Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China
by Jen Lin-Liu
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jen Lin-LiuEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-22
ISBN: 0156033747
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Mariner Books
Book Reviews of Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China
Book Review: Highly enjoyable, educational read
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best food books and memoirs I have read. By the time I got to the third page, I was hooked, and read it quickly over the next couple of days.
After graduating from college, the author (Jen) is living in China, working as a freelance journalist, when she decides to head to cooking school and learn about being a chef in China. She begins at the Hualian Cooking School in Beijing, where right off the bat, we learn that cooking schools and careers are different in China (it's not considered a glamorous or respected job, there's a national cooking exam to pass where the majority of the students teach, the students have almost no interest in being at school, and you learn primarily by watching someone else cook, not doing it yourself). She convinces one of the teachers at the school to give her private lessons, and between reading about the teacher showing Jen how to shop at markets and find the knife-sharpener, we get glimpses into what the teacher's life was like during Mao's time. The second part of the book focuses on Jen's time as an intern at a noodle stand and helping out at the rice harvest in rural China. In the third part, Jen becomes an intern at a fine dining restaurant in Shanghai, where we then learn about the lives of the other waitresses and the manager. Finally, in the fourth part, Jen returns to Beijing, where she briefly enlightens us on hutong living and cooking.
I don't know a lot about Chinese culture, and I found Jen's descriptions of Chinese life, history, and food to be very interesting. Besides learning to cook herself, Jen also visits a wide variety of restaurants, searching for great dishes. We see her eat at some interesting places, including a restaurant that specializes in preparing dishes from "male parts." She also manages to meet a wide variety of people, all with different backgrounds and goals, and provides the reader with views of their lives and how they ended up involved in the food industry. Finally, Jen has an enjoyable, concise writing style that makes for an easy, quick read. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Chinese food, and I would definitely read other books by this author.
Summary of Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China
A memorable and mouthwatering cook?s tour of today?s China
As a freelance journalist and food writer living in Beijing, Jen Lin-Liu already had a ringside seat for China?s exploding food scene. When she decided to enroll in a local cooking school?held in an unheated classroom with nary a measuring cup in sight?she jumped into the ring herself. Progressing from cooking student to noodle-stall and dumpling-house apprentice to intern at a chic Shanghai restaurant, she finds poor young men and women streaming in from the provinces in search of a ?rice bowl? (living wage); a burgeoning urban middle class hungry for luxury after decades of turmoil and privation; and the mentors who take her in hand in the kitchen and beyond. Together they present an unforgettable slice of contemporary China in the full swing of social and economic transformation.
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