The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen: Inspired New Tastes
by Eric Gower
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Book Summary Information
Author: Eric GowerPhotographer: Fumihiko Watanabe
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-08-08
ISBN: 4770029497
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Kodansha USA
Book Reviews of The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen: Inspired New Tastes
Book Review: Very Good Fusion of Japanese Tastes and Western Wines
Summary: 4 Stars
`The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen' is a very nice little book by private chef Eric Gower of San Francisco. It should appeal to anyone who has an ongoing interest in Oriental tastes or has a serious commitment to opening an investigation of Oriental, specifically Japanese, tastes and techniques. While the book involves very few unfamiliar Oriental cooking techniques such as stir-frying or tempura or sushi rolling, the recipes do involve access to some very serious oriental ingredients such as Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), Kabosu (Japanese green citrus), Konbu (dried kelp), Meyer lemons, Shiso (perilla, or beefsteak plant), Sudachi (Japanese limes), Togarashi (red chilis), Umeboshi (Pickled salty plums), and Yuzu (small Oriental citrus). And this doesn't include things like dashi broth, edamame (fresh or frozen), miso, nam pla, sake, soba noodles, and udon noodles which I know are available in a good megamart. Naturally, you can imagine relatively easy substitutions of lemons or limes for the esoteric citrus and sweet pumpkins for the Kabocha and southwestern chilis for Togarashi. But this doesn't entirely satisfy the reader when the author says that the tofu available in the United States is a poor cousin to the type available in Japan. The author is based in San Francisco, where the best Japanese versions of many of these products are probably available, but I suspect that many of these things are available only on the West Coast, and this annoys me a bit. I welcome any entree to Japanese tastes for the average American, but since the author is doing fusion recipes in the first place, why not make the effort to prepare recipes freely accessible to the housewife in Topeka.
I typically give five stars to books which inspire me or which I believe will inspire the average foodie and amateur cook such as books by Jamie Oliver and Jacques Pepin, or, which I believe should be read by the average foodie / amateur cook such as works by Shirley Corriher, Marcella Hazan, or Paula Wolfert. I will also give five stars to cooks which surprise me or do an exceptionally good job of serving a special audience, such as Rachael Ray (fast cooking) or Flo Brakker (desserts) or Peter Reinhart (bread). I will give only three stars if a book is good, but the average prospective buyer may not easily be aware that the book is aimed at a very special audience, and the buyer is not a member of that audience. The best example of this case is Charlie Trotter's book, `Raw'.
In the end, this book did not inspire me to run out in search of the perfect miso or the elusive Meyer lemon. But, the book does contain several recipes with few or no ingredients for which you cannot find suitable substitutions. And, several of these recipes interested me enough to make them, and I found them as good as promised. I was especially pleased to find the author do interesting things with very common ingredients such as potatoes in a book where rice is king. As the book is quite obviously for people who like or are disposed to like Japanese food, I give it four stars rather than the cautionary three stars.
As Mr. Gower has a very Occidental culinary background before he took up Japanese cuisine, he does us the rare service of pairing his Japanese dishes with very European / California wines. I am not a big fan of wines, but I believe this feature significantly increases the value of the book, especially joined with the relatively easy recipes. This makes the book a better than average source for entertaining if you have average chops in the kitchen and a good nearby megamart or good nearby oriental food market.
The author and his publishers have done a better than average job of food styling and culinary photography. The photographer performed the same service for `Nobu, The Cookbook' and the talent with the camera shows. Many dishes are plated and visually garnished with Japanese art objects. The effort pays off.
The book is a good introduction to Japanese tastes with largely western cooking techniques and wine pairings. A bit pricy for the size, but I'm sure you can find Amazon do it's usual discounting.
Summary of The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen: Inspired New Tastes
The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen is a coup d'etat. Its elegant, easily prepared, and highly original dishes combine Japanese and Western elements in ways that produce compeletely new tastes.Author and Chef Eric Gower artfully combines staple ingredients or seasonings from Japanese cooking-like edamame, shiitake, ginger, or soy sauce-with the easygoing, flexible approach of his native California. His dishes are born of passion for good home-cooked food and experimentation over 15 years spent living in Japan. He achieves his big flavors with citrus fruits, vinegars, ginger, shallots, fresh herbs, and plenty of coarsely ground black pepper.
Edamame Mint Pesto with almonds and garlic is an aromatic and satisfying departure from the usual basil. Tofu Salmon Mousse, lightly flavored with walnuts, is a smooth, rich-tasting spread for thinly-sliced toast and perfect for a Sunday brunch. Scallops with Miso, Ginger, and Ruby Grapefruit is an unforgettable blend of flavors, with citrus offsetting the deeper miso.
Many of the dishes can be made in ten minutes, and can be paired with a salad and bread to make a meal.
While incorporating Asian ingredients, the author tailors the recipes directly to American kitchens, and frequently offers suggestions for substitutions, such as fresh tarragon in place of shiso seeds.
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