Time:
2012 2月 07 18:15 - 20:30

Language:
(The speech will be in English)

Summary:
Book Break

"My Japanese Table: A Lifetime of Cooking with Friends and Family"

By Debra Samuels

Tuesday, February 7, 2012、from 6.15 pm to 8.30 pm

Description:
Bestselling author, cooking instructor and Boston Globe food writer Debra Samuels brings 40 years of experience and her deep love of Japan together for a celebration of food and friends as detailed in her new book, My Japanese Table (Tuttle). Samuels starts out in the 1970s as an undergraduate in homestays in Kyushu and Kyoto. Over the next several decades, she returns to Tokyo with her family during her husband's sabbatical years, raising children, studying Japanese cuisine and eventually writing about food and travel for the Boston Globe. Sarah Elton food writer at Atlantic.com chose "My Japanese Table" as a favorite for 2011.

Japanese food has had worldwide appeal for decades, but mostly as restaurant fare. Samuels' book brings home-style cuisine into the western kitchen with accessible recipes that come with stories and cooking tips to help bring the sights, aromas and tastes of Japan to the cook. Included in the over 100 recipes are familiar favorites like Hand-Rolled Sushi and Miso Soup and less familiar but equally welcome dishes such as Lobster Rolls with Wasabi Mayonnaise and Matcha Mochi Cupcakes.

Samuels presentation, full of engaging photographs, will focus on obento as an insight into Japanese values; what she refers to as "Japanese culture in a box." The elements and importance of obento are highlighted through comparisons between lunch preparation in American and Japanese kitchens.

"Before attending the recent book launch for Debra Samuels' latest cookbook, My Japanese Table: A Lifetime of Cooking with Friends and Family, sponsored by the Japan Society of Boston, I would have assumed that a lunch following so many guidelines would be too time-consuming to make, too expensive to buy day after day, and too unattainably ideal to be both beautiful and delicious. But after Samuels' palate-engaging introduction to the Japanese Bento box, I will never look at a brown paper bag lunch the same way again, " Elizabeth Hathaway, Reporter, WBUR, Boston "Public Radio Kitchen."

There will be a sampling or foods from the book.

The library committee is now offering a cocktail party - "meet the author" - starting at 6:15 pm, followed by dinner at 6:45 pm. Drinks can be ordered on a pay basis from the bar in the room.

Book Break charges 2,000 yen (including tax) for the event. Sign up now at the reception desk (3211-3161) or online at http://www.fccj.or.jp/node/7138. To help us plan proper seating and food preparation, please reserve in advance, preferably by noon of the day of the event. Those without reservations will be turned away once available seats are filled.

Reservations cancelled less than 24 hours in advance will be charged in full.
Library Committee, THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS' CLUB OF JAPAN