The Food of China

"This was one of the books on my reading list when I did a Masters degree in Chinese studies at SOAS [in London], for which I wrote a dissertation on Sichuanese food. It offers a good counterpart to the KC Chang. It’s very well researched and comprehensive, covering all aspects of Chinese cooking – ingredients, cooking techniques, history, agricultural system and so on. But although Anderson is an anthropologist, The Food of China is written in a slightly more accessible style, halfway between that of a popular book and a very scholarly book. And because it is written in one voice rather than by a group of different scholars, it’s a really good read."