Untangling My Chopsticks : A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

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Summary: Life lessons learned & ritual-imbued meals cooked & eaten
Review: 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.

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Summary: Best book I've read in months
Review: 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!

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Summary: Read this book, chop, chop!
Review: Victoria Abbott Riccardi's wonderful book, Untangling My Chopsticks, is a treat to read. She shares her tale of the year she spent in Kyoto, Japan, immersed in Japanese culture and studying the art of kaiseki. The story is tied together neatly and offers an immense amount of information on Japanese culture and cuisine as well as tea ceremonies. Her descriptions are so vivid and precise that I found myself salivating over the food. Having lived in Asia myself, I laughed out loud at some of the predicaments/cultural differences she comes across and so deftly describes.
I will definately suggest that my bookgroup read this book and know that we will make some of the delicious-sounding recipes for our dinner meeting. Her recipes, both Asian and Western, do not seem daunting as in some travel/food journals. I highly recommend Untangling My Chopsticks to anyone who loves Asia and/or food.

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Summary: Discover Japan Through One Woman's Delicious Journey
Review: 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.