Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking | Fuchsia Dunlop

Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking | Fuchsia Dunlop | Astoundingly good cookbook

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Land of Plenty: A ...

	Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking Fuchsia Dunlop W. W. Norton & Company, 2003 - 395 pages average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great memories of Chengdu

I have prepared many of the dishes found in this book and have been amazed at how close the flavors were to what I've experienced while living in Chengdu and other places throughout Sichuan province.

The introduction discusses the development of Sichuan cuisine, also its traditions and flavors. Notes on cooking methods, equipment, and an extensive section on ingredients found in a Sichuanese pantry help to highlight the uniqueness of the gastronomical delights found in this region of China.

The recipes are divided into the following sections:
-Appetizers
-Meat Dishes
-Poultry
-Fish
-Vegetables and Bean Curd
-Stocks and Soups
-Sweet Dishes
-Hotpot

The book is complimented by the translation into Chinese (both characters and pinyin) of every dish's name and major ingredient found within.

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Astoundingly good cookbook

The mark of a good cookbook is that it get used a lot, and in just a few months my copy of Land of Plenty has acquired a variety of drips, splotches, and stains from its very frequent trips into my kitchen.

I was fortunate enough to spend several weeks in Chengdu and Chongqing a few years ago, and the recipes in this book do a fantastic job of recreating the smells and flavors I remember from my trip. Literally every single recipe I've tried from this book has been a winner, and the Gong Bao Ji Ding (Kung Pao Chicken) has become a weekly standard around our place. My girlfriend, a native Chinese, has repeatedly commented that the flavors of these recipes taste authentic to her memories of eating at Sichuanese restaurants in China.

As previous reviewers noted, Sichuan peppercorns, which are a key flavoring ingredient in some of these dishes, are indeed slowly making a comeback in the US. However, they still seem to be very hard to find outside of major Chinatowns like NYC and San Francisco. I eventually found a few Internet sources, such as the CMC Company, and was able to purchase them that way (and it was well worth it).

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Sichuan peppers readily available in NYC Chinatown

This is an excellent cookbook for cooks and anthropologists. Sichuan peppers, heat treated at 65 degrees centigrade, are readily available in at least two major supermarkets in NYC's Chinatown. So buy them and feast.

Holy cow!

I was recently in Hangzhou, China, for 6 weeks. Ate the food there 3 meals a day and LOVED IT! Sadly I've had difficulty finding any food here nearly as good (I'm in Boston). So, I spent many hours reading reviews for a bunch of Chinese cookbooks, ordered 5 or 6. I haven't explored the others that much, though on the whole I was unimpressed until I tried this one. So far all the dishes (only 5 so far, but I'm cooking from it weekly at the moment) have tasted as good as the food I had in China only a few months ago! Hangzhou isn't in Sichuan, but I did have some Sichuanese food there, so I have some idea what it should taste like. Now, if I can just find some equally impressive cookbooks for the rest of Chinese cuisine!

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This book is very authentic, as long as you have Chinese Peppercorns

My girlfriend is from Sichuan, and claims that all these recipes are completly authentic. She can't wait to try them all, and as of September 2004 Sichuan Peppercorns (sometimes Szichuan Peppercorns) are once again legal in the us, though they are heat-treated to protect U.S. crops, since they can carry a citrus blight in them. Wonder if they heat treating affects them badly at all. I ordered some so I will know soon.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7

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