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

This is one of the relatively few books out there that I can say, without reservation, that I completely enjoyed to the least and last ... even the somewhat whimsical final chapter about the caterpiller. Others have already reviewed the book in considerable detail, so I'll just add a few short tidbits that stood out for me in particular ... * I absolutely adore Ms. Dunlop's adventerous spirit. Theodore Roosevelt's famous... Read Full Review

This is an excellent book on many levels. The quality of the writing is a definite step above most books of this sort. The discussions of regional cuisines, culinary training, and attitudes towards food both contemporary and historical are fascinating. This book, however, is about more than food. Ms. Dunlop lived in Sichuan in a particularly interesting time, when rapid changes in the economy, politics, and society were... Read Full Review

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A sweetsour memoir of eating in China Fuchsia Dunlop, 2008 As the title says, this is not a cookbook or precisely a book on or about food, but a memoir of Fuchsia Dunlop's time in China, with the emphasis on her culinary experiences and endeavors. It covers an eventful -- both for Dunlop and for China -- fifteen years, from her first visit in 1992 to one (hopefully not the last) in 2007... Read Full Review

I own Fuschia's two cookbooks, but had the opportunity to read this as a library "new purchase" ... before deciding to purchase my own copy. As previous reviews have noted, this is not a cookbook/recipe book -- it has about 20 recipes (some in her previous books) ... and yet, it is far from being a travelogue. Fuschia is one of the few people fluent in Mandarin (and at least the Sichuanese dialect) who has lived in China and... Read Full Review

Although the cover of the book gives the impression that it is more a cookbook than anything else, it is really a travel book with with a search for identity subtext peppered (sorry) with some interesting recipes. It is not an existential chick-lit angst-laden outpouring in the manner of Julie & Julia. It is more in the style of Anthony Bourdain without the sarcasm. The author lives in China at a time where social and economic... Read Full Review