At the Chinese Table
A Memoir with Recipes
by Carolyn Phillips
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Jun 15 2021 | Archive Date May 31 2021
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Description
Part memoir of life in Taiwan, part love story—a beautifully told account of China’s brilliant cuisines…with recipes.
At the Chinese Table describes in vivid detail how, during the 1970s and ’80s, celebrated cookbook writer and illustrator Carolyn Phillips crosses China’s endless cultural and linguistic chasms and falls in love. During her second year in Taipei, she meets scholar and epicurean J. H. Huang, who nourishes her intellectually over luscious meals from every part of China. And then, before she knows it, Carolyn finds herself the unwelcome candidate for eldest daughter-in-law in a traditional Chinese family.
This warm, refreshingly candid memoir is a coming-of-age story set against a background of the Chinese diaspora and a family whose ancestry is intricately intertwined with that of their native land. Carolyn’s reticent father-in-law—a World War II fighter pilot and hero—eventually embraces her presence by showing her how to re-create centuries-old Hakka dishes from family recipes. In the meantime, she brushes up on the classic cuisines of the North in an attempt to win over J. H.’s imperious mother, whose father had been a warlord’s lieutenant. Fortunately for J. H. and Carolyn, the tense early days of their relationship blossom into another kind of cultural and historical education as Carolyn masters both the language and many of China’s extraordinary cuisines.
With illustrations and twenty-two recipes, At the Chinese Table is a culinary adventure like no other that captures the diversity of China’s cuisines, from the pen of a world-class scholar and gourmet.
About the Author: Carolyn Phillips is a food writer, scholar, artist, fluent Mandarin speaker, and author of the James Beard-nominated All Under Heaven, the first English-language cookbook to examine all thirty-five cuisines of China.
Advance Praise
"What a seductive read!…Carolyn Phillips takes us into another world, with lively details, humorous self-deprecation, and enticing line drawings. It’s a world of family stories, cultural traditions, and delicious food of great depth and variety. Her curiosity and appetite for understanding and her engaging storytelling transported me effortlessly." - Naomi Duguid, author of Taste of Persia and Burma: Rivers of Flavor
"I can count on one hand the number of people I trust about Chinese gastronomy. Carolyn Phillips is one of them. The richness and scholarship she has brought to my people’s food culture is evident in every illuminating page of At the Chinese Table. I don’t have enough hands to count how often I’ll return to this book." - Kevin Pang, America’s Test Kitchen
"At the Chinese Table is a cookbook, a memoir, an exquisitely rendered history lesson, and a love story, written with enchanting warmth, intelligence, humor, and respect." - Laurie Woolever, coauthor, with Anthony Bourdain, of World Travel: An Irreverent Guide
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781324002451 |
| PRICE | $27.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Elaine L, Book Trade Professional
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of At the Chinese Table.
This is a beautiful ode to Taiwanese food, the rich, cultural heritage of Taiwan and China, the author's parents-in=law, her husband and the culture she has embraced so fully and magnificently.
The author loves all things Chinese; the culture, the food and her husband, just to name a few. Her love for all things Asian is what led her to take a huge step into the unknown as a young college student, navigate an unfamiliar country with little to no language skills and embrace the quirks, beauty and rich heritage of an ancient culture.
She weaves erotic, sensuous descriptions of the incredible foods she eats in Taiwan and its surrounding regions, reflects on the unique people she meets, describes the fascinating backstories of her parents-in-laws, details how her relationship with her boyfriend, later husband, grew out of their love of Chinese food and Taiwan.
The author is an adventurous eater, willing to try nearly everything, and eager to learn how to cook old school recipes. She pores over dusty old cookbooks written in traditional Chinese, opens her mind to new tastes and delights and is always hungry.
The love she has for the language, culture and people of Taiwan was written with respect, tenderness and honesty.
The drawings are beautiful and offer a sweet sentimentality to her recollections as she details eating her way through Taiwan, getting to know her husband and future parents-in-law and embarking on one successful career after another.
This is such a wonderful memoir not just about the author and her family, but about Taiwan, its culture, people and history. I learned so much and the recipes are mouthwatering, and though a few are time consuming, they are certainly worth it.
JENNIFER S, Librarian
Read if you: Want a tantalizing and fascinating memoir about life in 1970s Taiwan. Warning! Do not read when you are very hungry; Phillips' descriptions of her meals and cooking in Taiwan are delectable.
Librarians/booksellers: Foodie memoirs are usually very popular; purchase for readers looking for an addictive read with recipes sprinkled throughout.
Many thanks to W.W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Brandi R, Reviewer
A truly delightful memoir peppered with recipes. A love story, with a country, a people and the richness of the culinary delights to be experienced. I really enjoyed the experiences through Carolyn’s down to earth retellings. The recipes are an added bonus that I cannot wait to try. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.
Randal W, Reviewer
The author was an exchange student to Taiwan, fell in love with the country's variety of Chinese cuisines, stayed in Taiwan and ended up marrying a Chinese man.
The book is chock full of her experiences eating everything Chinese she could find. Very good descriptions, I could almost taste the food myself. She then throws herself into preparing the foods herself, devouring old cookbooks to learn more.
Phillips does a good job of describing Taiwanese culture, her experiences with her boyfriend and future husband, her in-laws, and the local scene.
I'm looking forward to reading the author's previous two books.
If you are a foodie who's really into Chinese cuisine, this would be a great read for you.
Katie L, Reviewer
This book really proved to be a delightful surprise! As a non-native Chinese person, Carolyn Phillips falls in love with Chinese culture, traveling to Taiwan and immersing herself in the language, culture, and most importantly, cuisine from all over Taiwan and mainland China.
Akin to Fuchsia Dunlop's Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, she takes us on a delectable ride of mouth-watering dishes from all over China and Taiwan. Her knowledge of Chinese food is vast and her descriptions are surprisingly satisfying, leaving the reader with the most complete dining experience short of tasting the food yourself. She provides a complete picture of all the sensory experiences that take place, as well as the history and context of the dish and its origins. Her descriptions are vivid and evocative, almost poetic in nature.
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