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Feeding the Dragon: A Culinary Travelogue Through China with Recipes
With little more than two backpacks, a camera, and a tarp, Mandarin-speaking American brother and sister Nate and Mary Kate Tate traveled more than 9,700 miles throughout China to share the country's inspiring culture and cuisine with kitchens in the West. What began as a travelblog (feedingthedragon.com) documenting the duo's journey has evolved into a visual narrative of food, culture, and travel inside Feeding the Dragon.
Arranged by the authors' travel itinerary to highlight the uniqueness of nine specific regions in China, Feeding the Dragon is part cookbook and part cultural travelogue, overflowing with sumptuous but easily prepared authentic dishes. From Buddhist vegetarian dishes enjoyed on the snowcapped mountains of Tibet to lamb kebabs served on the scorching desert of Xinjiang Province, one hundred recipes are presented alongside first-person narratives and travel photographs.
Western cooks will find healthy recipes brimming with authentic ingredients and flavors, such as Lychee Martini and Shanghai Soup Dumplings, Pineapple Rice, Coca-Cola Chicken Wings, Green Tea Shortbread Cookies, and Wild Mushroom Salad. Feeding the Dragon also provides handy reference sidebars to guide cooks with time-saving shortcuts such as buying premade dumpling wrappers instead of making them from scratch, or using a blow-dryer to finish your Peking Duck. A comprehensive glossary of Chinese ingredients and their equivalent substitutions complete the book. Feeding the Dragon is not an Americanized adulteration of classic Chinese cuisine. Instead, the Tates offer readers and cooks a beautiful journey through Chinese history, culture, tradition, and food.
Arranged by the authors' travel itinerary to highlight the uniqueness of nine specific regions in China, Feeding the Dragon is part cookbook and part cultural travelogue, overflowing with sumptuous but easily prepared authentic dishes. From Buddhist vegetarian dishes enjoyed on the snowcapped mountains of Tibet to lamb kebabs served on the scorching desert of Xinjiang Province, one hundred recipes are presented alongside first-person narratives and travel photographs.
Western cooks will find healthy recipes brimming with authentic ingredients and flavors, such as Lychee Martini and Shanghai Soup Dumplings, Pineapple Rice, Coca-Cola Chicken Wings, Green Tea Shortbread Cookies, and Wild Mushroom Salad. Feeding the Dragon also provides handy reference sidebars to guide cooks with time-saving shortcuts such as buying premade dumpling wrappers instead of making them from scratch, or using a blow-dryer to finish your Peking Duck. A comprehensive glossary of Chinese ingredients and their equivalent substitutions complete the book. Feeding the Dragon is not an Americanized adulteration of classic Chinese cuisine. Instead, the Tates offer readers and cooks a beautiful journey through Chinese history, culture, tradition, and food.
304 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 24, 2011
Now THIS is a cookbook. If I were to sit down and write one, I really hope that it would be something like this. Part travelogue, part photography book and part cookbook, Nate Tate and his sister Mary Kate Tate take you on a tour of China and delight awaits you at every turn.
They have succeeded in writing a cookbook that not only highlights great regional cuisine, they make all of the recipes accessible to just about anyone who has an interest in cooking. I would cook more Chinese food, but I'm always overwhelmed by the long lists of ingredients that I have never used. Thankfully, Feeding the Dragon has many recipes with tips of substitutions, but here in Seattle we are lucky to have many Asian grocery stores, so I think that I may finally tackle more Chinese cooking.
Their stories were short, but enough to make you yearn to be out on the road with them, notebook in hand, so you too can have misadventures and have it all end happily over a steaming bowl of soup, shoving great silky knobs of noodles into your mouth.
I currently don't have any Chinese cookbooks on my shelf, but this is one that I think would be a great addition to almost anyone's home library.
***** = glad I read it, I enjoyed it, I would read it again, I would own it
ARC provided by NetGalley
They have succeeded in writing a cookbook that not only highlights great regional cuisine, they make all of the recipes accessible to just about anyone who has an interest in cooking. I would cook more Chinese food, but I'm always overwhelmed by the long lists of ingredients that I have never used. Thankfully, Feeding the Dragon has many recipes with tips of substitutions, but here in Seattle we are lucky to have many Asian grocery stores, so I think that I may finally tackle more Chinese cooking.
Their stories were short, but enough to make you yearn to be out on the road with them, notebook in hand, so you too can have misadventures and have it all end happily over a steaming bowl of soup, shoving great silky knobs of noodles into your mouth.
I currently don't have any Chinese cookbooks on my shelf, but this is one that I think would be a great addition to almost anyone's home library.
***** = glad I read it, I enjoyed it, I would read it again, I would own it
ARC provided by NetGalley
February 23, 2012
When I first heard about this book, I was thinking it was going to be a simple cookbook with some stories added to it. This book was so much more then that.
I was blown away by the history and culture that was shared on each page. The photos were awesome. The Tates made me want to hop on a plane and visit China.
First off, on the inside of the cover is a hand drawn map of China. Upon the map are drawn food items so you can get a somewhat general idea of where they were and the foods of the areas.
They take you province by province through China, introducing to the local culture and cuisine that is unique to each area along the way.
I have tried my hand at making several different recipes along the way and they all turned out fabulous. You don’t need extensive culinary skills in order to make the food in this book. In fact, they broke down the recipes into easy to follow steps.
So between reading about the culture and eating the wonderful food, you feel like you are on a vacation tour of China right along the Tates.
I was blown away by the history and culture that was shared on each page. The photos were awesome. The Tates made me want to hop on a plane and visit China.
First off, on the inside of the cover is a hand drawn map of China. Upon the map are drawn food items so you can get a somewhat general idea of where they were and the foods of the areas.
They take you province by province through China, introducing to the local culture and cuisine that is unique to each area along the way.
I have tried my hand at making several different recipes along the way and they all turned out fabulous. You don’t need extensive culinary skills in order to make the food in this book. In fact, they broke down the recipes into easy to follow steps.
So between reading about the culture and eating the wonderful food, you feel like you are on a vacation tour of China right along the Tates.
October 20, 2011
This book is amazing! The travels of brother and sister Nate and Mary Kate Tate tell quite a story. The recipes in this book are amazing and you can picture the surroundings as brother and sister relate their experiences with the food of each of these nine regions in China. There are so many recipes that I can’t wait to try out!
December 7, 2011
As a friend of one of the authors, I know how much hard work went into this masterpiece. A longer review to come, after I finish perusing the final product, which may take some time! There is so much in this book to digest, which I mean both in the literal, recipe sense as well as in the wealth of information and beautiful photography this book contains.
April 5, 2012
It was fun to read about two young people travelling through China on a shoestring budget. They did a lot of things that I would never dream of ever trying, like sleeping on park benches in HK, better them than me.
I didn't give them 5 stars because I prefer to get my recipes for chinese food from chinese chefs, but otherwise, it was a fun read and the recipes still made me drool.
I didn't give them 5 stars because I prefer to get my recipes for chinese food from chinese chefs, but otherwise, it was a fun read and the recipes still made me drool.
February 10, 2012
This is part travelogue part cookbook. There are some fantastic recipes in the book, from different areas of China, which is usually not standard for Chinese cookbooks (e.g., Xinjiang, Yunnan, Sichuan provinces all in one). A quick read designed to make you hungry.
October 3, 2011
A lovely book written by a brother/sister team. This will be popular with fans of Alford and Duguid.
And the potstickers are to die for!
And the potstickers are to die for!
March 4, 2012
Such a delightful trip through China, as I read I was taken back to many of my experiences there! And the food is rather delicious as well!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews