THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

 Cross-posted at Reb's Reading Rants and Raves I am working my way through two Japanese cookbooks right now, both of which are filled with insight and craft (my review of Sonoko Sakai's Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors coming soon!). Nancy Singleton Hachisu's Japanese Farm Food is, as advertised, very much about farm life in Japan and the food that grows there. For that reason, it resonates more as a narrative for me than a cookbook, as many of the ingredients are specific and connected to the life of the farm. She is not as free with the substitutions as Sonoko Sakai, but there are a few (blackstrap molasses for kuromitsu, for example). To call her a purist wouldn't seem totally correct, and that's largely because of the beautiful narrative she constructs about life on the farm and learning how to acculturate in meaningful ways. In truth it is inspiring, if somewhat a bit daunting at times. In addition to spending massive amounts of time pr

  Cross-posted at Rebecca's Reading Rants and Raves Why We Cook : Women on Food, Identity, and Connection by Lindsay Gardner My rating: 4 of 5 stars Lindsay Gardner's whimsical-yet-substantive illustrations make this a charming book that is a pleasant mish-mosh of reflections, substantive essays, and lighter fare (inspirational quotes and magazine-type survey questions). While there are a few recipe, it isn't a cookbook--although I certainly would have appreciated an index (foods, recipes, people). The table of contents suffices, however, split into "Memorable Meals", "Kitchen Portraits", "Essays", "Home Cooks in Conversation", "Recipes" (listed by contributor, rather than dish), "Profiles" and "Contributors in Conversation." I found the "in conversation" bits to be the least engaging on the whole, although the occasional nugget of wisdom or a surprising witticism made them worth reading. No