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Untangling My Chopsticks
Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto | Victoria Abbott Riccardi
4 posts | 3 read | 11 to read
Two years out of college and with a degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Victoria Riccardi left a boyfriend, a rent-controlled New York City apartment, and a plum job in advertising to move to Kyoto to study kaiseki, the exquisitely refined form of cooking that accompanies the formal Japanese tea ceremony. She arrived in Kyoto, a city she had dreamed about but never seen, with two bags, an open-ended plane ticket, and the ability to speak only sushi-bar Japanese. She left a year later, having learned the language, the art of kaiseki, and what was truly important to her. Through special introductions and personal favors, Victoria was able to attend one of Kyotos most prestigious tea schools, where this ago-old Japanese art has been preserved for generations and where she was taken under the wing of an American expatriate who became her mentor in the highly choreographed rituals of this extraordinary culinary discipline. During her year in Kyoto, Victoria explored the mysterious and rarefied world of tea kaiseki, living a life inaccessible to most foreigners. She also discovered the beguiling realm of modern-day Japanese foodthe restaurants, specialty shops, and supermarkets. She participated in many fast-disappearing culinary customs, including making mochi (chewy rice cakes) by hand, a beloved family ritual barely surviving in a mechanized age. She celebrated the annual cleansing rites of New Years, donning an elaborate kimono and obi for a thirty-four-course extravaganza. She includes twenty-five recipes for favorite dishes she encountered, such as Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl, Japanese Beef and Vegetable Hotpot, and Green-Tea Cooked Salmon Over Rice. Untangling My Chopsticks is a sumptuous journey into the tastes, traditions, and exotic undercurrents of Japan. It is also a coming-of-age tale steeped in history and ancient customs, a thoughtful meditation on life, love, and learning in another land.
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Bevita
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Delicious memoir that reads like a novel about a woman who goes to Kyoto to learn the art of the tea kaiseki. So much history and tradition in Japanese cooking-this was my first book to prepare for the long-awaited winter trip to Japan. A great read.

Every tea ceremony becomes a unique occasion because you will never gather again with that same group of people on that day, during those hours, in your lifetime. (P 262)

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DebinHawaii
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Food is very #BiginJapan & here are some foodish books I've enjoyed. When I first traveled there in the late 90s I was introduced to author Banana Yoshimoto & Harumi Kurihara (considered the "Martha Stewart of Japan). I'm a fan of Iron Chef Morimoto & recently read the quirky Convenience Store Woman. The tagged book is an old favorite about a woman who goes to Kyoto to study kaiseki-the art of cooking food for tea ceremonies. ???
#WanderingJune

Cinfhen This post\collage makes me sooooo happy 😊 nice having you back 💜💜💜 5y
BarbaraBB All seem fantastic! 5y
DebinHawaii @Cinfhen Aww... thank you! 🤗😘I have missed you and this as well & hope to stay the course. 😉It's a bit tough to try to jump back in after being so sporadically involved the past several months. I feel like I have missed a lot on Litsy. 5y
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DebinHawaii @BarbaraBB They are all good books. 👍📚😊 5y
wanderinglynn I love Iron Chef Morimoto! He‘s amazing! 👍🏻 5y
Cinfhen I‘m sure you‘ll ease in just fine....no pressure though. 5y
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EvieBee
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@WhatDeeReads Thank you so much for this idea! I made my own TBR Bingo Card with some of the older books on my shelves, and newer ones I've been meaning to get to. When I BINGO, I will definitely feel entitled to purchase a new hardcover, and hopefully make some room on my shelves. Considering making another one for some of my oldest unread Kindle books. #TBR #TBRBingo

[DELETED] 3803335244 Great idea! 7y
MinDea What a great idea! 7y
monkeygirlsmama Fun! I've seen group challenges that use this format, but never thought about it as a self achievement/reward device. I like it. 😁 7y
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kendrastephaniekaryn Ugh. I shouldn't commit to another challenge, BUT I WANNA. 7y
CocoReads I so need to do this as well. 7y
Kaylamburson I love this idea!! 7y
Magslhalliday I love this idea - if I plan it right I can also make sure I finish off my #litsyAtoZ. 7y
WhatDeeReads @kendrastephaniekaryn You can do it! Just use the books you're reading for your other challenges to fill in your bingo card. 7y
WhatDeeReads @EvieBee So glad you decided to join #TBRBingo. Your card looks great! 7y
Soubhiville That's a great idea! 7y
vicgreentoriafield Cute idea. I need to do this 7y
litmuggle I may need to do this I keep buying and keep reading library books instead of thr ones I own. 7y
smilingshelves I love this! I am so in! 7y
readsusieread OMG! I love this! May have to steal this wonderful idea from @WhatDeeReads too! 7y
WhatDeeReads @smilingshelves @readsusieread All are welcome to join us! 7y
EvieBee @ForeverNerdy @MinDea @monkeygirlsmama @CocoReads @Kaylamburson @Magslhalliday @Soubhiville @vicgreentoriafield @litmuggle @smilingshelves @readsusieread Thank you all! Hope you guys can join. Challenges make me antsy, but I love the idea of being able to come back to this when it's time to pick a new book and no pressure or deadline. ❤️❤️ 7y
MinDea Yes, I totally think i am going to do make a TBR bingo card tongiht! 7y
EvieBee @MinDea Yay! I can't wait to see it!!!! 7y
readinginthedark What a great idea! 7y
EvieBee @readinginthedark You should join! 7y
readinginthedark I'd love to! I think I'll be doing something with my TBR list after I finish LitsyAtoZ, so I'll probably go this route! 7y
Suet624 Great idea. 7y
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DebinHawaii
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Day 18 #JubilantJuly #Journey I am a fan of the foodie journey--memoirs about finding yourself through food and cooking--especially when they involve women traveling the world and experiencing different cultures through food. Here are six favorite foodie journeys by female authors from my stacks. #foodiebooks 🍴📚💜

[DELETED] 3803335244 I like this! I definitely have a food journey! 7y
Maggie4483 I took a class in college called "Women, Life-Writing, and Food" and this is all we read. It was my favorite class of my entire college career. 7y
DebinHawaii @ForeverNerdy I have one every day! Hah! 😋🍴👍 @Maggie What an awesome class. I would love it! ❤️🍴📚What was your favorite book from it? 7y
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Maggie4483 @DebinHawaii we read both books that became the movie Julie and Julia (My Life in France by Julia Child and Julie and Julia by Julie Powell)-probably at about the same time they were making that movie. I actually liked Powell's autobiography more. I also highly recommend: 7y
DebinHawaii @Maggie I've read both Powell's book and My Life in France and I keep meaning to read Bento Box in the Heartland. I'll have to move it up the #TBR list now. Thanks for the suggestion. 😀🍴📚👍 7y
ValerieAndBooks Do you like MFK Fisher? I do, and have almost all her books, although I haven't read her in years. I have her (non-foodie, I think) novel, recently published, in my TBR: 7y
DebinHawaii @ValerieAndBooks I do like her writing but I have only read her How to Cook a Wolf and The Art of Eating books, plus a lot of her essays that have appeared in other places. I did hear about the novel but have not read it yet. 👍📚 7y
Herschelian Loved the Mahdur Jaffrey memoir ‘Climbing the Mango Tree‘, very charming descriptions of an Indian childhood between the wars. 6y
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