Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute gem of a book, comprehensive and enlightening., March 19, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture (Paperback)
It is unique in a field that is not well documented in the English language. The main body is a Japanese-English dictionary of Japanese foodstuffs. Entries go: Japanese name in romaji (Roman alphabet), kana, kanji, (Chinese characters), then the English translation, then any scientific name. Each definition is several lines long, including details of preparation, culinary uses, and cultural, regional and seasonal notes. The book is profusely cross-referenced and illustrated in black and white. There is an Engish-Japanese glossary at the back and seventeen appendices covering key items such as katsuobushi, miso, Buddhist vegetarian cuisine and so on in greater detail. This is not a cookbook, there are no recipes or instructions. Rather, it is a treasure-chest of culinary detail, illuminating a great deal that was previously hidden. The Japanese cuisine is vast and varied, but largely mysterious and unknown outside Japan, because there are very few definitive books written in languages other than Japanese. I am not certain that a comparative book exists even in Japan; it was compiled from Japanese sources but some of these were very old or quite obscure or scholarly. I can recommend it to anyone who knows anything about Japan or Japanese food and wants to make a quantum leap of knowledge and understanding.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute gem of a book, comprehensive and enlightening, March 19, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture (Paperback)
It is unique in a field that is not well documented in the English language. The main body is a Japanese-English dictionary of Japanese foodstuffs. Entries go: Japanese name in romaji, kana, kanji, (Chinese character), then the English translation, then any scientific name. Each definition is several lines long, includes details of preparation, culinary uses, and cultural, regional and seasonal notes. The book is profusely cross-referenced and illustrated in black and white. There is an Engish-Japanese glossary at the back and seventeen appendices covering key items such as katsuobushi, miso, Buddhist vegetarian cuisine and so on in greater detail. This is not a cookbook, there are no recipes or instructions. Rather, it is a treasure-chest of culinary detail, illuminating a great deal that was previously hidden. The Japanese cuisine is vast and varied, but largely unknown outside Japan, because there are very few definitive books written in languages other than Japanese. I am not certain that a comparative book even exists in Japan; it was compiled from Japanese sources but some of these were very old or quite obscure. I can recommend it to anyone who knows anything about Japan or Japanese food and wants to make a quantum leap of knowledge and understanding.
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30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Set up Your Own Japanese Kitchen, June 30, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients & Culture (Paperback)
A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients and Culture, by Richard Hosking, is the essential guide for creating your own Japanese kitchen and buying food at your closest Japanese center. For those of you who appreciate Japanese culture and foods but are confused navigating the market, this book is a must. Hosking lists, both in english and Kanji, all of the essentil ingredients and spices you need to cook. In addition, his appendices contains excellent information about utensiles, chopsticks, the meal, sake, tea, and wasabi to mention a few. I bought this book in Japan, used it there, and will carry it with me to my market in Denver.
Stephen Schell (schell@frii.com)
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