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| Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China | 
 enlarge | Author: Fuchsia Dunlop
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $11.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 1624
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0393066576
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5951
EAN: 9780393066579
ASIN: 0393066576
Publication Date: April 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: 50% of your purchase benefits BIG - Books for International Goodwill!!
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Product Description
A new memoir by the most talented and respected British food writer of her generation.
Award-winning food writer Fuchsia Dunlop went to live in China as a student in 1994, and from the very beginning she vowed to eat everything she was offered, no matter how alien and bizarre it seemed. In this extraordinary memoir, Fuchsia recalls her evolving relationship with China and its food, from her first rapturous encounter with the delicious cuisine of Sichuan Province to brushes with corruption, environmental degradation, and greed. In the course of her fascinating journey, Fuchsia undergoes an apprenticeship at China's premier Sichuan cooking school, where she is the only foreign student in a class of nearly fifty young Chinese men; attempts, hilariously, to persuade Chinese people that "Western food" is neither "simple" nor "bland"; and samples a multitude of exotic ingredients, including sea cucumber, civet cat, scorpion, rabbit-heads, and the ovarian fat of the snow frog. But is it possible for a Westerner to become a true convert to the Chinese way of eating? In an encounter with a caterpillar in an Oxford kitchen, Fuchsia is forced to put this to the test.
From the vibrant markets of Sichuan to the bleached landscape of northern Gansu Province, from the desert oases of Xinjiang to the enchanting old city of Yangzhou, this unique and evocative account of Chinese culinary culture is set to become the most talked-about travel narrative of the year.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 fantastic personal journal of a cusine and a culture April 15, 2008
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Fuchsia Dunlop has a yen for Sichuan cuisine and culture, having spent her graduate school years in Chengdu and attending various cooking schools there. A true pioneer in cross-cultural exploration, she was one of the first expatriates who went "native", at least in a culinary sense.
This easy reading book is more travel journal rather then cook book. You follow her step by step as she goes deeper and deeper into the culinary technique, aesthetic and philosophy that makes up Chinese cooking and eating. Besides her kitchen and dinner table encounters, the book also portrays the torrid pace of change that China has undergone this past decade. She covers the major differences between Occidental and Chinese ideas of good eats - freshness, texture/mouth-feel, the idea of what's edible. A very fun read - I finished this book in three nights.
Thoughtful and insightful memoir June 30, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book on many levels. The quality of the writing is a definite step above most books of this sort. The discussions of regional cuisines, culinary training, and attitudes towards food both contemporary and historical are fascinating. This book, however, is about more than food. Ms. Dunlop lived in Sichuan in a particularly interesting time, when rapid changes in the economy, politics, and society were laying the groundwork for the huge economic growth of the late 90's and present. I lived in China for two years in the early 90's (though in a different city from Ms. Dunlop, and I've never met her) and her descriptions of many of the contradictions and complexities of being a foreigner in China at the time are truly spot on. She looks at her experiences with a degree of self-awareness that is rare in books of this sort. There is little romanticism here, and when she does romanticize her experiences, she quickly pulls back and comments on the contradictory impulses she feels. This book richly deserves all five stars. Please note that the one single-star review it receives is by someone who admits she has not read the book and simply objects to the practice of shark-finning. Had the reviewer read the book, she would see that Ms. Dunlop ends up taking a highly critical perspective on many aspects of Chinese culinary practices, including the needlessly cruel methods of preparation, etc. This is as interesting and intelligent a memoir about food and China in this period as one is ever likely to encounter. I highly recommend it.
 Real Food, Real China June 29, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've accumulated a lot of cookbooks over the years and I actually do use most of them. A few years ago I vowed to stop buying cookbooks with very few exceptions since so few were unique or contained information you can't find online. Two of the very few exceptions were Fuchsia Dunlop's "Land of Plenty" on authentic Sichuanese cooking and "Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook" about Hunan Province. Both gems that provide insights on the differences between Chinese cooking there are here. Now we have "Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper," the story of her life and travels in China, learning Chinese cooking through Chinese methods and traditions. Chinese food as an integral part of Chinese culture and the differences between provinces and regions. You may come away thinking that you could never be worthy of the skill of the cooks who are featured in these pages, but you will also come away with an appreciation for the crossroads between people, land, culture and food conveyed by a writer who is personable and very human.
Wanna Understand China? Learn About Chinese Food June 2, 2008
Food is an enormously important element of Chinese culture. I've lived in China for over a year now, but I don't really have an interest in cooking. I found this book to be extremely enlightening about China's food culture and customs. I laughed out loud at many sections. The author has a deep love for China, and I could relate to the "dual identity" that she spoke of as a Westerner and a Chinese person at heart.
My only concern about the book is that the author spent most of her time in South China. The diners there are far more willing to experiment with their dining options that people in Beijing and other areas of North China. The premise that the Chinese will "eat anything" isn't really true for the entire country.
Nonetheless, an extremely entertaining and important book!
More than a travel book with recipes June 14, 2008
Although the cover of the book gives the impression that it is more a cookbook than anything else, it is really a travel book with with a search for identity subtext peppered (sorry) with some interesting recipes. It is not an existential chick-lit angst-laden outpouring in the manner of Julie & Julia. It is more in the style of Anthony Bourdain without the sarcasm. The author lives in China at a time where social and economic changes are taking place, and her observations of these changes are one of the highlights of the book. I think that is partly because she doesn't try to analyze them, but rather describes how she and the Chinese she interacts with respond to them. Ms. Dunlop is clearly an adventurous sort, and she does make some remarkable trips into the backwaters of western China. One of the more amusing themes is her immersion into Chinese culture, and the conflicts with her western upbringing and cultural viewpoint. Her attempts to introduce her Chinese friends to western food are funny.
This is, in the end, a good book, with several interesting interwoven story lines. While entertaining, you will also learn from it.
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