I have never read another food writer who has conveyed both the sheer joy and the sheer horror of a particular cuisine like Fuchsia Dunlop. Her writing communicates a deep understanding, appreciation, and love for Sichuan food-- hard-earned during years of study in China, and honed as a cookbook author and consulting chef back in London. She can make me drool for meals I would never has considered appetizing before this book, but she also is wonderful for her understanding of western culinary hang-ups. One of my favorite passages is in a chapter titled “The Rubber Factor.” It starts:

“Texture is the last frontier for Westerners learning to appreciate Chinese food. Cross it, and you’re really inside. But the way there is a wild journey that will bring you face to face with your own worst prejudices, your childhood fears, perhaps even some Freudian paranoias…” (p. 135)

Dunlop’s portrait of China, from the mid-nineties to the present, is evocative, exciting, personal, and delicious. If you’ve spent time with Julie and Julia lately and enjoyed it, I recommend you treat yourself to a trip to the wild beyond of cuisine with Fuchsia. Her book has already added some spice to my life; let it add some to yours. ~Tegan