h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

For my birthday last month, K's parents gave me a gift card for a major bookseller. I'm always happy to have more new books, and I found some cool stuff. One in particular, however, is so cool I wanted to post about it here.

I found the first two volumes of a "best of" release of a popular manga series, "Oishinbo". The comic started running in Japan in the early '80s. I've never seen it released here before.

"Oishinbo" (which means "The Gourmet")is, as one Amazon.com reviewer puts it, "a graphic novel, a cookbook, and primer on Japanese culture all in one". That about sums it up. The publisher, Viz, is calling the "best of" volumes "a la Carte", and there are seven titles (so far), the last four of which will be released in July, September, November and January.

http://tinyurl.com/l92xtf

Volume 1 introduces the characters and the fundamentals of Japanese cuisine. Subsequent volumes are:

Sake
Ramen & Gyoza
Sushi, Fish & Sashimi
Vegetables
Joy of Rice
Izakaya- Pub Food

I'm about halfway into the first volume, and I absolutely LOVE it. I've ordered the third volume (s/b delivered sometime next week, I imagine) and have pre-ordered the rest so I'll receive them as they're released. If you're keen on manga/ comics, like cooking and are interested in technique and cultural significance of food, and have an interest in Japanese culture, I can't recommend this series enough.

Apparently, an anime series ran in the late '80s and early '90s, and I hope to track that down sometime, too.

Bizarrely I think I've heard of that - and I say bizarre cos I ain't really into manga and I ain't a foodie. I shall have to try and puzzle out how such a thing came to my attention!

Sounds interesting though

Same here, Ictoan - noit into mangas, not into cooking (or eating for that matter).

I had a voucher for a bookshop left from my birthday., and I bought:

Der Mathematik-Verführer (The Maths Enticer)

and

Fish and Fritz (short for 'Pommes Frites - French Fries, and Germans pronounce that like the old name of Fritz.

It's written by a German correspondent living and working in London for a German newspaper.

When I picked it up, I just figured it would be something quirky and amusing, because I've recently grown to like manga, and I'm getting into Japanese cooking quite a bit lately. But gosh, is it informative as well as entertaining.

The "A La Carte" compilations apparently don't contain the complete strips in their entirety, but I think the presentation's pretty good. The characters are already fairly well developed, and I've just gotten to the fifth "chapter".

I wonder how I missed it all these years... but I'm glad I've found it now. Better late than never.

Fish and Fritz sounds interesting.

Bel- fortunately, I enjoy cooking more than eating, or I'd need my own postal code. Though I do enjoy eating a nice meal...

Have fun!

But it sounds utterly like something I'd never read. I don't like Manga. And I have a problem with the Japanese culture.

PCandy, I am glad you found something neat!