Books I Love: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat

(CNB 2013)

This book 'Japanese women don't get old or fat' by Naomi Moriyama and co-author husband William Doyle was published in 2005. I had bought this book in 2009 but never really read it properly nor cooked anything from the numerous recipes in it until after I got back from a visit to Japan (in April last year). And I realised then that I should have really read it before going! I would have been more 'aware' of what to look out for in the land of sushi, the rising sun and beautiful cherry blossoms in the Spring.

Moriyama lives in New York but visits her country of birth often and 'rediscovers' the Tokyo kitchen of her mother. She recreates this kitchen in her own NY apartment and gives readers the how to, first laying out the statistics about Japanese women living the longest (they do get old, really old) and having the lowest obesity rate (a few do get fat, after all!). In her words, 'This book is a celebration of Japanese-style home cooking, a grand tour of Japanese food culture, and an exploration of expert opinions on the traditional Japanese diet, a way of eating based largely on fresh vegetables and fruit, rice, soy and fish, all served in modest portions'.

For me, this book serves as a good introduction to Japanese cooking and what Japanese food is all about. If I want to start living like a healthy Japanese woman, I have to begin by practising 'hara hachi bunme - eat until you are 80% full'. (Now where have I heard this before?)

In a way, reading the author's detailed description of forays into Tsukiji Market with her mother Chizuko, makes up for my own missed opportunity to properly experience this very busy, interesting old fish market in downtown Tokyo. But I did get to eat late breakfast brunch at what Moriyama terms 'one of the bustling world's-highest-class sushi restaurants on the edge of the market'.

Ex Libris CNB 1791