ABC-Cooking

If you often read my blog, you might be aware of my passionnate obsession about japanese cooking. It’s my husband’s fault (I sweety refer to him as “Chéridoo“) because HE made me discover it when we lived in Paris together.

You may also know my passion for books, including cook books. This one was on my wishlist for month, so this challenge was the good excuse to finally buy it.

Washoku is written by Elizabeth Andoh. She’s from the US but live in Japan for decades now. She’s THE reference regarding japanese cooking in english language. She created a japanese cooking school in Tokyo: A Taste Of Culture where she teaches in english (you may guess that the day we’ll visit Tokyo, I HAVE TO go take one of her class).

This book is a masterpiece (opinion totally subjective) and if you’re interested in the japanese cooking traditions, you would love this book.

It includes more than 140 recipes, and explains all the principles of washoku foodways in details but simply. I wish this book would be translated in French (not for me, but for all my friends in France who’s be so interested in it and don’t understand english enough).
Moreover, the pictures are gorgeous (I don’t know for you, but for me pictures are essential in a cookbook… not photos but even drawings… all kind of pictures. I don’t like cook books without any picture in it).

It won several awards.

But what is “washoku” ?

In Japanese, “washoku” refers to traditional japanese cooking.désigne la cuisine purement traditionnelle du Japon.

It litterally means “the harmony of food” and it’s not only about cooking, but it’s a whole way of thinking. Elizabeth says “[washoku] is a way if thinking about what we eat and how it can nourish us. The term describes both a culinary philosophy and the simple, nutrutionally balanced food prepared in that spirit.”

The Five principles of washoku

Washoku cuisine has an opposite, which is referred to as yoshoku cuisine (western-style food). Its practice describes “how to achieve nutritional balance and aesthetic harmony at mealtime”.

The five principles of washoku are:

1. Five colors (go shiki): every meal should include foods that are red, yellow, green, black (very dark coloured food can count as black, such as eggplant and mushrooms) and white. It assures that the nutritions are well balanced in the meal.
2. Five tastes (go mi): it refers to the balance of flavours (salty, sour, sweet, bitter and spicy) for insuring that our palate is “pleasantly stimulated but not overwhelmed”.
3. Five ways (go hō): every meal should use several methods of cooking (broiling, simmering, steaming…) in order to avoid the amount of salt, sugar and oil consumed (so we avoid excessive calories).
4. Fives senses (go kan): it advises cooks to take care not only of the taste of food, but also of the other senses (sight, sound, smell, touch *the texture of food*).
5. Fives outlooks (go kan mon): these rules instruct us to respect the efforts of those who worked to cultivate and prepare food.

Of course, other Asian countries apply some foodways close to japanese washoku.

Elizabeth Andoh gives us a few tips to apply it at home: chosing food that are seasonal, as much as possible chose local food from both earth and sea. It should be appealing to all our senses.

I won’t copy all the book here: you should really enjoy it by yourself. I love japanese cooking, and learning the basic principles of this riche cuisine. So I’m really glad to own this book.

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