Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China

First off I should say that I love eating in China. In fact, that is what I most look forward to when I am heading to China. The variety and quality of the various cuisines in China is truly extraordinary. I really related to this book, not only for the eating adventures, but also because I also was once a young student in China trying to figure things out around me. Dunlop was a young girl studying Chinese in Chengdu when she became distracted by the heady smells and tastes that surrounded her. She enrolled in the local cooking school and dove headfirst into the wonderful world of Chinese cuisine, specifically 川菜 chuāncài, or Sichuan cooking, in her case. What makes this book so readable, and persuasive, is Dunlop's ability to engage the reader with personal and intimate stories of regular people and homestyle cooking. As a speaker of Chinese she is able to share experiences with ordinary Chinese that would not be possible without a knowledge of the language. For example, she befriends the cook at the local noodle shop and eventually persuades him to give her the recipe for his famous dandan noodles, which she shares with the reader. I know I have said this before in other book reviews, but knowing Chinese really opens up all kinds of doors and allows one to experience a China that would not be possible if you did not know the language. She correctly states on page 206, "Food has always been of exceptional importance in Chinese culture. It is not only the currency of medicine, but of religion and sacrifice, love and kinship, business relationships, bribery, and even, on occasion, espionage. `To the people, food is heaven,' goes the oft-repeated saying." Though the book focusses on Sichuan cuisine, she does give insight into China's other culinary traditions as well. The book is engaging, entertaining, and very informative. It is obvious that she has done her homework and knows her stuff. She gets added credibility because she experiences all this first hand while she lived in China and on subsequent trips back after returning to the UK. The reader comes away from this book fascinated with Chinese food, and really hungry. The food she describes in the real thing. This is a well written memoir and I highly recommend it.

Great adventure book about Chinese and the many different flavors of Chinese cuisine.

I bought this book having already used Ms. Dunlop's phenomenal cookbooks for about a year--to my mind, they are the holy grail of Chinese cookbooks in the English language--so when I found out that she had written her memoirs I was already on-board. That said, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper went above and beyond my expectations when I read it. Dunlop writes beautifully--engagingly, even engrossingly, and I found myself staying up late just to read more. Moreover, what she has to say is fascinating. She really made clear the philosophy behind a lot of Chinese cooking, and though at times she described menu items that I could not imagine putting in my mouth, I found myself trying the most amazing and unexpected things at Chinese restaurants as a result of her narrative. Something else I appreciated about this book was that it was not unrelentingly positive, and that it did not wax poetic constantly. Dunlop is straightforward and honest, and she challenges the reader to take a fresh look at eating in China--in terms of taste and texture, in terms of cultural setting, in terms of economics and environmental impact. This is a fascinating book, and it will completely change the way you think of Chinese food.

I am a fan of food and history. This book has the perfect blend of both. This is not merely a book about food, cookery, with some light touches of history. It goes so much deeper, into the culture of the Chinese people, the recent global changes, and really reflects on humanity as a whole. Excellent story telling, beautifully told in a way that when I read it, I felt like I was sitting at the same small kitchen with white tiles, slurping noodles, watching out at the countryside. I loved it so much I bought a second copy to give away as gift, and since I could read Chinese, I also bought the Chinese edition to do a comparison.

For me, this book has a very special place in my heart. I was in Chengdu at the same time, living in the same area and eating in the same restaurants as Ms. Dunlop. I never met her and I don't ever remember seeing someone who looked like her. But her description of Chengdu, of Sichuan cuisine, of being a foreigner in China in the 90s, of decompressing in Hong Kong, and the reverse culture shock when one returns to the West are exactly what I experienced and felt when I lived there. She captures it perfectly, but what she does that I have never been able to do is to verbalize it so precisely and profoundly in writing what all of it means--being someone caught between two cultures and of losing your principles or ideas of what is right or wrong. I think her understanding of China is as accurate and well-articulated as Peter Hessler. I put her on an equal par with him. So if you want to really understand China from an outsiders perspective, add Fuchsia Dunlop's memoir to your list of books to read (along with her cookbooks.) I also think this is a good book for anyone who has lived in China or is going to live there or maybe has lived in any country is eastern Asia.

Fuchsia Dunlop nous fait vivre son aventure en Chine populaire, à la recherche des délices de la cuisine chinoise. Remarquable! Je conseille vivement cet excellent livre.

Die art wie die Kochbücher von F.Dunlop geschrieben sind und die Auswahl der Rezepte vermitteln einen sehr guten Eindruck von der asiatischen Küche.

After being introduced to Fuscia Dunlop by my brother, I was interested to read this book and get more insight into China and its cuisine. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was fascinated to follow her as she recounted her development of tastes for Chinese food and skill in cooking it. As a newcomer to Chinese food, I learned a great deal and found the book quite thought provoking. It is certainly a book that one can enjoy more than once and I liked the inclusion of some recipes. I would definitely recommend it.

I have been cooking my way through Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop for about two years now. I finally decided to read her memoir, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, to my great delight and enjoyment. An incredibly well-researched study of Chinese regional cuisines as well as a thoughtful, passionate, sparkling memoir.

This book got me very interested in Chinese cuisine and I spent a long time (and I mean days) watching YouTube videos about the obsession the Chinese have with food that's moving while it's in your mouth. I love how the book has been written- there are recipes which I will try...maybe never but the author writes very honestly and it's eye-opening to see how stereotypical we can get with the picture in our mind, of people who eat differently from us. Apart from being a very entertaining read, this book has also made me re-think food and the idea of food (nutrition). Highly recommended!