Sushi and Beyond : What the Japanese Know About Cooking

If you know nothing about Japanese cuisine, if you think you know something about Japanese cuisine and even if you know alot about Japanese cuisine, you should read Sushi and Beyond: what the Japanese know about cooking by Michael Booth.

Michael Booth is a journalist who graduated from the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and is one crazy guy. An interest in Japanese food led to moving his whole family to live in Japan for a year to experience and learn real Japanese cuisine and culture. From the madness of Tokyo, to ‘fast food crazy’ Osaka, regal secrecy in Kyoto and the northern remoteness of Sapporo, Michael explores it all with great gusto.

He has a ease to his writing which I enjoy. Sushi and Beyond for makes some entertaining reading as he describes the lengths at which he goes to in search of unique Japanese experiences. His wife deserves a medal too, as it seems she is either left behind to look after the two children or taken on a journey of discovery.

I learnt alot but it has only made me more curious about Japanese cuisine, culture and history. Michael refers to Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji throughout the book. I think it will be my next book in Japanese enlightenment.