Culinaria China

This is my first review and one I felt compelled to write given my disappointment. I love cooking and informally collect ethnic cookbooks. My favorite cuisine is Chinese. (It is after all the Jewish national cuisine). I anxiously looked forward to this addition to the Culinaria series. I can't honestly say the Culinaria books have the best or most authentic recipes, but they are beautiful and always delve interestingly into FOOD CULTURE. "China: cuisine, country, culture" should have been more accurately titled "culture, country, cuisine". The food clearly gets a back seat. It is certainly a beautiful book worthy of a coffee table display. It is replete with panoramic photos and delves into the lives and eating habits of workers, students, the offerings of street foods etc. However it also seems to miss the mark entirely. I would have expected sections denoting the classic cooking techniques-stir frying, red cooking, steaming etc. I would have liked whole sections devoted to the manufacture and culture of Soy sauce and bean curd, various types of noodles (as Culinaria Italy does with cheese, olive oil and wines). Astonishingly, there is nothing about the preparation of classic Peking duck or even the secrets of the sumptuous Cantonese roast ducks that hang invitingly in the windows of authentic restaurants. I would have expected an entire section foldout with pictures of dozens of various dim sum and their preparation. Instead there are several scattered recipes (ala generic Good Housekeeping) for "pork dim sum" and "shrimp dim sum"! I couldn't even find a recipe for won ton soup, no less its myriad variations. I kid you not. None of the recipes are identified by their local names neither phonetic or in classic Chinese script. The authors (Sinologists, whatever that means) clearly are not chefs and endeavor to compulsively cover each and every province of China no matter how uninteresting the offerings.This volume would have been served better if they followed the format and emphasis of the previous editions especially the books on France, Italy and Germany. These are focused on the "culture of food" rather than the country itself. In summary, there is a relative dearth of recipes given the enormity of the tome, the recipes seem banal and especially uninteresting to me, they overlook the popular "classic" dishes and delve into attributes of the country I am not interested in (and, if I were, I would purchase an ethnogrophy). If I were the series editors I would immediately pull this volume, hire classically trained chefs as authors and completely rework it. It is simply not worthy of the Culinaria series.

Whenever the publisher Ullmann (formerly Köneman?) comes out with a new book on country and cuisine, I am sure to get it. Overall, this book does not let the reader down. However, that said, it is more a book on the history and culture of China through food than an actual cookbook. Turn to a number of other books if you wish to learn Chinese cuisine. What I really appreciate about this series is the depth of investigation on various food products (e.g., vinegar and its importance in Chinese cuisine). On the down side, some of the distinctions of the regional cuisines are rather blurred and overlapping, particulary if the regions are neighbors. I had the sense that several regions claim a lake crab as their speciality. Nonetheless, this is the book for people who want to go beyond "sweet and sour pork" recipes (even though it too is included here) because it points out with little prejudice (though some, especially on the touchy subject of eating dog meat) what Chinese people eat and not what is found in Chinese restaurants around the world (very often completely different foods). Advice to editors - number the images! The upper, lower, center, left, right, etc. is terrribly confusing. On a lasting note, when I was in Germany I first spotted the book in German (naturally) and the English edition had not yet come out, but knowing the quality of the book, I just had to get it and reactivate my German reading skills. Gladly it is now in English, and I'm anticipating a similar book on the cuisine of Japan....

This book was given to us from an Asian friend, so right there you know the book is legit. However, there seems to be in my personal opinion, tons of information and facts about the country and culture and various areas within china, but lacks recipes. There are tons of pictures and blurbs describe every picture, but every few pages you will come upon 1-5 recipes. Otherwise, it is just information and pictures about China. It seems more like a National Geographic book than a cookbook.If you are interested in countries and culture more-so than cooking the food of the country, but trying to make a few things, then you should love this book. If you are like me and wish to recreate the authentic food from a country, trying numerous dishes at home, without so much as reading about the geographic and demographic information of said country, pass on this book and use the internet.

many different areas of china in this book. your not cooking with this on your table it is a monster of a book, it makes a better coffee table book so when people visit you can constantly mention to them that you went to China. Sturdy DB move.did I mention that I go to china often and love it?I have all the Culinaria books of Countries I have been and they are very good reference for the food that i ate.

The Culinaria series were introduced to me by my nephew who is a chef. The pictures show you the beauty of the country as well as giving you a sense of the regions where the recipes come from. The rich detail is a feast for the eyes while the recipes are delicious and carefully explained. You learn as much about the culture and locality as you do about the various foods. I really appreciate that.

This completes my entire set of the Culinaria series. The books(including this one) are complete about each country noted. Theygive you history, culture, food recipes and other interesting factsto increase your knowledge of the country and its customs.

Perfect for the uninitiated in everything regional Chinese cuisine. Not as detailed as what you can get in Chinese though.

OK... not as good as previous editions... ITALY<FRANCE<GERMANY...etcThe history, photos and cultural food stories are better in the other editions... this one seems rushed and less well curated.

The "Culinaria" series became a reference for two reason : the first one is the regional cooking. Even for countries such as Germany or Hungary, which aren't famed for their cuisine, the authors look for everything in every region. The second one is authentic apetizing recipes. That isn't the case here.First of all, it's the first of the series to be so focused on people, their history, and photos. Recipes are secondary. So much that you get bored browsing through this book looking for them. But the final nail in its coffin is the recipes themselves. They're very short, so short that they lack description. And having read many Chinese cookbooks, I can say that the best ones are from Fuschia Dunlop. She explains clearly that the Chinese kitchen should have base of ingredients (soy sauces, dried chiles, oils, sauces etc...), and what vegetables the Chinese use, what's available in Europe, and what you can substitute them with. Nothing here, in many recipes, the Chinese chives or garlic shoots are simply replaced by regular leeks and green bell peppers... Many sauces or seasonings are omitted too : it's too simplistic. Yes you'll be able to do this at home then, but it won't be even close to the real thing.For the last Culinaria book, it was a disappointment then. The balance between recipes and the cooking history of China is completely wrong, and the few recipes included aren't very good.

A really great book and the best in this series. Chinese cuisines I'd never even heard of and certainly nothing like your local takeaway.