359648 Fri Jan 12 17:53:15 -0800 2007 17 30 Site Talk 0 2178654 Plenty of good Asian cookbooks by Asians in Asian languages. We are somewhat hampered here by working in English. These cookbooks are the ones that people seemed most excited about in the cookbook suggestion thread. Thu Jan 11 20:48:05 -0800 2007 29959 redwood2bay 1 2179846 Nonsense...there are many available, and Amazon is full to overflowing with them, as is my local library... Fri Jan 12 01:35:15 -0800 2007 2178654 10485 ChowFun_derek 2 2179915 this is a group consensus process, and dependent on people putting forward ideas in the first round of suggestions. Im sure that another asian cuisine book will be chosen this year - that will be a good time to make different suggestions. I wonder, do you think there is a better book written in English on the cuisine of Szechuan than Fuschia Dunlop's? Fri Jan 12 01:55:49 -0800 2007 2179846 11130 jen kalb 2 2181935 ChowFun, Yes, but which ones to choose? To say that this is "embarrassingly weighted against Asian authors" when there are only three cookbooks mentioned... is a little much, I think. I chose the cookbooks that seemed to have the most interest and/or were widely available. I thought that "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" looked very interesting, for example, but was so recently released that it's not widely available through the library systems yet. As Jen pointed out, there will be many other months available. We are not trying to choose "the best Asian cookbook" or anything of the sort: we are trying to choose a cookbook that people will enjoy cooking from. I am sorry that the choices offend you, ChowFun, but you can always choose not to participate. Sometimes folks won't like a particular cookbook and thus won't cook from it that month-- we can't please everyone. Fri Jan 12 17:48:42 -0800 2007 2179846 29959 redwood2bay 3 2185041 I'm pointing out that one of four, is Asian, or 75% non Asian authors for an Asian cookbook is insensitive, as well as totally unnecessary.....I was hoping for understanding and not the 'defensiveness" exhibited here.... and I certainly never said that non-Asians can't write an Asian cookbook....enjoy them.. but this is skewed away from Asian author's and the one Asian cookbook offered, although readily available... is out of print...we CAN and we must do better....3 out of 4 Non-Asian.authors is not an acceptable proportion to me and exhibits a Euro-Centrism that I find disquieting. The choices themselves don't "offend" me in the least...however the disregard for balance and awareness does. Sat Jan 13 16:19:50 -0800 2007 2181935 10485 ChowFun_derek 4 2185388 I think you may have missed the thread linked below, or be unfamiliar with the process of voting on the cookbook of the month. Redwood2Bay, as she has done all the previous months, asks everybody to weigh in on titles they would be interested in, including various cookbooks, categories, and authors (Asian and non-Asian). As you can see, for February, over 30 'Hounds volunteered their suggestions, resulting in a list of books from Mai Pham's "Vietnamese Table" to Tom Colicchio's "Think Like a Chef". Next, there is the work of whittling down to three that seem to have garnered the most interest (another consideration are books that would be readily available at libraries for 'Hounds to have access to). It's been a system that has worked out great with all of us having lots of fun posting our reports as we cook along. There's no imbalance or "Euro-Centrism," or that everybody is defensive over non-Asian authors, it's because we've been doing the cook-along for months now, it's an efficient system (not sure you've been involved in any of the previous choices?), and it requires a lot of work by the organizer who generously volunteers her time and is greatly appreciated. February 2007 Cookbook of the Month: Your Suggestions Needed: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/355998 Sat Jan 13 18:30:50 -0800 2007 2185041 10271 Rubee 5 2185961 My thoughts were not directed at the gracious organizer, but in general to Chowhounders at large.... to be a little more sensitive of these issues.... Sat Jan 13 21:47:46 -0800 2007 2185388 10485 ChowFun_derek 6 2186365 ChowFun... we hear you. I hope that the next time we have a discussion thread about which cookbook to select, you'll weight in earlier with your recommendations. It is hard for the community at large to be sensitive of these issues. Many times folks are simply excited by a cookbook they have seen on the shelf, such as Fuchsia Dunlop's or Hot Sour Salty Sweet. I find that classic titles often don't attract as much interest, though I try to include one in most of our votes. Meanwhile, I'm curious, which titles would you recommend? Personally, I've had difficulty finding Asian cookbooks I really like, which is one of the reasons I relied so heavily on the hounds' recommendations. Sun Jan 14 00:25:24 -0800 2007 2185961 29959 redwood2bay 6 2187366 I'm afraid I don't get this - Rubee described for you how the system worked - it wasn't "Let's