Locricchio, Matthew. The Cooking of China.

Locricchio, Matthew.  The Cooking of China.     Marshall Cavendish/Benchmark, 2011. 96p.  $24.95  ISBN 978-1-60870-550-4      ms/hs E-BNS      

     This new addition to the superb Superchef series informs readers of the different regions of China and how they influence the well-known foods, spices and flavors they are famous for. Author Matthew Locricchio and photographer Jack McConnell take readers on a brief tour of the Northern, Western-Central, Eastern and Southern Regions of China, including succinct history, famous landmarks, and tastes of the areas. Locricchio also provides information about different foods and spices of each region, brief cooking instructions and several traditional recipes from the different areas. 
     The book responsibly begins with an emphasis on safety and introduces cooking terms to prepare young readers for cooking, and then delivers the influences of the regions. The next chapter provides “The Basics”, which includes information and recipes needed in preparation of the subsequent chapters. These chapters consist of recipes divided into the categories “Soups and Appetizers,” “Vegetable Dishes,” “Main Dishes,” and “Deserts.” The book concludes with a directory of kitchen equipment and utensils, a description of essential ingredients used in Chinese cooking, a “Find Out More” list, metric conversion chart, and extensive index.
     Matthew Locricchio has impressively created an improved and updated edition of the previously well-known and responsible Cooking of China. In addition to the informative text, it has an attractive layout and includes lively illustrations and photographs. Text boxes with chef’s tips are scattered throughout the recipe chapters, adding to the visual appeal, as well as providing helpful information.
     This book is one of eight titles in the new, second edition Superchef series. Other titles include The Cooking of ... Italy, Thailand, Mexico, Greece, France, India, and Brazil.      

Subject: Cooking, Chinese    

Virginia McGarvey

 

Ingold, Jeanette Paper Daughter

Ingold, Jeanette Paper Daughter
Harcourt Brace/Houghton Mifflin 2010 210p 17.00
978-0-15-205507-3 ms/jr Multicultural VG-BN
Just before Maggie started her internship at the newspaper, her father’s tragic death has placed a burden on her heart. Then as she begins to go through his papers she discovers that the family she thought she had is not real. Her father lied to her. Now angry and upset at the turn of events Maggie must make sense of her life as it relates to her father. Maggie’s internship at the newspaper is exciting but she feels like there is a dark cloud over her as she ponders her father’s lies about his family. Then by coincidence on one of the assignments with one of the newspapers reporters, Maggie is able to link her father’s death with the incident they are investigating. This turn of events forces Maggie to face the problem of her father’s missing family and sends her on a search for the truth. What she discovers is a tale worth telling.
The beginning chapters are very slow to catch your attention but the side story of the Chinese immigrant paper son in the early part of the century is interesting even if it seems that it is unrelated. It isn’t until much later that
Maggie begins to connect the dots the stories start to interrelate. Then the pieces start to fall in place and the reader is told how the how both stories are connected. Maggie’s family history begins to unfold and we see how the past is connected to the present. The real interesting story is in the past and due to greed, envy, murder and fear we see how two generations was lost without a connection to their family until Maggie discovers the truth and brings them home. The past has the star-crossed lovers and it is only in the recognition of the past that brings healing to all in the present.
Slow to start but picks up speed as you go along. The immigrant part of the story was much more interesting that the present. Diaz, Magna

A Reader’s Guide to Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club by Pamela Loos

Loos, Pamela. A Reader’s Guide to Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club.
Enslow, 2008, 112p, $31.93, 978-0-7660-2832-6.

This reader’s guide to Amy Tan’s “The Joy Luck Club”, is an excellent companion to the book. It explores the complexity of the Chinese culture and opens a door to the world of their women. It also becomes a lens for the immigrant’s dream of becoming an American and having American born children. Beginning with her biography, Amy Tan shares with the reader her struggle in the American society and how her traditional parents got lost in the American way even as they embraced the concept.
Amy then translates this struggle beautifully in the book the Joy Luck Club. In choosing four young Chinese women and their mothers the reader gets a chance to see how the mothers took the opportunity to escape the China and with barely anything on their backs except their clothes they ran for freedom. As the story progresses we see how the mother’s life story brought them to despair and to the point of choosing to take a chance at a new life in a world that does not even speak their language. There are plenty of symbolisms, and family pride. And in this story the connection takes you back to China where the thread of family rejoins the American end bring it full circle.
This is a great resource for the teachers and the students. I suspect this book will help explain the book and have the students searching their book for answers to questions.
Includes: glossary, chronology, major works, bibliography, web sites and index. MD