Customer Reviews

Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.)

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.

I loved this book. I've never been to Japan, but Victoria Abbott Riccardi's keen eye for detail and luminous imagery lured me into Japanese culture, ritual and customs quite unexpectedly. She led the reader with her to a new place, so different from the West, where every gesture has meaning, often more subtle than the Western mind can comprehend. I traveled with her through the back streets of Kyoto, saw the fruit trees in bloom, met the friends she met, worked with and lived with, and shared her cooking. The book almost becomes an etiquette manual, so detailed is it on how non-Japanese must behave to be accepted. Riccardi explains the mysteries of the tea ceremony and her particular experience with tea kaiseki which precedes tea so clearly that the reader is almost a participant in the ritual. I particularly loved Riccardi's analogies that explained things Japanese by comparisons to what Americans can understand. For example, she likens an octopus to a rubber bathtub mat with its suction cups! The recipes at the end of each chapter beg to be tried and happily the ingredients can be found in the United States. With an overlay of humility, humor and empathy the author takes the reader on a delightful journey of understanding, of maturation, soul-searching and personal peace. I recommend this book to those interested in food, the subtle and often unfathomable culture of Japan, and to anyone who wants to enjoy the vicarious adventure of a curious, energetic and open-minded American woman in Japan.

I so enjoyed reliving Victoria Abbott Riccardi's year sojourn in Kyoto. I cannot wait to go to an authentic tea ceremony next time I am in Japan (my friends in Tokyo told me it must be in Kyoto). The Japanese do everything beautifully but until I read Untangling My Chopsticks I was not really aware of how much thought and detail go into the visual and tactile presentation of food. The texture of the food, of the dish, the color, the shape, the season, the spiritual message. A book worth writing and reading.

Untangling My Chopsticks is a book you want to pick up by just looking a the beautiful cover. And then the inside, just like a great piece of sushi, is wonderful. Riccardi's humor, candor and lush descriptions make this one of the best books I have read in a long time. She weaves the history of the tea ceremony with her personal stories of a year in Japan. Her descriptions of food will leave you mouth watering and her humor make you chuckle out loud. A great book to read and share with your friends. I'm going to use the great recipes to make a Japanese dinner for my bookgroup, so we can taste while we talk about the book!

I started this book in a blaze of interest, devouring the pages like the bite sized food Victoria was learning how to cook. Then my interest started to wane and I had to really push through the remainder of the book and in the end, I was glad that I did. I also had a powerful hunger for Japanese food and ate it more than usual while reading this book! As a matter of fact, I could eat some right now...

Parts of this book were fairly shallow, especially where the relationships of the friends the author made in Kyoto were concerned. I got the feeling Victoria didn't even like some of them, and despite their kindness towards her, she had little compassion or warmth towards them in her descriptions, with the exception of the couple she lived with for a short time. I also thought the ending was odd - [spoiler] Victoria is offered a year long teaching job at the end of the book but declines it because she feels she might end up like her quasi-friends, a gay couple who have lived in Kyoto for 14 years and never quite fitted in. m...hello? It is a bit different living in a country like Japan for 2 years and living there for 14 years! Basically I think she just wanted to get back to her boyfriend in the US. No shame in that, but at least be honest about your motivations.

The food descrptions in the book were overly detailed and I found myself skimming over ingredients I didn't understand and can't imagine. I much preferred the chapters of the book that detailed living in Kyoto as a foreigner, and I suspect there are better books that explore this theme.

I have visited Kyoto and this was my favourite part of the book - revisiting the landmarks and knowing where the train station is, and where the Philsopher's Walk is and generally enjoying Kyoto again. A good read, but only for those seriously interested in Japan or Japanese food.

