Untangling My Chopsticks : A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto

by Victoria Abbott Riccardi

Release Date: 13 May, 2003

Edition: Hardcover

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Life lessons learned & ritual-imbued meals cooked & eaten

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.

Read this book, chop, chop!

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.