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Showing posts from January, 2020

Dashi Experiments #1

First post of 2020! For Christmas, a dear friend gave me Sonoko Sakai's Japanese Home Cooking . This particular dear friend grew up in Japan, cooks Japanese food like nobody's business, and enjoys food as much as I do, so I knew this book would be a treasure. Beautifully produced, it is the kind of cookbook I love -- one that tells a story. The photographs by Rick Poon are intimate--an invitation to really value and understand the food, the culture, and the chef. I might challenge the byline a bit: "Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors."  In truth, the "simple" part really needs two things: 1) access to some of the ingredients (read: city) and 2) a basic understanding of the culture of Japanese cooking, which is NOT "on-the-go" and "short-on-time."  That said, Sonoko Sakai honors her audience and is realistic about what will be challenging, and what will be more simple. I am so enjoying her prose--she has had a rich and varied life, mak