send soup!

What's that? NaBloPoMo is almost over? I never thought I'd say it, but good! I am having a rough week.

But I do have something for you in an imperfect state. I will babble on for a while, but I think there's some good stuff there.


I've been meaning to post about this all month, and here's my chance--while avoiding other vital work projects while sick! (hack, sniffle) I can't avoid the deadline OR my whatever-it-is, but I can avoid with the best of them.

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A while back, I read a very appealing book (novel) called The Last Chinese Chef, written by Nicole Mones, who also wrote Lost in Translation (which you know I loved). TLCC also explores the theme of two people out of their element developing a relationship of sorts and finding new aspects of themselves, unraveling parts of their pasts, but it's less depressive overall than LIT. It really is a wonderful read.

Since my brain is not really up to originality today, I draw on some reviews for adjectives:
"Luminous" "poignant" "sumptuous" "butter smooth prose" (Diana Abu-Jaher) "nourish[ing] the head, the stomach, and the soul." (David Henry Hwang)

"A dazzling journey ... through the mysteries of ... Chinese culinary arts to produce a feast for the human heart." (David Henry Hwang)


Of all the reviews on the cover of that I've seen, I like the blurb from Kirkus Reviews the best:
"Mones has a subtle touch when portraying growing affection between genuinely nice people. Meticulously researched gastronomy will entice foodies, even those whose familiarity with Chinese food is limited to takeout. Warning: avoid reading while hungry."

I would also add the Warning Caveat: Avoid reading if you have lost a spouse, especially tragically.



The main characters are very sympathetic with complexity and flawed but endearing human detail. The book depicts how people work through some of the questions that haunt their lives... past and present... how do I take the past and turn it into something I can understand and live with in the present, into the future? Not the usual boy meets girl kind of story. It was a very satisfying read that I could really sink into. I may have to buy it for my library.

In addition to the human relationships, I was loving the little details of Chinese culinary ideals, and the terms and phrases to describe qualities.

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Some notes on cuisine from the book... most of these are quoted straight from the book.


Formal ideas of flavor and texture:

Artifice and illusion. Sometimes food is made to appear to be one thing and is actually something else. A kind of intellectual play. Food to fool the diner. Food as theater. Food for healing. Eating as community. Every meal is eaten as part of a group. All food is shared.


Flavor ideals: (four main ones)

xian - the sweet, natural flavor, eg butter, fresh fish, clear chicken broth (it's natural but it's concocted)
xiang - the fragrant flavor, eg frying onions, roasted meat
nong - the concentrated flavor, deep complex taste eg meat stews, dark sauces, fermented things
you er bu ni - the rich taste of fat without being oily


Texture ideals: (three main ones)

cui - dry and crispy
nun - like taking something fibrous and making it soft and yielding
ruan - perfect softness, like velveted chicken, a soft-boiled egg

Sometimes a dish focuses only on texture, not flavor!


Then you mix and match flavors and textures. The art of that is called tiaowei.
Then match dishes in their cycles, and then the meal as a whole, "which is a sort of narrative of rhythms and meanings and moods."

"there are three kinds of menus ... the extravagant, the rustic, and the elegant."



Some food sayings:

Zhi feng mu yu - I am determined. "Whether combed by the wind or washed by the rain."
Cu cha dan fan - eat simply "crude tea and bland rice"


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In short, this book is zhen bang - great!


I shall now go attempt to fall asleep (hack sniffle ugh)