Weekend Cooking: Two Japanese Foodie Novel Reviews

I have done very badly in my reading for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge which I signed up for this year and runs all through January and February. In my head, January should have been a month long extravaganza of all things Japanese, and then I could share a couple more reviews in February! Success! I did go and see a Japanese artist exhibition in January, but never really posted about it, and I have read one book this year, so ....not success?

The books that I do find myself reading when I read Japanese literature have quite a few similarities. Many of them episodic in nature - almost a collection of short stories. Most of them all seem to be looking at the people who are left behind and the grief they feel, and how grief is processed. Another series which has these similar characteristics is the Before the Coffee Gets Cold, which I have posted about previously. I have a friend who lived in Japan for a couple of years ago and we were talking about this recently which was an interesting conversation about the differences in cultures.

Today, I am going to share mini reviews of two books which both have food at their core and both have the similar episodic formats 

The first is The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisash Kashiwai, which is the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. I read and reviewed the first book in the series last year and really enjoyed it.

The idea of this book is that if you can find the restaurant you can tell them about a dish that has such perfect memories for you. The food detective, primarily former police detective Nagare Kamogawa, will then take the clues that you have provided and try to recreate the dish as authentically as possible. There is no magic in this series, unless you count the magical power of food to bring back memories

There are six stories in this book. They are:

 A famous swimmer who wants to have another taste of the nori-ben that his father used to make,  before they had a big falling out, 

A food writer who busily critiques all of the food she is served but then wants them to recreate a hamburger steak which is her son's favourite.

A couple who run a traditional confectionary shop who want to track down a Japanese Christmas cake

A model looking for the fried rice that her mother used to make her

A man looking for ramen that replicates the one he used to have at university

A one hit wonder that had been waiting thirty years for her next hit to recreate a celebration meal but it didn't happen.

The descriptions of the food throughout the book are absolutely mouth watering. The Christmas Cake story inspired me to make a Japanese Strawberry Shortcake, which is their version. I posted about making that here.

The relationship between Nagare and his daughter Koishi who helps him with his detecting underlies the stories, particularly as they take care to honour their wife and mother who has passed away some time ago. And yes, there is a cat! It's name is Drowsy and it appears in all the stories.

There are currently 11 books in this series published in Japan, but only two have been translated into English so far. As soon as more have been translated I will definitely be reading them 

The Chibineko Kitchen is the first book in The Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen series by Yuta Takahashi. It is also published with the title The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen.

I know that I probably shouldn't compare this book to either the When the Coffee Gets Cold series or the Yamogawa Food Detectives, but as I mentioned in the intro it is very difficult not too given the similarities in themes, the tone of the writing and the cats. There is one major difference with this book and that is there is a bit of a through story going through the four stories, more than there is in the other books I mentioned.

The Chibineko Kitchen is in a small seaside village not too far from Tokyo. They specialise in kagezen, which are traditional meals offered in remembrance of loved ones. The twist here is that it is possible that for the duration of the meal you can have one last conversation with them, one last chance to tell them that you love them, and to say goodbye.

In this book there are four stories.

The first is about a girl named Kotoko whose brother died and she is struggling with survivors guilt. She come to eat a fish stew made of a fish called fat greenling

The second story is about a young boy who shares an omelette sandwich with a young girl and then she disappears not long after!

The third is about making peanut rice for a neighbour of the restaurant

The final story is making beef hotpot and is for one of the main characters in the book

One of the points of difference to this book is that it actually includes the recipes. Some of them may be somewhat basic but they are there!

There are currently 9 books in the series. The second book comes out in English mid-year, and you can be sure that I will be getting my hands on it as soon as I can!

I know I have mentioned grief a lot here, but please don't think that these are heavy or depressing books. They are both very respectful of the people who are no longer in the lives of the characters for whatever reason, but there is also a joy and charm that lifts the books. As much as they are about looking backwards they are also about finding ways to move forward.

I have about four or five of these styles of books on my Kindle which I am hoping to read when I am visiting Japan and Korea in a few weeks time. That's my plan at any rate.

I am sharing this post with the Japanese Literature Challenge, hosted by Dolce Bellezza, with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story, and the Books in Translation Challenge hosted at Introverted Reader

Weekly meals

Saturday - Honey Pepper Chicken Stirfry
Sunday - Leftovers
Monday - Out for dinner
Tuesday - Takeaway
Wednesday - Zucchini, Tomato and Parmesan Risotto
Thursday - Baked Tuscan Chicken and Pasta
Friday - Mushroom Spaghetti Bolognaise

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page