cook Asian food in February" and then CHers came up with a list of cookbooks written primarily by non-Asians (and, if they did, that is their/our perogative). As Rubee said, those who participated made suggestions about cookbooks that were, so to speak, all over the map - mine was the "Think Like A Chef". The fact that we ended up with a list of three (not four) books about Asian cooking only one of which was written by an Asian person is simply a function of the names that were initially suggested. I don't think there was *any* insensitivity on anyone's part here, nor a "disregard for balance and awareness" nor Euro-Centrism. I think there is something wonderful about a group of cooks across the United States - none of whom I know - nor do I know their ethnic or racial identity - getting together to cook from the same cookbook for a month, and in this instance, some of us branching out to learn to cook from a geographic area that is new to many of us. And so when we start to cook from which ever of the three books is chosen, and people start posting their comments etc., I won't know if the poster is Asian or not, only whether, in the past, I've found that poster's comments reliable etc. Should the poster's ethnicity inform my impressions of the results of their dish or their comments on a dish or recipe? Sun Jan 14 10:54:54 -0800 2007 2185961 10985 MMRuth 1 2182298 Also Dunlop, Duguid and Alford may not be Asian, but they are still authorities on the subject, esp Dunlop. Fri Jan 12 18:55:24 -0800 2007 2178654 18154 prunefeet 1 2186442 We're looking for cookbooks of merit to cook together from. As far as I am concerned the best cookbooks (written in English) should win. I cant see that we should have a standard other than a source of delicious food. Putting forward the best books (whoever is writing them) is the way to get there. You can really get bent out of shape about this sort of thing. Is Grace Young "asian" or american? What about Maya Kaimal? What about Mrs Chiang's szechuan cookbook which was written by the european lady she worked for? Ultimately the cred of the author is whether the recipes turn out the food correctly. Sun Jan 14 00:54:18 -0800 2007 2186390 11130 jen kalb 1 2188024 It would not occur to me to check the nationality of the author. And maybe that proves ChowFun_derek's point--it doesn't occur to me, I simply don't notice--certainly that could be taken as insensitive. Sun Jan 14 18:03:18 -0800 2007 2178654 42470 blue room 2 2190947 Assuming this were even desirable to do, how could you tell the nationality of the author anyway? What if the author is of a certain nationality and took the surname of his or her partner, who might be of another nationality? ~TDQ Mon Jan 15 18:36:39 -0800 2007 2188024 12005 The Dairy Queen 1 2191601 No, you can't know the background of the author by the name on the book. And of course the cook's heritage has nothing to do with how well they cook ANY dish. My point was just that I didn't notice that some of the cookbook authors had non-Asian names, and ChowFun_derek DID notice. Which makes him more sensitive than I. Mon Jan 15 21:29:10 -0800 2007 2178654 42470 blue room 1 2191631 Would this mean we couldn't use Julia Child as a resource for French cooking? Diana Kennedy for Mexican? Paula Wolfert for Moroccan? Jean Anderson for Portuguese? jen kalb is absolutely right. We're looking for good recipes from knowledgeable cooks. Who the author's parents are shouldn't be a determining factor. Mon Jan 15 21:35:05 -0800 2007 2178654 11407 JoanN 2 2191672 Exactly, and I'm sure we will get to try out many other Asian cookbooks as we proceed with this project. And I'm not trying to be rude at all, but if you don't participate in the cook-along, then I don't really understand why you're concerned about the cookbook choice. Mon Jan 15 21:46:43 -0800 2007 2191631 12813 Katie Nell 1 2192075 Katie Nell and JoanN and The Dairy Queen, (if you are replying to my comment)--No no, of course no rudeness felt (I love it here), I just think there's a misunderstanding. I'm white, Irish/German ancestors, quite middle class American. I don't care who writes what cookbook! I understand how the books are chosen, and I *don't* agree with ChowFun_derek that there is "Euro-centrism" at work here. I enjoy reading his posts always, and all of yours too. My comment was purely a social comment, a personal observation. If I saw a cookbook titled "More Incredible Irish Breakfasts Than You Can Shake a Stick At", by Myoko Hokkaido, it would stand out. But Fuschia Dunlop on Chinese food didn't seem out of place. Like the bumper sticker, START SEEING MOTORCYCLES, it truly simply just hit me--IF this HAD been some sort of racial slight or injustice, it would have gone right over my head. (How much more do I not see?) p.s. I do participate, as much as I can! I did the "Mexico One Plate at a Time", enjoyed it and learned so much! Mon Jan 15 23:27:39 -0800 2007 2178654 42470 blue room 2 2192118 I was replying to ChowFun_derek- sorry for the confusion! Mon Jan 15 23:40:07 -0800 2007 2192075 12813 Katie Nell