Asian Food Information: Print Sources

by Gary Allen

Resources

Summer Volume: 2000 Issue: 7(2) page(s): 11 and 30

In this issue of Flavor & Fortune, we continue to look at sources of information about Asian cookery and cuisine focusing mainly on print and sources other than electronic. They are in the following categories: Magazines and Journals, Books, Libraries, Bookstores, Commercial (Trade Groups and Importers), and Governmental. While some are not specifically Chinese, their Asian focus provides background of interest and use to the student of Chinese gastronomy. This limited list is not conclusive. When you find others, do share then with me and other Flavor and Fortune readers.

MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS:
Asian Home Gourmet; Raffles City Post Office Box 872; Singapore 911730; phone: 011 65 841 6668 or fax: 011 65 841 6667. Address queries to: Louwena Lau.

Flavors of Asia; Asian Attic, Inc.; 8 Briarwood Terrace; Albany, NY 12203

The New Asia Cuisine Scene; 102F Pasir Panjang Road; 05 06 Citilink Complex; Singapore 118530; phone: 011 65 4522767 or fax: 011 65 2342945. Their email address is: heritage@singnet.com.sg

BOOKS:
Bladholm, Linda. The Asian Grocery Store Demystified. Los Angeles, CA: Renaissance Books, 1999. This volume was reviewed in Flavor and Fortune Volume 6(4)on page 19.

Chang, Kwang Chih, editor. Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977.

Herklots, Geoffrey Alton Craig. Vegetables in South East Asia. New York, Hafner Press, 1972.

Hirota, Dennis, editor. Wind in the Pines: Classic Writings of the Way of Tea as a Buddhist Path. Fremont, California: Asian Humanities Press, 1995.

Khare, R. S., and Rao, M.S.A., editors. Food, Society and Culture: Aspects in South Asian Food Systems. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 1986.

Lai, T.C. Chinese Food for Thought. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Book Centre, 1978.

Lin, Hsiang Ju. Chinese Gastronomy. New York: Pyramid, 1972.

Newman, Jacqueline M. Chinese Cookbooks: An Annotated English Language Compendium/Bibliography. New York and London: Garland Publishing Co., 1987.

Passmore, Jacki. The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking. New York: Hearst Books, 1991.

Sen, Soshistsu X.V. with Dixon, M.V., translator. The Japanese Way of Tea: From Its Origins in China to Sen Rikyu. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998.

Solomon, Charmaine and Nina Solomon. Charmaine Solomon's Encyclopedia of Asian Food. Boston: Periplus Editions, 1991.

LIBRARIES WITH EXTENSIVE GASTRONOMIC MATERIALS:
Foundation of Chinese Dietary Culture; 145 Chien Kuo North Road, Sec. 2; Taipei; Taiwan. Phone: 011 886 02 503 111 (Contact: Scott Shiang) or fax: 011 886 02 505 7095; also e-mail: chin7690@ms1.hinet.net; their website is: www.fcdc.org.tw/index.htm main page also
www.fcdc.org.tw/html/search_2E.htm library catalog

Johnson and Wales College Library; Hospitality Center; 1150 Narragansett Boulevard; Cranston, RI 02905. Phone: (401) 456 1174; website:
http://www.jwu.edu/main page

Los Angeles Public Library; 630 West Fifth Street; Los Angeles, CA 90071. Phone: (213) 228 7200 or 7000 or fax: (213) 228 7209; telnet: pac.lapl.org library catalog, Login: none needed; website:www.carl.org:1080 library catalog; also read about their culinary holdings at: www.lapl.org/central/food

New York Public Library, Science and Technology Research Center; Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, Room 121; New York, NY 10018. Phone: (212) 930 0574; telnet: nyplgate.nypl.org or 129.143.1.2. Their library catalog login: username is: nypl, the password is also nypl

Rare Book and Special Collections Division; Library of Congress; Thomas Jefferson Building, Room 204; Washington, DC 20540. Phone: (202) 707 2016 (contact Rob Sheilds) or fax: (202) 707 4142; website: lcweb.loc.gov/harvest/ query:lc.html/library catalog

University of California University Libraries, Special Collections; University of California, Davis; Davis, CA 95616. Phone: (916) 752 1621 or 6176; website: lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/melvyl.html library catalog

The Culinary Institute of America; 433 Albany Post Road; Hyde Park, NY 12538 1499. Phone: (914) 452 1322 (contact Gert Tranl) or fax: (914) 452 8629; website: www.ciachef.edu/Library/lredirect.html library catalog

SPECIALIZED BOOKSTORES:
The Asian Foodbookery; Post Office Box 15947; 7726 32nd Avenue Northeast; Seattle, WA 98115 0947. Phone: (425) 523 3575 or fax: (425) 281 2076

Tuttle Antiquarian Books, Inc.; 28 South Main Street; Rutland, VT 05701. Phone: (802) 773 8229 or fax: (802) 773 1493; also e-mail: tuttbook@interloc.com

COMMERCIAL SOURCES (Trade Groups and Importers):
This group of sources is different from most of the others listed in this article. Using them is more personal, as you will often be speaking directly with your sources, not just reading their words. This can be more difficult but it can also be more rewarding. Keep in mind that, while part of the trade groups purposes are education and supplying the media with press releases, their primary function is to foster their industry. Importers, on the other hand, do not exist for the dissemination of trade information. They are, however, are very knowledgeable and can, if approached respectfully and in a way that does not waste their time, provide insights that are not available anywhere else.

American Asean Trade Council; American Association of S. E. Asian Nations; 320 East 79th Street; New York, NY 10021. Phone: (212) 249 2059

Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center; Box 42 Shanhua Tainan 741; Taiwan ROC. Phone: 011 886 6 583 7801 or fax: 011 886 6 583 0009; also e-mail: terry@netra.arvdc.org.tw their website: www.avrdc.org.tw

Association of Chinese Cooking Teachers; c/o Martin Yan''s Cooking School; 1064 G Shell Boulevard; Foster City, CA 94404. e-mail: anusasanananl@sunsetpub.com

China Pacific Foods, Inc.; 15672 Container Lane; Huntington Beach, CA 92649 1533. Phone: (714) 891 6639

Hong Kong Trade Development Council; 219 East 46th Street; New York, NY 10017. Phone: (212) 838 8688

Kwok Shing Import/Export, Inc.; 1818 Harrison Street; San Francisco, CA 94103 4231. Phone: (415) 661 1668

Seasia; 4601 Sixth Avenue South; Seattle, WA 98108. Phone: (206) 624 6380

Taiwan Trade Center; 420 Fifth Avenue, 28th Floor; New York, NY 10019. Phone: (212) 730 4466

Wah Young Company; 717 19 South King Street; Seattle, WA 98104. Phone: (206) 622 4338

Wei Chuan USA, Inc.; 6655 South Garfield Avenue; Bell Gardens, CA 90201. Phone: (213) 587 6241

Wing Sing Chong Company, Inc.; 685 Seventh Street; San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: (415) 552 1234

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