Saturday, July 22, 2006

Kaiseki Chronicles #4

Look! This was delivered to me yesterday. Mr. Food was right. This is a treasure – a jewel. I can see why he wanted to attach a gold chain to this book and wear it around his neck.

The photos in this book are simply gorgeous! I’ve never thought that a mere photo of sliced raw sea bream can be so stunning to give me goose bumps. But it did. What’s more, the book has recipes for the kaiseki dishes featured in it as well as recipes for basic liquid seasonings ( sushi vinegar, Tosa soy sauce, etc.) which are widely used for traditional Japanese dishes. And for an “Engrish” speaker like me, this book is a great help in translating Japanese cooking methods/ingredients into English.

Thank you Mr. Food for introducing this book to me.

Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto's Kikunoi Restaurant by Yoshihiro Murata (Publisher: Kodansha International)

Categories: ,

10 comments:

cookiecrumb said...

Very interesting! I assume it's all in Japanese -- wait, you said it would help you in translating, so maybe not!
Well, I can go look for it at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in San Francisco.
xx

obachan said...

Hi! So nice to hear from you.
Yep, this is written in English. But I heard that it is not going to be available until November this year in the U.S.
Here is some info. on this book on Amazon.com (not Amazon Japan).
Mmmm... looks like you can buy it cheaper over there.

Anonymous said...

I'M glad you liked it, I was starting to feel like a spammer for pumping my book. Be careful though, some of the recipes are insane (hamo jelly for example)

I am in Mongolia right now,(I left my book at home) it is in the midst of a tourist frenzy like I have never seen before, No hotel rooms at any price, I think I found an apartment to rent from tomorrow, though. I'm going back to my room and drink a big glass of airag, fermented mare's milk and then take a nap.

Anonymous said...

Oh thanks for this, Obachan - it looks beautiful and I'd like to read it some time (it'd be useful for my engrish also :))

obachan said...

mrfood
Oh, Hi!! Thanks again for your help. Don’t worry, there’s a fine line between spamming and recommending a book you like to your friends in the blogsphere. ;)
No, I would never want to deal with hamo. That’s too crazy for me.
So you are in Mongolia now??? Wow, how exciting!! Hope you found a nice place to stay. I’ve heard about fermented mare’s milk. It’s pretty strong, isn’t it?

keiko
Oh, come on, you are too modest.
I hope you have a chance to read the book, but be careful because it might make you homesick or trigger a craving for super-fresh Japanese food. ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Obachan - Looks like a excellent book. I've pre-ordered it.

obachan said...

kirk
Oh, you did? I think you'll love it :)

Vivilicious said...

Hi Oba-chan, I want this book, it sounds wonderful! Love all your other recent treats, the chiffon cake, jam, etc. And I LOVE edamame, thanks for the tips!

obachan said...

Hi vivilicious,
Thanks for your nice comment. I'm glad that you enjoyed my recent posts. (And I have a couple of big projects coming soon... ;)

obachan said...

Twenty minutes to Umeda by bike? Now I have some idea of where you live :)