Customer Reviews

The Fine Art of Japanese Food Arrangement

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We bought this fabulous volume in hard cover in Osaka in 1986. At a much higher price. Not only are the food arrangements gorgeous but the utensils are major museum pieces. The best of Japanese ceramics, lacquer, bamboo, beautifully photographed.

(We are neither Japanese nor potters--just people who find beauty an important renewal in our troublesome.)

I saw this in a bookstore and it was so beautiful I just HAD to have it! The title explains the book perfectly. It has interesting historical information and many large, impressive photos of food which is stunningly arranged. This is not so much a cookbook (there are no actual recipes but foods and methods of preperation are listed) This is a fabulous coffee table/art book. Even for people who can't afford the antique museum quality ceramics and laquerware pictured, there are great ideas for methods of arranging foods that are sure to make any meal look more beautiful. There is also information about seasonal foods, the color of foods, the importance of giving flavors and shapes contrast. I have found these things to make a huge difference in the success of a meal. This is a great book for anyone who is a big fan of Japanese food. The book gave me a lot of great ideas and I now find it much easier to plan and arrange a meal, be it French food, American food, or Asian food.

As a person who loves to prepare japanese food items, I was overjoyed to see so many photographs of beautiful examples of japanese ceramics. Of course I expected the food arrangement to be explained but above and beyond this are color photos of various types of serving ware. In addition to food preparation I find the presentation aspect of eating to be a bonus that only heightens the experience.

I am very interested in the art of Japanese food arrangement and I was looking forward to a book that really got into the 'meat' of the topic. Unfortunately, while there are some beautiful illustrations of food in this book, the substance was lacking. The actual textual material discussing the techniques of food arrangement forms only a small part of the book and the pictures that go along with the text are nothing but simple hand-sketches. There are some nice photographs of food at the beginning and a few other places but a large portion of the book is given over to pictures of platters and other serving utensils.... Somewhat interesting, but not what I paid for.

I cook Japanese food at home and wanted to have
a better understanding of it's arrangement, called moritsuke.
The general rules and ideas..
This book is more an introduction to different types of dinnerware
than about actual arrangement technique.
The first section, very small portion of it was dedicated to the
arrangement technique, and the rest just introduces
different types of dinnerware. What's more, not all pictures
are colored. About half the pictures were black and white.
It's a beautiful book but I found it not too useful.

Tsuchiya's book is a classic in the field of food presentation and is sadly out of print. Collectors and serious foodies are now bidding up the price, with copies now fetching $50-$170 (sometimes more) on Amazon. However, the hardback first edition from Kodansha Press (which has a slightly different title, A Feast for the Eyes: The Art of Japanese Food Arrangement) is usually available for far less, as I picked up a pristine copy from Amazon for $15!