The Way of Eating

Yuan Mei´s Manual of Gastronomy

By: Mei Yuan, Sean Chen (Translator)

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Paperback | 31 March 2019

At a Glance

Paperback
252 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.59 x 13.97 x 1.35

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$49.45

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The Way of Eating: Yuan Mei`s Manual of Gastronomy is, remarkably, the first English edition of one of the world's most famous books about food. The Way of Eating is a treatise and a cookbook, written in the late eighteenth century by the Qing dynasty poet Yuan Mei. It includes recipes for well-known dishes such as birds nest and sharks fin, and offers modern readers an appealing perspective on Chinese history and culinary culture, and was translated and annotated by Sean J. S. Chen with editorial advice from E. N. Anderson and Jeffrey Riegel.

This edition is in English but includes Chinese characters and vocabulary, and is 250 pages in length. The team's aim was to convey the charm, humor, and erudition of one of China's greatest writers. Also included are a glossary and a bibliography of additional sources.

Chinese food expert Nicole Mones, author of the novel The Last Chinese Chef, has contributed an engaging introduction to Yuan Mei and his work.

Industry Reviews

"The publication of The Way of Eating: Yuan Mei's Manual of Gastronomy is indeed a landmark event and not only in culinary scholarship. Yuan's wit and love of food is an added bonus and greatly enhances our understanding of one of the world's greatest cuisines." - Ken Hom, OBE, author of My Stir-fried Life and other cookery books

"Like everyone else with a serious interest in Chinese food, I've long heard rumors of Yuan Mei and his seminal book. Alas, there was no English translation. Now there is - and it's even better than anticipated. This is far more than a cookbook: The Way of Eating is food history at its finest, a window into a fascinating and long-lost world." -Ruth Reichl, former editor of Gourmet

"The Way of Eating is one of China's greatest classical cookbooks. It is also unique in that it beguiles its readers with wit, intelligence, and brevity, much like Fernand Point's Ma Gastronomie. Translating something as difficult as this is therefore an event worth celebrating, and kudos go out to Sean Chen for his meticulously scholarly approach. Open the cover and prepare to be enchanted." -Carolyn Phillips, author of All Under Heaven

"The Way of Eating is a classic and two centuries later it still sparkles with Yuan's irascible charm, his epic passion for food, and his near-religious devotion to the pleasures of the senses." - Nicole Mones, author of the novel The Last Chinese Chef

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