Having just finished Untangling My Chopsticks by Victoria Abbot Riccardi, I fix myself a cup of tea. Inspired and infused with the tea kaiseki and how it fits into the culture of Japan , I have, of course, chosen green tea. As the tea surrenders its aroma, I am brimming with respect for the traditions that are still practiced; am filled with an appreciation of the deep culture which they reflect. Loving to cook myself, I was looking forward to hearing more about Japan's food. However, I quickly became more involved with the depth of meaning surrounding the food itself.
Victoria weaves a journey in her culinary memoir that has taken me into the mysteries of Japan and old Kyoto. She has introduced me to the elements of tea kaiseki, an essential part of the famed tea ceremony, where green tea offers a chance of enlightenment. Following her through the streets of Kyoto is to be introduced to the beauty and soul of this ancient city. She manages to be accepted to Mushanokoji, where the art of tea kaiseki, the food served at a tea ceremony, is taught. Victoria learns the seven different kinds of tea kaiseki and explores step by step, the process of choosing just the right element for each while she learns to prepare the appropriate dishes.
As I traveled with Victoria through the year, I was introduced to fresh, local foods, each appreciated in their own season. Japan is a country in which all of the seasons... and I learned that there are many more than just four... are anticipated. Each holiday is celebrated with food that is symbolic of the occasion. Colors, textures, number of dishes are all important symbols. To understand all of the various levels of the tea kaiseki takes a life dedicated to study. But just like a poem can be appreciated on many levels, so can these ceremonial choices.

Along the way, I enjoy meeting the friends she makes who enrich her sojourn. Her employer, Tomiko, befriends her and offers her a room in her home, giving us a chance to see how a typical family lives. She fleshes out her experiences at the tea school by taking us along to meet Stephen and his partner David , who host tea ceremonies in their older home which has its own tea pavillion. We share her experiences as she earns money to pay for her tuition at the school. And when he comes for a visit, we meet John, her future husband. Victoria eventually realizes that what she wants is to leave Kyoto "slightly hungry with a desire to return."
Thirteen years later, she returns to visit to a monestary in Kyoto. There, her study of tea kaseki comes full circle as she explores its zen origins. She also comes full circle in that she realizes that she "wants to live each day as if there were no tomorrow."
You will enjoy the depth in which she explores the culture and have a greater understanding of the tea kaseki with an appreciation of how the tea ceremony is a microcosm of the Japanese way of life.

Also posted on the Story Circle Book Review website, at www.storycirclebookreviews.org.

Discussion Questions:

These are good questions for conversation even if you haven't been able to read the book.

1 )Being a cook already,(she studied at Cordon Bleu in Paris) Victoria goes off to a foriegn country where she doesn't speak the language, to learn an esoteric cuisine ... have you ever done anything like this or can you imagine it? what was it or what would it be?

2) Victoria mentions the chance of enlightenment in experiencing the subtilties of the ceremonial tea dishes. Have you ever experienced a tea ceremony or had an experience in a Japanese restaurant that took you beyond your normal dining experience?

3)In describing Japanese food culture, Victoria shows that preparing what is in season and being prudent in the quantities served, is a means to increasing the appreciation of the tea kaiseki experience. Is this something you have ever considered? Do you think this could be a reason to eat locally?

4)In the authors note, Victoria admits that she would have never written the book had it not been for letters she had written to her friends and family and their responses. She claims, had there been email , all of it would have been"deleted into a void". In the the past, much has been written using coorespondance as a basis for constructing a story. Are we losing anything by depending on email ? Do you agree that it will be as useful a tool as the letters of the past?

5)"The clock of life is wound just once. If you want to go to Japan,now is the time," was her father's advice . Is there anything you feel you must do before it is too late?

For those of us obsessed with Japan and its' fascinating culture, this book is a fun read. The author studied kaiseki cooking at an exclusive school in Kyoto, and the book spends most of its' time recounting her experiences at the school and in Kyoto. Along the way she also gives us several terrific recipes well worth exploring. True indulgence for Japanophiles!

All those with a real passion for Japanese food and culture (are these two concepts really separate?) will fall in love with this book. It's not yet another cooking book about Japan and its food, but the lively account of the year the author spent in Kyoto to learn 'tea kaiseki'. The author takes you there, and she makes you feel as if you were sharing the real experience with her. It is amazing to be able to read about the subtle nuances of Japanese cuisine, as they are experienced through the eyes, senses and culture of a curious, intelligent Western person. I couldn't recommend this more.