Back to Beijing,The Gourmand Cookbook Fair and a Demonstration of Burmese Cuisine

The Gourmand Beijing Bookfair took place late May 2014, in the Daxing Hotel Business Centre. There were books and books and books, and presentations by cookbook authors–including yours truly (no foto).

Here is a little tour of some of the award-winning books on display:

Being in China, there were so many Chinese cookbooks, and, not speaking or reading the language, its hard for me to review or choose from them. I did love this book about water buffalo, almost a lovesong to this majestic animal.

And I adored this little book, Dim Sum, so charming: for someone who likes steamed/baked fluffy Chinese buns (me!) this book is particularly delightful because of its twist on traditional: starting with the array of pastel-coloured bao on the cover.

Ofer Vardi’s  Lunchbox Press was showcasing a collection of  books at once contemporary and vibrant, with their pulse on food life in Israel.This childrens cookbook: “Ani Rotzeh L’faschell”, adapted from a French publication, means: I Want to Cook! its adorable.

And, like all of Lunchbox Press’ publications, so visually appealing you want to jump right into the pages and be a part of them: cook! cook! cook! Lunchbox Press’ book on the sweets of paris,  Paris Patisserie Chez Sharon, is hard to resist: Sharon Heinrich’s love letter to the pastries of Paris.

Was pleased to see a new book by one of my fave New Zealanders: Julie Biuso.

And then there were several special Japanese books at the cookbook fair: The first, Japanese Farmhouse Foods, by Nancy Singleton Hashisu, a West Coast (USA) gal who moved to Japan, raised a family and, along with her husband and kids, runs a farm, shares her food culture with the world.  This book has won many (deserved) awards: Nancy, a foreigner, devoted to preserving the local traditions of her Japanese countryside community. She is the only person I know who brews her own soy sauce, thats how seriously she takes her adopted artisanal culture of well-crafted foods.

The world of Japanese sweets, wagashi, are hard to understand for a non-Japanese: they are seasonal, gelled, filled with bean paste and ground nuts and flavoured with odd fruits and tastes we westerners with our cakes, cookies, cupcake mentality, might not be able to relate to. Usually you find wagashi in post little shop–for posh, read: “expensive”, looking sooooo beautiful, each sweet laid on a leaf, on a plate, arranged like precious jewels. Also, its very specialized, so if you don’t live near a large Japanese community, its unlikely you would have access to these elegant treats. Thats why I was enchanted to see this book: Wagashi, how to make them in your own kitchen!

The fragrant, lyrical cuisine that is both  French AND Moroccan: La Cuisine du Pasha, published in French. So evocative.

I have great affection for single subject cookbooks, having written a number of them myself: there is something so exciting about taking a food and exploring its whole world of creativity relating to that food! i was kind of thrilled with i saw: Mohn, meaning poppyseed: see the poppyseed filling of the shtrudel on its cover?

And Spargel, sigh: asparagus. Oh God I COULD WRITE a book about asparagus. This one was in German, so I couldn’t read through it terribly accurately–only to enjoy the pictures and ideas; Germany celebrates asparagus in many ways with many traditions and festivals which are on my wish list. Also a whole book dedicated to its title: Rendang: the spicy, stewy, very savoury meat dish of Malaysia (and, I believe, Indonesia).

Mohana Gill’s Cooking Demonstration

One of the exciting things happening this year for lovers of Asian foods is the opening up of Burma, or, its contemporary name: Myanmar.  Burmese native, Mohana Gill, won a Gourmand award for her: Myanmar: Cuisine, Culture, and Customs.

Mohana brought slides of her recent trip to her homeland, as well as snacks, and ingredients to sample, and a fascinating mud-like skin cream, mixed with a little water, on a stone. “Meant to protect against the sun, as well as the effects of aging”. It felt cool on my skin, and when I washed it off, my skin felt soft.

Together with Indian cookbook author Mridula Baljekar, Mohana prepared a traditional salad of fermented tea leaves, awash with all of the hallmark flavours of Burma/Myanmar: tons of garlic, chillies, crunchy toasted nuts and seeds.  We had so much fun: the big fermented tea leaf salad was pounded with a big mortar and pestle, was utterly garlicky and smacked with chile-spice, and really: we ate ourselves silly! Happily, each bite was lighter than the next, it seemed like with each mouthful we grew only excited, stimulated from the chillies, not for a moment over-full. Which is good because, you know: Its China: and before you know it: another amazing meal.