Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
A new memoir by the most talented and respected British food writer of her generation. Award-winning food writer Fuchsia Dunlop went to live in China as a student in 1994, and from the very beginning she vowed to eat everything she was offered, no matter how alien and bizarre it seemed. In this extraordinary memoir, Fuchsia recalls her evolving relationship with China and its food, from her first rapturous encounter with the delicious cuisine of Sichuan Province to brushes with corruption, environmental degradation, and greed. In the course of her fascinating journey, Fuchsia undergoes an apprenticeship at China's premier Sichuan cooking school, where she is the only foreign student in a class of nearly fifty young Chinese men; attempts, hilariously, to persuade Chinese people that "Western food" is neither "simple" nor "bland"; and samples a multitude of exotic ingredients, including sea cucumber, civet cat, scorpion, rabbit-heads, and the ovarian fat of the snow frog. But is it possible for a Westerner to become a true convert to the Chinese way of eating? In an encounter with a caterpillar in an Oxford kitchen, Fuchsia is forced to put this to the test.
From the vibrant markets of Sichuan to the bleached landscape of northern Gansu Province, from the desert oases of Xinjiang to the enchanting old city of Yangzhou, this unique and evocative account of Chinese culinary culture is set to become the most talked-about travel narrative of the year.Product Details
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Food writer Dunlop is better known in the U.K., where her comprehensive volumes on Sichuanese and Hunanese cuisine carved out her niche and eventually became contemporary classics. Turning to personal narrative through the backstory and consequences of her fascination with China, she produces an autobiographical food-and-travel classic of a narrowly focused but rarefied order. Dunlop's initial 1992 trip to Sichuan proved so enthralling that she later obtained a year's residential study scholarship in the provincial capital, Chengdu. There, her enrollment in the local Institute of Higher Cuisine, a professional chef's program, created a cultural exchange program of a specialized kind. The research for and success of her resulting cookbooks permitted Dunlop to return to China in a more experienced role as chef and writer; that led to this reflective memoir, which probes into the author's search for kitchens in the Forbidden City as well as the people and places of remote West China. One key to this supple and affectionate book is its time frame: by arriving in China in the middle of vast economic upheavals, Dunlop explored and experienced the country and its culture as it was transforming into a postcommunist communism. (Apr.)
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Review
"Not just a smart memoir about cross-cultural eating but one of the most engaging books of any kind I've read in years." (O Magazine)
"Insightful, entertaining, scrupulously reported... and a swashbuckling memoir studded with recipes... a distinguished contribution to the literature of gastronomy" (New York Times)
"Delightful" (Jeffrey Steingarten in Vogue)
"Painstakingly researched, beautifully written and impossible to put down, Dunlop takes us on a tantalizing tour through China in what's sure to be the gastronomic book of the year." (Inside Toronto)
"Destined... to become a classic of travel writing" (The Observer, UK)
"Marvellous and mesmerising" (The Daily Mail, UK)
`[Dunlop] writes...with an outsider's eye, an insider's palate, and a lover's affection. The best food book I've read so far this year." (Straits Times, Singapore) --Reviews
As much a memoir and a superlative example of travel writing as it is a book about food...funny, honest and illuminating. -- London Lite [UK]
Fuchsia Dunlop's brilliant new food memoir. -- Wall Street Journal
Marvellous and mesmerising. -- The Daily Mail [UK]
Painstakingly researched, beautifully written and impossible to put down, Dunlop takes us on a tantalizing tour through China in what's sure to be the gastronomic book of the year. -- Inside Toronto
Shows the rare insight and compassion that... Fuchsia Dunlop has been demonstrating for 15 years...Dunlop's grasp of Chinese culture and cuisine run deep. (Toronto Globe and Mail) REVIEW Destined...to become a classic of travel writing. -- The Observer [UK]
`Not just a smart memoir about cross-cultural eating but one of the most engaging books of any kind I've read in years.'--O Magazine
`Insightful, entertaining, scrupulously reported... and a swashbuckling memoir studded with recipes... a distinguished contribution to the literature of gastronomy.'--New York Times
`Delightful.'--Jeffrey Steingarten in Vogue
`An autobiographical food-and-travel classic.'--Publishers Weekly
`Literary, entertaining and almost anthropological.'--Seattle Post-Intelligencer
`Fuchsia Dunlop's brilliant new food memoir.'--Wall Street Journal
`Painstakingly researched, beautifully written and impossible to put down, Dunlop takes us on a tantalizing tour through China in what's sure to be the gastronomic book of the year.'--Inside Toronto
`Shows the rare insight and compassion that... Fuchsia Dunlop has been demonstrating for 15 years...Dunlop's grasp of Chinese culture and cuisine run deep.'--Toronto Globe and Mail
`Destined... to become a classic of travel writing.'--The Observer
`Marvellous and mesmerising.'--The Daily Mail
`As much a memoir and a superlative example of travel writing as it is a book about food... funny, honest and illuminating.'--London Lite
`Dunlop is now an expert on Chinese cuisine, but she's also a fantastically witty storyteller... Dunlop will charm and delight you with her enthralling anecdotes.'--Wanderlust
`[Dunlop] writes of China's familiar culinary faces...with an outsider's eye, an insider's palate, and a lover's affection. The best food book I've read so far this year.'--Straits Times, Singapore
`A sensual feast of a book... Fuchsia Dunlop is a star in the world of food writing, but she's never preachy in this Oriental food odyssey.'--The Times of South Africa
`This charming, informative textbook/memoir/travelogue, one of the more noteworthy recent food studies. Readers definitely won't be hungry an hour after finishing this satisfying history from a witty Chinese food authority.'--Kirkus Reviews --Reviews
Review
Delightful.
Customer Reviews
A must-have for your cooking library
Simply put, Ms. Dunlop writes a captivating memoir about her time in China learning to cook. But it's far more than a simple memoir or a simple food book. Her dexterity with translating the essence of food from China into terms and concepts Westerners can understand is breath-taking. I've used many of her recipes with great success. Simply put this book plus her other two cookbooks deserve a place in every kitchen and food library. If you think you understand Chinese food as it's presented in the West, you will learn so much from these books about just how amazing Chinese food can be.
every foodie should read it!
This is definitely one of my favorite books in recent readings. It is highly entertaining! Her descriptions are so vivid and real that I could almost see the scenes and the foods. Of course, I probably wouldn't dare to touch some of the stuff she tried! She truly has an adventurous spirit. Everyone who loves food would enjoy this book!
An outstanding recommendation for any library strong in Chinese culture and cuisine
Food writer Fuchsia Dunlop went to live in China as a student in 1994 and decided to eat anything she was offered, no matter how strange or bizarre. This memoir recalls her changing relationship with China and its food, her apprenticeship at China's best Sichuan cooking school where she's the only foreign student in a class of nearly fifty young Chinese men, and her discussions of the Chinese way of eating. Part travelogue and part culinary memoir, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China is an outstanding recommendation for any library strong in Chinese culture and cuisine.
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