Invitation to a Banquet

WINNER OF THE FORTNUM AND MASON FOOD BOOK AWARD
LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDRE SIMON AWARD

¿A brilliant, passionate and spellbinding tour de force¿ Claudia Roden

The epic tale of the world''s most sophisticated gastronomic culture, toldthrough a banquet of thirty Chinese dishes

Chinese was the earliest truly global cuisine. When the first Chinese labourers began to sojourn and settle abroad, restaurants appeared in their wake. Yet Chinese food has the curious distinction of being both one of the world''s best-loved culinary traditions and one of the least understood. For more than a century, the overwhelming dominance of a simplified form of Cantonese cooking ensured that few foreigners experienced anything of its richness and sophistication - but today that is beginning to change.

In this book, the James Beard Award-winning cook and writer Fuchsia Dunlop explores the history, philosophy and techniques of China''s rich and ancient culinary cult