Untangle This

Jimmy passed me a book titled, "UNTANGLING MY CHOPSTICKS: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto" by Victoria Abbott Riccardi.

This book offers a collection of sights, sounds and more importantly, tastes Victoria came across during her stay in Kyoto. Her main aim was to study the time-honoured tradition of kaiseki but turns out the daily surprises that sneak up upon her were worth more than a cursory mention. In addition, the book includes recipes of old favourites such as oyako donburi and okonomiyaki, thereby providing readers with a means to satisfy that sudden craving.

It is a great read. Though Japanese food is not new to me (are you kidding?!), it is interesting to read how foreigners perceive a cuisine, which is more often than not peppered with daunting unfamilarities.

Resembling a self-inflicting weapon of choice, this book obviously reinforces my NEED to visit Japan. I'm almost done with Discovery Channel Travel and Living, I really need to satisfy that desire to see Japan for myself. Argh!!! The book is about 270 pages long, so like the kaiseki meal itself, I have to pace myself- a restriction of five pages everytime I flip open the book.