Comments on: The Chinese Cookbook Project III: With an Open Mind and an Open Mouth http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:00:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on The Chinese Cookbook Project III: With an Open Mind and an Open Mouth by: M.B. Adams http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-53322 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:56:50 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-53322 Name correction to above post: Canta Pian Name correction to above post: Canta Pian

]]> Comment on The Chinese Cookbook Project III: With an Open Mind and an Open Mouth by: M.B. Adams http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-53300 Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:11:55 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-53300 I first learned of Dr. Chao's wonderful cookbook when I was acquainted with her granddaughter in the early 1970s. This book had a major impact on the diet and nutrition of our whole family. Our copy of "How to Cook and Eat in Chinese," which our friend Canta Bien so kindly gave us, was the first cookbook my new husband and I owned jointly. During our years as graduate students and young parents living on a tight budget, we turned again and again to the wisdom and humor of Dr. and Dr. Chao. We developed a lifelong enthusiasm for Chinese cuisine that has now persisted into the third generation. Our daughter and her Chinese American husband now use some of those same recipes, and I'm sure our little granddaughter will come to love them as our whole family still does. It was a pleasure to be reminded of this exceptional and influential book. I first learned of Dr. Chao’s wonderful cookbook when I was acquainted with her granddaughter in the early 1970s. This book had a major impact on the diet and nutrition of our whole family. Our copy of “How to Cook and Eat in Chinese,” which our friend Canta Bien so kindly gave us, was the first cookbook my new husband and I owned jointly. During our years as graduate students and young parents living on a tight budget, we turned again and again to the wisdom and humor of Dr. and Dr. Chao. We developed a lifelong enthusiasm for Chinese cuisine that has now persisted into the third generation. Our daughter and her Chinese American husband now use some of those same recipes, and I’m sure our little granddaughter will come to love them as our whole family still does. It was a pleasure to be reminded of this exceptional and influential book.

]]> Comment on The Chinese Cookbook Project III: With an Open Mind and an Open Mouth by: Barbara Fisher http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-1382 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 15:59:59 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-1382 I thought of you, Ladi, when I read that passage, and smiled. I said, "I wonder how much Ladi is learning about cooking these days?"<br /><br />It is like when we went out to eat with Morganna and her Uncle Wayne in Charleston--we went to a pan-Asian restaurant. It was good food, but you could tell that Japanese folks were in the kitchen. Zak ordered Ma Po Tofu and I ordered Sichuan dry fried beef, and while the dishes were tasty, they were obviously Japanese versions of Chinese dishes. <br /><br />Nice, tasty, but not Chinese. I thought of you, Ladi, when I read that passage, and smiled. I said, “I wonder how much Ladi is learning about cooking these days?”

It is like when we went out to eat with Morganna and her Uncle Wayne in Charleston–we went to a pan-Asian restaurant. It was good food, but you could tell that Japanese folks were in the kitchen. Zak ordered Ma Po Tofu and I ordered Sichuan dry fried beef, and while the dishes were tasty, they were obviously Japanese versions of Chinese dishes.

Nice, tasty, but not Chinese.

]]> Comment on The Chinese Cookbook Project III: With an Open Mind and an Open Mouth by: etherbish http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-1381 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 15:59:59 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-1381 <"I found Japanese food so uneatable that I had to cook my own meals. I had always looked down upon food and things, but I hated to look down upon a Japanese dinner under my nose. So, by the time I became a doctor, I also became something of a cook."><br /><br />Hahaha...I feel EXACTLY the same way now that I've been plunked into Japan. I don't hate the food here nearly as much as some of the people I know, but it's just not home! I've been learning quite a bit about just throwing things together for a meal... <"I found Japanese food so uneatable that I had to cook my own meals. I had always looked down upon food and things, but I hated to look down upon a Japanese dinner under my nose. So, by the time I became a doctor, I also became something of a cook.">

Hahaha…I feel EXACTLY the same way now that I’ve been plunked into Japan. I don’t hate the food here nearly as much as some of the people I know, but it’s just not home! I’ve been learning quite a bit about just throwing things together for a meal…

]]> Comment on The Chinese Cookbook Project III: With an Open Mind and an Open Mouth by: Barbara Fisher http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-1380 Wed, 31 Dec 1969 15:59:59 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/25/the-chinese-cookbook-project-iii-with-an-open-mind-and-an-open-mouth/#comment-1380 Thank you, Alan. I, too, am amazed and saddened that such an influential, and useful book is out of print. But the publishing industry is just that way; books go into and out of print quite quickly anymore, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it other than economics. You will find as I profile various books that there are a lot of really good books on the subject of Chinese cookery that are out of print and hard to find, which is part of why I am making this collection.<br /><br />You are right--I should have mentioned the cooking utensils she suggests. For stir-frying, a thin bottomed skillet--she mentions nothing about cast iron, but that is what I would use, and she gives very complete directions on how to improvise a servicable steamer. Which is, in fact, how I used to improvise one until I got a set of bamboo ones. <br /><br />Glad you like the cats! I collect maneki neko and Buddha cats. The kitchen in our new house is going to be decorated with the maneki neko collection, and will eventually be redone in red, black and white. <br /><br />Gary--I had found out about the Yuen Ren Society and I meant to post a link to it in the story--I should go back and edit it in. I will do that tomorrow. The two of them sound like they were wonderful people. <br /><br />Their daughter teaches at Harvard, btw. A very scholarly family.<br /><br />What I am finding is that many of these books have such interesting histories and stories to them. That is as interesting to me as reading the texts of the books themselves--the stories of the authors are turning out to be just as fascinating! Thank you, Alan. I, too, am amazed and saddened that such an influential, and useful book is out of print. But the publishing industry is just that way; books go into and out of print quite quickly anymore, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to it other than economics. You will find as I profile various books that there are a lot of really good books on the subject of Chinese cookery that are out of print and hard to find, which is part of why I am making this collection.

You are right–I should have mentioned the cooking utensils she suggests. For stir-frying, a thin bottomed skillet–she mentions nothing about cast iron, but that is what I would use, and she gives very complete directions on how to improvise a servicable steamer. Which is, in fact, how I used to improvise one until I got a set of bamboo ones.

Glad you like the cats! I collect maneki neko and Buddha cats. The kitchen in our new house is going to be decorated with the maneki neko collection, and will eventually be redone in red, black and white.

Gary–I had found out about the Yuen Ren Society and I meant to post a link to it in the story–I should go back and edit it in. I will do that tomorrow. The two of them sound like they were wonderful people.

Their daughter teaches at Harvard, btw. A very scholarly family.

What I am finding is that many of these books have such interesting histories and stories to them. That is as interesting to me as reading the texts of the books themselves–the stories of the authors are turning out to be just as fascinating!

]]>