Swallowing Clouds

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Swallowing Clouds: A Playful Journey Through Chinese Culture, Language, and Cuisine by Anthony Zee University of Washington Press; 1 edition (March 2002) ISBN : 0295981911, 978-0295981918 While gathering some facts on wontons, I came across a book titled Swallowing Clouds at the library. The title caught my eyes because swallowing clouds is a literal translation of wonton in the cantonese dialet. I know this book will definitely talk about wontons. It is written by Prof Anthony Zee, a professor of physics at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of California. Before you start to think ... how boring (no offence to physics buffs), this book is actually very readable. It was so well received that it was nominated for the James Beard Award and the International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Award. The springboard of the book is a chinese restaurant menu. Prof Zee used the entries in the menu to kick off his discussion about chinese cuisine, chinese language and chinese culture. It is chock full of family anecdotes, the epistemology (i.e. origin) of certain chinese characters and of course, the history of chinese food. The book includes an entire chapter on wontons (page 67 to 78) including: his family secret recipe for wontons and the wonton soup an explanation of the chinese characters making up wonton his musings about a saying involving the wontons Although the book is over 300 pages long, it is a very easy read because Prof Zee's writing is lively and humorous. I only wish that it has more photos. The rather plain cover and use of simple illustrations does not do justice to the fantastic content. In 2002, when this book was first published, the list price was US$18.95. It is currently out-of-print with most book suppliers. Only a handful still has stocks. According to allbookstores.com current prices for this book (new & used) ranges from US$33.40 to US$200.00 excluding shipping charges. (up-to-date as of 28 July 2007)