Customer Reviews

The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco

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Wonderful! Food is so often distanced from the study of history and civilizations. The Seventh Daughter truly offers a remarkable blending. It provides not only recipes from a great chef (thank goodness we gained Chinese dishes beyond the too-often blandness of Cantonese) but real context. Great stories go with great dining. Chinese cuisine is world-class while Cecilia Chiang's stories offer an enlightening take on the human condition. I also very much appreciate Lisa Weiss's tips that help make preparing Cecilia's dishes practical in a home kitchen. I hope we see more cookbooks like this one.

Cecilia Chiang (whose son co-founded the chain PF Chang's) founded San Francisco's ground-breaking MANDARIN in American in 1961, introducing Chinese cuisine that rocked our jaded concepts of oriental foods. Recipes for her authentic dishes are the secrets carried through turmoil and heartbreaking sacrifices, showing both the terrible damages of wars and the strong spirit of a soul meant for greater things.

If you think that running your business is tough, draw inspiration from the woman whose determination to survive humbles the mightiest of us. Recommended.

Mark Braun
Associate Publisher
Food Industry News

Reading The Seventh Daughter is akin to partaking in a sumptuous banquet, which satisfies the palate, but more importantly feeds and nourishes the soul. The aptly described "culinary journey" is just that, as author Lisa Weiss brilliantly blends Chinese old-world, delectable recipes with deftly seasoned insights into the life of a truly remarkable and regal lady -- Cecilia Chiang. My family had enjoyed the excellent cuisine at The Mandarin restaurant almost from its opening at Ghiradelli Square in San Francisco, but had no idea that its owner Cecilia Chiang had such a remarkable history personifying in her elegant way the Chinese intellect and spirit of her heritage with the American dream. Weiss brings such evident devotion and love to her work and successfully elevates the reader's understanding of Cecilia Chiang's passage from early, upper-class childhood in China to escaping on one of the last flights from the specter of the Communists to arriving in San Francisco -- penniless in money, rich in courage and tradition. The Seventh Daughter is a veritable feast, destined to be savored over and over again. It is most highly recommended.

Almost as much memoir as cookbook, "The Seventh Daughter" recalls life in a wealthy family in pre-communist China and the upheavals that eventually led to Chiang's panicked flight to Tokyo with her husband, then to San Francisco and the opening of her famed restaurant, The Mandarin, in 1960.

Born in 1920, the seventh daughter, Chiang grew up in a household of 10 children, 20-plus servants and numerous animals. Though her mother's tiny bound feet were her pride (if not joy), Chiang's father had decided that none of his daughters would suffer that agony. "Twentieth-century China saw a great number of changes, but none so radical as the role of women in society."

Chiang never cooked herself until she was 40, but her mother insisted on her children developing keen palates. Chiang knew what the food should taste like and although the restaurant nearly foundered in its earliest incarnation, she survived and grew with the help of friends and perfect classic Northern dishes like Jiao Zi Dumplings, Hot-and-Sour Soup, Red-Cooked Pork, and Five-Spice Beef.

She also added dishes she encountered while fleeing from the communists - Sichuan dishes like Steamed Rice-Powder Ribs, Spicy Eggplant, and Twice-Cooked Pork and a few Japanese dishes like Spinach in Sesame-Seed Paste.

Full of classic dishes (some updated, like steamed fish done in the microwave) and absorbing stories, and illustrated with lush food presentations and photos of Chiang and her family throughout the years, "The Seventh Daughter" is a must-have for fans of Chinese cooking.

I ordered this book after reading The Last Chinese Chef. I was looking for a good recipe for beggars chicken that Nicole Mones describes in her book. Ms. Chiang's life stories make this more than a cookbook. I really admire her strength and will power. The recipes are clear and easy to follow. I made the beggars chicken the other night and it was wonderful.

This is not just a book filled with great, genuine yet easy-to-handle recipes for Northern Chinese food, it is a also a very heart-warming and educational book telling us for example how a lady who has never cooked until she was 40 became a revolutionary force in Chinese food in the U.S. and all the heart-warming, fun and sad stories throughout her life in China, Tokyo and in the States.

I met Lisa Weiss at a cookie contest, and had seen this book in the New York Times notable books of 2007. Still, I am not a fan of Chinese Food, so until I met Lisa, I wasn't intrigued. However, even non lovers of Chinese Food will love Ms. Chiang's fascinating life story. And I thought I would never be interested in the recipes? Wrong. They are delicious, simple and use the freshest, most flavorful ingredients. I have already made several dishes. Carolyn

The recipes are definitely clear, simple and straightforward. They include a number of classic dishes, as well as the author's take on a few new ones. But this book is so much more than just a simple bookbook -- and to call it a cookbook does it a disservice. It's a wonderful biography of the author, a historical look at how events changed the lives of Cecelia and her family -- and probably culinary history in this country. I have never cried when I read a cookbook -- but I certainly did at the end of this one! If you do a lot of Chinese cooking, at some point you start to look for books that go beyond the kitchen. This is most definitely it. And if you like this one, you might also want to try and find a copy of her first book - The Mandarin. It's just as wonderful.

Although this is a cookbook, I was completely drawn to the memoir of the author Cecilia Chiang. As soon as I read the first page, I didn't put the book down until dinner, and then I resumed reading until there was no more to read.
Cecilia Chiang was born into an upperclass Chinese family and lived in luxury until 2 wars brought dramatic changes to her life and her family's. It's about life and resiliency, love and family, fate, decisions, and hardwork. The book evoked so much emotion, with very few words and no over-dramatization.
The author wrote beautifully. I read the memoir word for word and want more. I think there is a lot to learn from the author's varied life expereience. I hope there will be a more detailed biography.
The recipes are also extremely well written. I can't wait to try the simple chicken broth.

Cecilia Chiang has written an astounding narrative of her family history and personal story. This book is quite amazing as few chinese women of her generation have written such candidly personal memoirs. Her story is heartwrenching. Chapters end on cliffhangers, and I found myself skipping over the recipes to find the next thread of where her story picks up.

The book is very brave on many levels. First, asians tend to want to hide unfortunate or unseemly events as they don't want to give the impression that they have experienced bad luck. Asians feel as if they need to save face, and as a result the truth is often hidden from outsiders. Second, Ms Chiang is very candid about the negative aspects of revolution (loss of personal property) and also negative aspects of life before revolution (house slaves). Many are still afraid to this day to speak negatively in public about China. Further, Ms Chiang is freely able to express when she has been moved to tears in her life, which many asians would characterize as a show of weakness.

My heart broke as I read about her reunion with her father and how she received the news of her mothers passing. I don't know how she managed to run and operate a successful business while she did not know how were parents and other family members were faring. There is not a trace of self pity in the book. Ms Chiang accepted dramatic changes in her life with courage and a sense of adventure. She is a great lady.

I am sure the recipes in the book are wonderful and I'm very much looking forward to trying them. Ms Chiang, thank you for sharing your family history with us, your recipes, and your honesty. You are an inspiration and role model. I am honored to have read your book.