A Dictionary of Japanese Food: Ingredients and Culture

At last, what every Westerner in a Japanese restaurant or market needs—the first truly comprehensive dictionary of Japanese food and ingredients. Standard dictionaries can often mislead us—with akebia for akebi, sea cucumber for namako, plum for ume. Hosking's dictionary includes not only dishes and ingredients, but also everything from the delicate mitsuba leaf to the dreadful okoze. Colorful appendices disclose aspects of Japanese culture such as the making of miso and the tea ceremony, as well as the influence of vegetarianism.

With Japanese-English and English-Japanese sections, A Dictionary of Japanese Food explains the nuances and eliminates the mysteries of Japanese food.