of college and with a degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Victoria Riccardi left a boyfriend, a rent-controlled New York City apartment, and a plum job in advertising to move to Kyoto to study kaiseki, the exquisitely refined form of cooking that accompanies the formal Japanese tea ceremony. She arrived in Kyoto, a city she had dreamed about but never seen, with two bags, an open-ended plane ticket, and the ability to speak only sushi-bar Japanese. She left a year later, having learned the language, the art of kaiseki, and what was truly important to her.
Through special introductions and personal favors, Victoria was able to attend one of Kyoto’s most prestigious tea schools, where this ago-old Japanese art has been preserved for generations and where she was taken under the wing of an American expatriate who became her mentor in the highly choreographed rituals of this extraordinary culinary discipline.
During her year in Kyoto, Victoria explored the mysterious and rarefied world of tea kaiseki, living a life inaccessible to most foreigners. She also discovered the beguiling realm of modern-day Japanese food—the restaurants, specialty shops, and supermarkets. She participated in many fast-disappearing culinary customs, including making mochi (chewy rice cakes) by hand, a beloved family ritual barely surviving in a mechanized age. She celebrated the annual cleansing rites of New Year’s, donning an elaborate kimono and obi for a thirty-four-course extravaganza. She includes twenty-five recipes for favorite dishes she encountered, such as Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl, Japanese Beef and Vegetable Hotpot, and Green-Tea Cooked Salmon Over Rice.
Untangling My Chopsticks is a sumptuous journey into the tastes, traditions, and exotic undercurrents of Japan. It is also a coming-of-age tale steeped in history and ancient customs, a thoughtful meditation on life, love, and learning in another land.
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First Sentence
I celebrated my arrival in Kyoto with a dinner of grilled eel, a sublime delicacy in Japan. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
I celebrated my arrival in Kyoto with a dinner of grilled eel, a sublime delicacy in Japan. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Kindle Edition
I read this book some time ago but I found it interesting and informative.
I love Japan and found that the author had the courage and determination to learn something completely out of her realm. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to any Japanophiles out there.
I love Japan and found that the author had the courage and determination to learn something completely out of her realm. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to any Japanophiles out there.
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The title is great. Reading about Japanese Tea Ceremonies from the view of an American woman was not what I expected. From the title alone I expected more focus on the culinary sojourn aspect and challenges of the experiences of a different culture. A disappointing read.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
18 reviews
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Discover Japan Through One Woman's Delicious Journey
22 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
Wow! I loved Untangling My Chopsticks. It is a delicious book from beginning to end. Victoria Abbott Riccardi's beautiful writing style made me feel like I was a part of her journey, discovering the foreign culture, customs and lifestyle of Japan. Through her detailed descriptions she gives the reader a very true sense of the people, the food and the natural beauty of the country. I loved learning about tea kaiseki and the foods that revolve around it. I craved Japanese food as I read the book and was thrilled to discover that each chapter ends with delectable recipes that are quite simple to prepare.
This book has everything I love to read about from travel, to cooking, to history, to love (yes, it is a bit of a love story!). In summary, it is a fantastic book that captures the reader's attention through wisdom, humor and beauty.
This book has everything I love to read about from travel, to cooking, to history, to love (yes, it is a bit of a love story!). In summary, it is a fantastic book that captures the reader's attention through wisdom, humor and beauty.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Don't read this while you're hungry!
9 April 2004
Format:Hardcover
and after you do read it, you'll need to find a Japanese grocer in your city, because you'll be inspired to hunt all over for soba sauce and azuki bean paste.
What a delight this book is! It veritably sparkles like diamonds and rubies, and in fact she compares tea kaiseki with jewels.
I borrowed a copy from a friend to read, but now I'm inspired to buy my own copy so I can re-savor it and also contribute to Victoria's royalties. She deserves so much for this splendid book.
Her insights into the spirituality of food, even simple things like wrapping packages carefully like the Japanese do, make it a book that you can apply to your daily life, even if you never attend a tea ceremony.
My *ONLY* gripe, and I really hate to say this, is that her connection with Zen Buddhism was tenuous. She does go to Mount Hiei toward the end of the book and tries to sit with the monks, but she spends a lot more time talking about recipes again. But really that's okay because her main emphasis is not to meditate until satori, but to appreciate the food connection.
I can't think of anyone who would not fall in love with this book! Thank you, Bi-cu-to-ri-ha! (That's Japanese for her name, as heard from the lips of children.)
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Life lessons learned & ritual-imbued meals cooked & eaten
20 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
Three culinary trends today include drinking green tea, dining on meals composed of many small dishes, and exploring exotic gastronomic customs. I just read a book that brings those three together beautifully. It's called Untangling My Chopsticks, A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto, by Victoria Riccardi.
Trained in Western culinary tradition and a veteran of a Parisian restaurant kitchen, Riccardi was on the classic culinary track. Until an employee of the Japan Society in New York mentioned kaiseki to her, that is. Victoria's trip to Japan to learn about kaiseki changed her life as her Cordon Bleu training never would.
Kaiseki, I learned, is an elegant, ritualistic cuisine, a degustation of small, seasonal dishes, which developed in Zen monasteries to accompany the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. From page one Riccardi plunged me into exotic Kyoto, the acknowledged birthplace of kaiseki, with tales of her new home dubbed the "bedroom of eels," and her first meal, in a neon-yellow-splashed restaurant under the Kyoto train station. Her story unveils Japanese culture, taste, and tradition in prose that sparkles like the morning sun on a breeze-rippled pond.
Before Untangling my Chopsticks, my knowledge of Japanese food culture could be summed up in a paragraph, the one dubbed "sushi etiquette" sometimes printed on the back of American sushi menus. The story of Victoria's sojourn was like a gift to me: lush with details of friendships forged, life-changing lessons learned, and deeply symbolic, ritual-imbued meals cooked and eaten. It opened my mind.
Trained in Western culinary tradition and a veteran of a Parisian restaurant kitchen, Riccardi was on the classic culinary track. Until an employee of the Japan Society in New York mentioned kaiseki to her, that is. Victoria's trip to Japan to learn about kaiseki changed her life as her Cordon Bleu training never would.
Kaiseki, I learned, is an elegant, ritualistic cuisine, a degustation of small, seasonal dishes, which developed in Zen monasteries to accompany the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. From page one Riccardi plunged me into exotic Kyoto, the acknowledged birthplace of kaiseki, with tales of her new home dubbed the "bedroom of eels," and her first meal, in a neon-yellow-splashed restaurant under the Kyoto train station. Her story unveils Japanese culture, taste, and tradition in prose that sparkles like the morning sun on a breeze-rippled pond.
Before Untangling my Chopsticks, my knowledge of Japanese food culture could be summed up in a paragraph, the one dubbed "sushi etiquette" sometimes printed on the back of American sushi menus. The story of Victoria's sojourn was like a gift to me: lush with details of friendships forged, life-changing lessons learned, and deeply symbolic, ritual-imbued meals cooked and eaten. It opened my mind.
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