Chinese food writing
These are just some of the books I’ve managed to collect. English titles are loosely translated.
- 300 Chinese Recipes for the Home 家庭向支那料理三百種, 1933
- Book of Tea 茶经, Lu Yu 陆羽, 8th century
- China Food 中国食品, 1978-
- Chongqing Famous Recipes 重庆名菜, 1966
- Cooking for Commune Canteens 公共食堂烹饪, 1959
- Cooking for the Masses 大众菜谱, 1973
- Dietetic Pharmacopeia 食疗本草, Meng Shen 孟诜, 8th century
- Dream of Splendor in the Eastern Capital 東京夢華錄, Meng Yuanlao 孟元老, 12th century
- Essential Techniques for the Common People 齐民要术, Jia Sixie 贾思勰, 6th century
- Family Cookbook 家庭菜谱, 1956
- Flavouring the Pot 调鼎集, late 18th or mid-19th century
- Food and Drink of the Cloud Forest Hall 云林堂饮食制度集, Ni Zan 倪瓒, 14th century
- Foreign Pharmacopoeia 还要本草, Li Xun 李珣, 10 th century
- Garden of Enlightenment 醒园录, Li Huanan 李化楠, 18th century
- Practical Collection of Vital Home Skills 居家必用事类全集, Yuan dynasty
- Mr Song’s Book of Longevity 宋氏养生部, Song Xu 宋诩, early 17th century
- Mrs Wu’s Records from the Kitchen 宋浦江吳氏中饋錄, Song dynasty. (Not to be confused with other books also called Records from the Kitchen 中饋錄. These are from the late Qing.)
- Pleasure Boats of Yangzhou扬州画舫录, Li Dou 李斗, late 18th – early 19th century
- Principles of Eating and Drinking 饮膳正要, Hu Si 忽思, 14th century
- Recipes from the Garden of Contentment 随园食单, Yuan Mei 袁枚 late 18th century
- Secrets of the Table 食宪鸿秘, Zhu Yizun 朱彝尊 late 17th-early 18th century
- Secrets of Western Cooking 西餐烹饪秘诀, 1925
- Sichuan cuisine 四川菜谱 1977
- Statute of the Court of Imperial Entertainments 光禄寺则例, 1839
- Thoughts on a Vegetarian Diet 素食说略 Xue Baochen 薛宝辰, late 19th-early 20th century
- Yi Ya’s Recorded Thoughts易牙遗意 , Han Yi 韩奕 14th century
English-language reference
These are some of the classic books on the history and culture of food in China. The older books should all be available in any reasonably large library.
Overall
- Anderson, Eugene, The Food of China (New Haven, 1988). The classic.
- Chang, Kwang-chih, Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives (New Haven, 1977)
- Höllmann, Thomas O., 2014. The Land of the Five Flavours: A Cultural History of Chinese Cuisine (New York: Columbia University Press, 2019)
- Lin, Hsiang Ju, Slippery Noodles: A Culinary History of China (London, 2015)
Technology
- Bray, Francesca, Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 6, part II: Agriculture (Cambridge, 1984)
- Huang, H. T., Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 6, part V: Fermentations and Food Science (Cambridge, 2001)
Culture and politics
- Feng, Jin, Tasting Paradise on Earth: Jiangnan Foodways (Seattle, 2019)
- Swislocki, Marc, Culinary Nostalgia: Regional Food Culture and the Urban Experience in Shanghai (Stanford, 2009)
- Sterckx, Roel, Of Tripod and Palate: Food Politics and Religion in Traditional China (New York, 2005)
Food in society
- Oxfeld, Ellen, Bitter and Sweet: Food Meaning and Modernity in Rural China (Oakland, 2017)
- Watson, James, Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia (Stanford, 2006). Especially Yunxiang Yan’s classic chapter on McDonald’s in Beijing.
Sources
- Yuan, Mei, trans. Sean Jy-Shyang Chen, The Way of Eating: Yuan Mei’s Manual of Gastronomy (Great Barrington Massachusetts, 2019). This outstanding translation also has a companion volume devoted specifically to recipes.