Food Artisans of Japan: Recipes and stories

Description

An intimate deep dive into Japan's diversely rich food landscape with 120 recipes from 7 compelling Japanese chefs and 24 stories of food artisans through the eyes of award-winning author Nancy Singleton Hachisu. In Food Artisans of Japan, Nancy Singleton Hachisu introduces us to the chefs and artisans with whom she has formed lasting relationships following the phenomenal success of her most recent Japan: The Cookbook (Phaidon, 2018) as well her seminal works, Japanese Farm Food (Andrews McMeel, 2012) and Preserving the Japanese Way (Andrews McMeel, 2015). Hachisu shares an in-depth knowledge and understanding of Japanese locales, the foods, and the artisans who work there. Each chef was chosen because he goes beyond courting media exposure or Michelin stars. Each chef's food is soulful. And each chef speaks deeply to Hachisu for genuine connection to local ingredients, unwavering desire to give back to the community, and common dedication to craft. The book includes anywhere from 7 to 45 recipes from each chef, ranging from traditional Japanese to French- or Italian-influenced Japanese dishes created from regional ingredients. Each recipe is a collaboration between the chef and Hachisu, and therefore can be cooked successfully in either a home kitchen or restaurant. And bits and pieces of any chef recipe can be turned into a simple home cooked dish, or the recipe itself can serve as a blueprint for approaching the dish with seasonally available ingredients from your own locale. The stunning art and design of Food Artisans of Japan feels both serene and mature. It is beautiful, but not excessively glitzy or over-designed. The book has a certain soberness that feels respectful, but not at all dull. This fresh, honest work delves into the vast ocean of Japanese culinary and artistic traditions, celebrating the chefs and artisans from around Japan ... straight from the heart. Food Artisans of Japan is a finalist in the 2020 IACP Cookbook Awards in the Culinary Travel category.

Nancy Singleton Hachisu is a native Californian, Stanford graduate who has lived with her Japanese farmer husband in an 90-year-old farmhouse in rural Saitama since 1988. She is the award-winning author of four cookbooks: Japanese Farm Food (Andrews McMeel, September 2012), Preserving the Japanese Way (Andrews McMeel, August 2015), Japan: The Cookbook (Phaidon, April 2018), and Food Artisans of Japan (Hardie Grant, November 2019). Hachisu's work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Dutch, and Japanese. She appears frequently in Japanese media, documenting her preserving and farm food life as well as visits to artisanal producers in more remote areas of Japan to advocate for Japan's disappearing food traditions. Hachisu also assisted on and appeared in the Salt episode of Netflix's runaway hit Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. In his May 25, 2018 review of MTN: Venice, legendary LA Times food critic, Jonathan Gold, deferred to "Japanese cookbook writer Nancy Singleton Hachisu, who knows more about these kinds of things than practically anybody." And food advocate icon Alice Waters has described Nancy as "... a vital bridge between farmers in the United States and farmers in Japan."

'A book that could only be written by Nancy with her insight and relationships cultivated over many years. We are lucky to have this amazing resource of a culture rich with food history.' * Rodney Dunn *