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(More customer reviews)I have two sorts of cookbooks in my collection. There are the books that I cook from, in which many pages have food stains, folded-down corners, and bindings that fall open to favorite recipes. I also have cookbooks that I consider "picture books." Sure, they have recipes, but I look at them primarily for inspiration or entertainment or fantasy ("Yeah, like I'm gonna cook something with two pounds of fois gras!" or "That's over the top, but isn't it beautiful?"). I rarely cook anything from the picture books, but that's okay; I enjoy them nonetheless.
Kaiseki is very much in the latter category. If this book isn't nominated for an award on visual merit alone, I shall be appalled. Photographically, it's simply stunning. If you appreciate how beautifully food can be presented... well, it earns its five stars right there. It's also a stunning example of how good Japanese food can be; many of the photos make me yearn to consume them.
The cookbook is organized in an unusual manner. The recipes are all in the back of the book, in small type (too small, I think). Most of the book is given over to the delicious photos, menus, and text. The text is largely what you'd expect as a long headnote in a regular cookbook. For example, you get two long paragraphs about the seasonality of fresh bamboo shoots, accompanying a blow-you-away picture of bamboo shoot sushi (it looks like a bird of paradise flower arrangement). These sections are divided into Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, reflecting the restaurant's focus on eating whatever is ripe right now.
I can't imagine that I'm going to cook anything here, though. The author doesn't try to Americanize anything, or to suggest "if you can't find sea bream, substitute [something else]." It's definitely a Japanese book. Maybe, if you have more Asian markets than I do and you know the cuisine better, you're better able to contemplate the recipes. If so, you'll probably be interested in steamed tilefish with fresh green tea leaves; or abalone in a salt dome; or fresh black soybean skewered on pine needles.
But don't worry if your ability to make these recipes is as distant as my own. Kaiseki may spend more time on your coffee table than in your kitchen, and that's okay. This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book, and well worth it for anyone who simply loves to admire food treated well. It would make a superb present for any foodie, too.
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