Cook book: Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop

Sichuan Cookery By Fuchsia Dunlop

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This book established Fuchsia Dunlop as the English-writing authority on Sichuanese cuisine. The Cambridge-educated author was at language school in Chengdu when she was invited to become the first foreign student at the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine.

Dunlop writes with great under-standing of the cuisine but also explains things a Chinese cook or diner might take for granted: the different slicing techniques and methods of cooking, or the variety of textures that have no succinct English equivalent. The book shows the diversity of Sichuanese food, with recipes for the familiar (ma po dou fu, hot and sour soup, hotpot) and the more exotic (wild duck braised with konnyaku beancurd, jade web soup with quail eggs and bamboo pith).

The book has been published under two titles: Sichuan Cookery in Britain and Land of Plenty in the United States. Dunlop has also written a book on the cuisine of Hunan (Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook) and a volume of her eating experiences on the mainland (Sharks Fin and Sichuan Pepper).