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Learn to COOK - Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto
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List Price: $12.95
Our Price: $11.01
Your Save: $ 1.94 ( 15% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Broadway
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780767908528
ISBN: 076790852X
Label: Broadway
Manufacturer: Broadway
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 2004-05-11
Publisher: Broadway
Release Date: 2004-05-11
Studio: Broadway
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Editorial Reviews:
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Two years out of college and with a degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Victoria Riccardi left a boyfriend, a rent-controlled New York City apartment, and a plum job in advertising to move to Kyoto to study kaiseki, the exquisitely refined form of cooking that accompanies the formal Japanese tea ceremony. She arrived in Kyoto, a city she had dreamed about but never seen, with two bags, an open-ended plane ticket, and the ability to speak only sushi-bar Japanese. She left a year later, having learned the language, the art of kaiseki, and what was truly important to her.
Through special introductions and personal favors, Victoria was able to attend one of Kyoto’s most prestigious tea schools, where this ago-old Japanese art has been preserved for generations and where she was taken under the wing of an American expatriate who became her mentor in the highly choreographed rituals of this extraordinary culinary discipline.
During her year in Kyoto, Victoria explored the mysterious and rarefied world of tea kaiseki, living a life inaccessible to most foreigners. She also discovered the beguiling realm of modern-day Japanese food—the restaurants, specialty shops, and supermarkets. She participated in many fast-disappearing culinary customs, including making mochi (chewy rice cakes) by hand, a beloved family ritual barely surviving in a mechanized age. She celebrated the annual cleansing rites of New Year’s, donning an elaborate kimono and obi for a thirty-four-course extravaganza. She includes twenty-five recipes for favorite dishes she encountered, such as Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl, Japanese Beef and Vegetable Hotpot, and Green-Tea Cooked Salmon Over Rice.
Untangling My Chopsticks is a sumptuous journey into the tastes, traditions, and exotic undercurrents of Japan. It is also a coming-of-age tale steeped in history and ancient customs, a thoughtful meditation on life, love, and learning in another land.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: I could relate to this book
Comment: Loved this book and could relate to the author and her adventures. It brought back memories of studying abroad in Japan and living with a host-family.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inside Kyoto Through Tea Kaiseki
Comment: 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?
Customer Rating:
Summary: A seductive memoir of Japan
Comment: 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!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto
Comment: Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto by Victoria Abbott Riccardiis a fabulous book filled with savory recipes and detailed cultural intricacies.
Customer Rating:
Summary: OK Book, but what's up with the weight comments?
Comment: I've just read about 120 pages of this book. Fun, light reading, cruised through it in a couple of hours of Sunday afternoon lounging. It's an interesting read, but lacking in details. So far, it doesn't seem that the author has actually *eaten* any of the food she's prepared. Which begs the question of: why? She's offered opportunties to take things home and inexplicably turns things down. Huh?
In general, that's the weakness I've seen with the book so far. There's just not enough detail. Just interesting fluff.
And what's up with the weight comments? I'm only halfway through the book, and three time (count 'em, three!) the author has commented on someone's "rice belly" or some other way of saying that someone is a bit portly because they like to eat. I can't see the point of complaining about someone's size. Not because it's not PC, but because it takes away from the story. Either a detail is relevant (in which case, make it relevant, tell me why I should care about some Japanese woman's weight). Or it's irrelevant and it distracts from the story. In which case I'd much rather hear about why the author isn't eating the food she prepares. To be work for hours on this labor of love that you came to Japan to learn, and then not eat the food! That must be torture.
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