A review by nicolemhewitt
Oishinbo: Japanese Cuisine: a la Carte by Tetsu Kariya

4.0

This is a really unique manga because it’s almost more instructional than it is entertainment. The book teaches all about Japanese cuisine and preparation methods, but it does it in a fun and interesting way. The story follows Yamaoka Shiro, who has been tasked with creating the “ultimate menu.” But he is thwarted at every turn by his cantankerous, impossible-to-please father, who insists Yamaoka knows nothing about proper cooking techniques. In many scenes in the book, Yamaoka has to prove his skills or his knowledge. The book teaches about many types of Japanese food preparation and also teaches about things like knife skills and etiquette. There is a huge emphasis on doing things in the traditional way with fresh, organic ingredients. I’m honestly not much of a foodie, but even I found the discussion of the Japanese foods and cooking methods to be incredibly interesting.

The only drawback to the manga is that this is sort of a “best of the best of,” so you don’t get the full story arc. The story skips around in time (you find out from notes that certain characters are married, etc). I missed learning the details of those stories, but I understand why it had to be done this way since the manga was HUGE in Japan (with over 100 volumes), and they couldn’t possibly have translated them all.

Overall, I give this 4/5 Stars.