Physics professor Zee writes about how to understand the menus in Chinese restaurants, explaining the characters, what they mean, and the colorful stories behind the names of various dishes. Anne Tyler (in the Washington Post) called Swallowing Clouds "a study of the very nature of Chinese culture. Zee has a quirky, personal style that draws the reader in."
A. Zee is professor of theoretical physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of Fearful Symmetry: The Search for Beauty in Modern Physics and An Old Man's Toy: Gravity at Work and Play in Einstein's Universe.
Preface Time Line A Word about Pronunciation Introduction Beijing Men Built a Fire Slicing through Water Interlude 1: Phonetics, or Why Some Characters Look Horribly Complicated Sleep of the Truly Inebriated Swallowing Clouds Chinese Pigs Stand Interlude 2: The Appalling Ignorance of Some Scribes A Delicacy for Aging Men No Contest between Fish and a Bear with Eight Legs Courtesans Do Not Eat Crabs Interlude 3: To All You Carnivores The Sweet Fragrance of Crops Ripening How to Avoid Being Vulgar The Pockmarked Woman and the Pearly Empress Interlude 4: Words Are Like Our Children Buddha Jumping over Walls Act without Acting, Taste without Tasting Interlude 5: Like Eating Potato Chips The Sublime Faith in Illusions Pieces of Her Heart Elixirs and the Food of Health From Banquets to Voyages of Discovery Epilogue: All Banquets Must Come to an End Afterword by Linda Rui Feng Appendix A. How to Exercise Your Arm and Throat while Drinking Appendix B. A Few Recipes Notes Bibliography Table of Dynasties Table of Some Common Radicals Used in this Book Table of Characters and Radicals Cited by Chapter Acknowledgments A Final Note
A delightful and rewarding book for anybody... For the even mildly curious, Swallowing Clouds is almost essential foreplay, not just to one but to a lifetime of good Chinese meals. -- James Barber, The Urban Peasant
In this lyrical work, theoretical physicist Zee steps outside his specialty to write about his true loves - Chinese cooking, language, and culture. Zee's format is elegant: he takes a common food on the menu of any Chinese American restaurant, explicates the Chinese characters designating the food, and relates charming anecdotes and history associated with the food. Charming... A study of the very nature of Chinese culture. Zee has a quirky, personal style that draws the reader in. The most delightful food book of the year,... a happy blending of instruction and amusement in the language, culture, and cuisine of China. Interesting and unique... Family anecdotes, folklore, and good sketches help the author present a new understanding and meaning behind this rich and complex cuisine. A truly delightful literary compendium of wit, wisdom, and how-to. A delightful and rewarding book for anybody... For the even mildly curious, Swallowing Clouds is almost essential foreplay, not just to one but to a lifetime of good Chinese meals.
