WINNER OF THE FORTNUM AND MASON FOOD BOOK AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDRE SIMON AWARD 'A
brilliant passionate and spellbinding tour de force' Claudia Roden The epic tale of the
world's most sophisticated gastronomic culture told through a banquet of thirty Chinese dishes
Chinese was the earliest truly global cuisine. When the first Chinese labourers began to
sojourn and settle abroad restaurants appeared in their wake. Yet Chinese food has the curious
distinction of being both one of the world's best-loved culinary traditions and one of the
least understood. For more than a century the overwhelming dominance of a simplified form of
Cantonese cooking ensured that few foreigners experienced anything of its richness and
sophistication - but today that is beginning to change. In this book the James Beard
Award-winning cook and writer Fuchsia Dunlop explores the history philosophy and techniques of
China's rich and ancient culinary culture. Each chapter examines a classic dish from mapo tofu
to Dongpo pork knife-scraped noodles to braised pomelo pith to reveal a singular aspect of
Chinese gastronomy whether it's the importance of the soybean the lure of exotic ingredients
or the history of Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Meeting local food producers chefs gourmets
and home cooks as she tastes her way across the country Fuchsia invites readers to join her on
an unforgettable journey into Chinese food as it is made cooked eaten and considered in its
homeland. Weaving together historical scholarship mouth-watering descriptions of food and
on-the-ground research conducted over the course of three decades Invitation to a Banquet is a
lively landmark tribute to the pleasures and mysteries of Chinese cuisine.
