Hi, Everyone. Welcome to Le Gourmet TV. Today, I’ve got something that really excited me when I opened the envelope and pulled it in when it arrived in the mail. It’s a cook book called “Beyond the Great Wall.” The subtitle is, ”Recipes and Travels in the other China.” Now, I’ve traveled in the other China. I’ve eaten in the other China and I must admit I love the other China. A little bit of a confession, I spent three months in China traveling by rail and I don’t like Chinese food. I really don’t like Chinese food. And what I discovered after being there is that I really don’t like Hun Chinese food. And this book deals specifically with all of the cultural differences that are outside of Hun, China. It is as much a travelogue as a cook book. As you flip through it, there are stories about this couple’s travels within China. They’ve been travelling there since the 1980’s and they’ve got some fantastic stories to tell of how China has evolved over the years. The stories in this book are as much about their travels as they are about the food and they’re about the intertwining of travel and food, absolutely fantastic.
The book is broken down by food types. So this section is noodles and dumplings. And then further within each section, it’s broken down by the various groups that cooked these and the geographical areas where you would find it. Little stories about stopping at roadside stands and eating noodles, it’s absolutely fantastic because it adds that extra layer to the recipe. It brings you a personal connection to that recipe. It’s not just, here’s a dumpling recipe, it’s here’s a dumpling recipe and this is where we discovered the dumpling recipe and these are the people that cooked it for us.
They’ve also taken these recipes and broken them down in a way that we can cook them here in North America. They’ve substituted in methods that we’re more familiar with. They’ve also substituted in kitchen equipment that you would not find in China, but none of that takes away from the recipes.
I think that this is a book that you could buy it as a recipe book, you could buy it as a picture book, you could buy it as a coffee table book or you could buy it as a travel book. It kind of fits all of those things and it is a wonderful addition to any bookshelf.
If you’re like me and Chinese food just doesn’t do it for you and you can only buy one cook book that deals with Chinese cooking, this would be the one that I would buy, absolutely incredible book. I’m really happy with it. And again, it’s called “Beyond the Great Wall-Recipes and Travels in the Other China” well worth your while.
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