Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture

Five stars for content, deducted a star for Paperwhite formatting. Content GREAT - but the Kindle version has formatting issues that make important parts of the text difficult to read on Kindle Paperwhite. The supplementary text at the end of chapters is in light gray lettering. It's especially annoying because the text is black when you flip the page - then it flashes and become a lighter low-contrast color that is barely readable. It's fine on a computer or color Kindle.Roads & Kingdoms tells the story of place through food, history, people, and culture. If you are planning a trip to Japan, buy this book, without hesitation. I already had a trip to Japan planned, and the first two chapters have already convinced me that I will have a deeper understanding of what I'm about to experience because of this book. If you're not planning a trip to Japan, you will want to after reading this. It's making me want to plan a second trip to Japan already. The book is so rich in detail that I know I will only scratch the surface in my first visit. The prose is masterful, dense and engaging. It's a world beyond the typical travel guide that is little more than a list of trivia.The supplementary information is extremely useful, and none of it is contained in the preview sample. For example, "The Rules of Sushi' details how to properly eat different types of sushi - both to avoid committing an accidental faux pas, as well as to enjoy it in the intended manner: no ginger (it's a palate cleanser), no wasabi in the soy sauce, and always eat nigiri sushi in one bite. It has pictures of different types of sushi, with the name of the item in both English and Japanese script.It would be amazing if Roads & Kingdoms could update the Kindle version so the text of the entire book is legible in black and white. I even read the sample to check for formatting, since legibility is a very common problem on Paperwhite with anything other than plain black text. The pictures will of course need to be looked at on computer, phone, or color Kindle regardless, which is expected. Despite this, I am thrilled that I heard about this book on "Splendid Table". It will enrich my trip to Japan as well as my understanding of Japanese history and culture.

I first fell in love with Roads and Kingdoms back in early 2012, after randomly stumbling on a tweet linking to co-founders Nathan Thornburgh and Matt Goulding’s rough and tumble, yet mesmerizingly written and incredibly well-informed adventures in Myanmar. Roads and Kingdoms then was a heady cocktail of cuisine, cultural commentary, history and geopolitical reflections all wrapped up in what seemed like an online journal of two experienced, savvy travelers who nevertheless have not lost their sense of infectious awe and insatiable curiosity at the world. Fast forward several years later, and they’ve released their first book in tandem with the sensei of all culinary wanderers, Anthony Bourdain – Rice, Noodle, Fish, a meticulously curated pilgrimage through Japanese cuisine (arguably the best in the world) as written by Matt and as edited by Nathan. It’s a book that crystallizes the best qualities of what makes Roads and Kingdoms peerless in the world of digital journalism.It is quite simply a marvel of a book, one that food enthusiasts will devour in one sitting. Thoughtfully conceptualized, each chapter focuses on a key Japanese city and paints detailed profiles of some of the culinary artisans (shokunins) which make that particular city’s food so indelibly great. Matt Goulding’s writing, as it is on Roads and Kingdoms, is impressively specific and evocative, a smart, inclusive voice that is as much experienced guide as warmly approachable barstool (or more appropriately teppan counter stool) companero.So who is Rice, Noodle, Fish for? I think it’s for us readers who are not just attracted by the sensory descriptions of cuisine, however passionately and vividly written, but more importantly are curious and concerned about the cultural context behind it. In the Hiroshima chapter for example, he writes impeccably about the complicated flavors and textures of okonomiyaki, but also deftly weaves a multi-threaded fabric of the resilience of Hiroshima’s citizens, the nuances of Japanese immigration, and the sadness of a history that can’t be erased. The Kyoto chapter is as much about the wondrous kaiseki meals he partook of as it is about a food scene that intricately and subtly co-mingles iron-clad social traditions and small, restless jabs at change and contemporaneity.Rice, Noodle, Fish is exhilarating reading, packed with information and pleasurable prose, clearly communicating that behind every gorgeous Instagram photo of sushi or ramen or chawanmushi is the cultural weight of the society that bore them.

This book explores the complex and varied food of Japan. The author travels to several destinations and explores speciality dishes of the various regions with the help of chefs and assorted locals, for example covering sushi in Tokyo, ramen in Fukuoka and okonomiyaki in Hiroshima. It is not a restaurant guide or cookbook or even a travel guide in the usual sense, but you do a real sense of each cooking style covered and some history of the assorted cities and regions. It does not pretend to be comprehensive, and is an outsider's view, but an outsider who clearly has a genuine passion for Japanese food and a deep love of the country. Above all, Mr Goulding can write very well (he previously published "Eat This, Not That, which has sold 8 million copies and counting). He has a knack of capturing an insight into the places he visits that go beyond guidebook superficiality, and he is not afraid to admit his own limitations, such as his difficulty in understanding of kaiseki, that subtlest and most elaborate of culinary styles. Nor does he gloss over controversial issues, such as the treatment of the Ainu people in the chapter on Hokkaido. I have been to Japan eleven times so far but this book is packed with information that eluded me on my travels there, and the author seems to have chosen his local guides and advisors very well. Above all you will get a sense of the the fascination that Japan and its food holds to many of us. Whether you are familiar with Japan and its food or are just curious to learn more, I highly recommend this book.

I love Japanese food (and language), but I can't get into this book. Chapter one (Tokyo and sushi) is quite interesting, but after that the author keeps jumping from one topic to another and I couldn't keep up. I decided to just look at the pictures.I feel that the book should be split into more sub-chapters and include kanji for the difficult nouns and restaurant names. Reading 10 Japanese words written in unintelligible romaji in one page can really mess up your mind, even to a Japanese speaker like me.

This book is brilliant. The author is a true food nut, and where else is better to be nuttier about food than Japan?He really brings the place, people and flavours to life. Well written, captivating and colourful. His enthusiasm is infectious.This book can cure vegetarianism. 100% of fact. Actually, no, I made that bit up.Never a truer word was spoken, when he says that if you get a group of chefs around a table and ask them if they could only choose one cuisine to eat for the rest of their lives, all of them, without exception, will say Japanese cuisine. This book explains why.

Bought as a gift for friends who were about to honeymoon in Japan and had rave reviews back.

Ok but not as good as I expected. Lovely photos though. And some of the essays meet expectations while others don't.