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IEATRIO

IEATRIO

You will love this book, and you won't regret having ordered it.  Although its a bit rough around the edges it is easily the best book on the subject of Sichuan Cooking available in English and my copy stays in select company on my kitchen counter rather than in my bookshelf, as its constantly referred to.

 

Procuring my own copy is also a bit of a story.  I was in Chengdu for classes at culinary school with a cooking friend, and near the end of the course we set about looking for this book in bookshops and couldn't find it anywhere.  We wanted the book so desperately that instead of giving up, we figured we would go to the publisher's office and ask where to buy a copy.  We googled the address of the publisher, went over to their office building, and explained to the doorman (in very bad Chinese, hand signals, etc.) which company we were looking for.  Somehow he understood and explained to us that they just moved and gave us their new address.  We went to the new address but were unable to figure out which floor the publisher was on (or if they were actually in that building) and got on the elevator and headed up to a publishing firm, in a building filled with publishing firms.  We were on the wrong floor, but the kind people took pity on the poor illiterate foreigners and found somebody to speak English with us.  This woman knew exactly which publishing firm we wanted and took us down to that floor, and introduced us to the people there.  We explained that we were culinary students and were desperate to purchase the book.  They couldn't believe it, and were completely tickled at our interest.  So much so that they fetched the Editor of the book and introduced us and we had a nice conversation about how the book is a cult classic amongst Sichuan cooking enthusiasts in the West and that the book is impossible to procure (at that time it was literally impossible and used copies were going for hundreds of dollars) and that we would love to know how to buy a copy.  He went to a bookshelf, pulled out two copies for the two of us, and gave it to us as gifts, and wouldn't hear of accepting a kuai for it.  We took pictures together and it is one of my best memories -- of many great memories -- of Chengdu.

 

Enjoy your book and use it well.

IEATRIO

IEATRIO

You will love this book, and you won't regret having ordered it.  Although its a bit rough around the edges it is easily the best book on the subject of Sichuan Cooking available in English and my copy stays in select company on my kitchen counter rather than in my bookshelf, as its constantly referred to.

 

Procuring my own copy is also a bit of a story.  I was in Chengdu for classes at culinary school with a cooking friend, and near the end of the course we set about looking for this book in bookshops and couldn't find it anywhere.  We wanted the book so desperately that instead of giving up, we figured we would go to the publisher's office and ask where to buy a copy.  We googled the address of the publisher, went over to their office building, and explained to the doorman (in very bad Chinese, hand signals, etc.) which company we were looking for.  Somehow he understood and explained to us that they just moved and gave us their new address.  We went to the new address but were unable to figure out which floor the publisher was on (or if they were actually in that building) and got on the elevator and headed up to a publishing firm, in a building filled with publishing firms.  We were on the wrong floor, but the kind people took pity on the poor illiterate caucasians and found somebody to speak English with us.  This woman knew exactly which publishing firm we wanted and took us down to that floor, and introduced us to the people there.  We explained that we were culinary students and were desperate to purchase the book.  They couldn't believe it, and were completely tickled at our interest.  So much so that they fetched the Editor of the book and introduced us and we had a nice conversation about how the book is a cult classic amongst Sichuan cooking enthusiasts in the West and that the book is impossible to procure (at that time it was literally impossible and used copies were going for hundreds of dollars) and that we would love to know how to buy a copy.  He went to a bookshelf, pulled out two copies for the two of us, and gave it to us as gifts, and wouldn't hear of accepting a kuai for it.  We took pictures together and it is one of my best memories -- of many great memories -- of Chengdu.

 

Enjoy your book and use it well.

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