Customer Reviews

Authentic Recipes from Japan

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Takayuki Kosaki and Walter Wagner have published two books that are almost exactly the same. In 1996, The Food of Japan: Authentic Recipes from the Land of the Rising Sun appeared and, 8 years later, in 2004, they published Authentic Recipes From Japan. I should hasten to add, that the latter is not merely the first book published under a different name. The supplementary content in the newer version is a bit more in depth and many of the recipes in each book, while being for the same basic dish, are not exactly the same. Indeed, one would likely not notice the similarities in the two books were it not for the identical photographs. Each book does a few things better than the other but the sum total of the differences is not enough to warrant purchasing both. I ended up buying both before being aware of the similarities and I feel a little cheated. The newer book is part of a 'Authentic recipes from ... ' series and I own several, all of which are very good, while the earlier book also appears to be part of a 'The Food of ...' series. I only own the Japanese title from this set but I do not plan to buy anymore in thus series unless I can first be satisfied that I am not going to be buying just a slightly different version of a book I already own in the 'Authentic Recipes' group.

The foregoing notwithstanding, I should note that both books are very nicely done and would each be great for both the novice and the collector. My only advice is that, if you own one then don't buy the other and, if you own neither, the newer version, 'Authentic recipes from Japan' is probably the better buy.

For anyone interested in japanese cooking books but have many already this one is for you. It is a unique cookbook with traditional recipes and beautiful photos. Instead of the same old boring recipes found in many japanese cooking books, making them all very similar, this book is refreshingly different with new recipes to try. I guarantee you will not be disappointed with this cookbook.

there are tons of great recipes in here and they provide background information that is interesting and relevant. very nice