My first born has been on sabbatical but has now returned with a colourful new frock!
You can meet her from 01 February in Australia then she'll be flitting about in the UK from 01 March so keep an eye out will you? If you see her leaning on a shelf in a bookstore somewhere please carry her home and make sure she puts herself to good use in the kitchen??
If you are new to Japanese cuisine and find it all a bit daunting this is a friendly way to jump on in. The book shows you how to utilise traditional, often healthy, Japanese ingredients in more familiar "western" style recipes, using simple techniques.
The origins of Yoshoku cuisine stem from the opening of trading ports within Japan and consequently an influx in available international foods in the 70's. The clever Japanese adapted these strange foreign foods to suit their own tastes, shaking it all up with ingredients and flavours both familiar and comforting to them - and doozo! a newly blended cuisine was born. The cooking style went out of fashion for a while but is now making a comeback - becoming "cool" again with the young folk.
Popular and old fashioned Yoshoku recipes include Omu-raisu (a thin omelette wrapped around seasoned rice), Katsu-Kare (pork cutlet curry) and Hambaagaa (hamburger) and while you will find a nod to this standard Yoshoku fare within the pages of the book -it is really more about contemporary ideas and flavour combinations - all easy to prepare and 'totemo oishii!!' (if I do say so myself...). If you missed out last time around - please look out for the re-release of 'Yoshoku' on February 01 2011.
For those of you who already own a copy and have cooked from it I would love to hear your feedback.
My next book, on sale next year, will delve a little deeper into traditional cuisine and food culture - but more on that later.
Yoshoku by Jane Lawson
Published by Murdoch Books
Photography by Mikkel Vang
Styling by (the rather gorgeous and talented) Christine Rudolph
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| Chilled tofu and tomato salad |
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| Pork with Nashi |
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| Umeshu (plum wine) granita |
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| and yes! sake cocktails! of course... |
Itadakimasu!!!
