Two books I thought about buying

Saw this mentioned in the new Saveur. Do I need a whole book about one fish market? Well, the very fact that it's possible to write a whole book about one fish market, like the fact that it's possible to write a whole book about one fish, is what recommends the book-- it wouldn't exist if it wasn't fascinating.

And speaking of Asian markets, gee, this looks awfully useful, doesn't it? There's a whole series of these about Indian, Latin, etc. stores.

Mike:

I read the cod book last winter and recently pulled it back off the shelf in conjunction with plans to write a related post... I ended up reading (and enjoying) a number of passages again. A fine book... some good recipes too...

Antonius

Hi,

Another single subject book worth considering is Trout, an Illustrated History by James Prosek.

David Hammond, his wife and I went to a lecture by James Prosek at the Insect-Wine pairing in November. He explained how his interest developed in trout. His first experience was deep sea fishing with his father, which he didn't enjoy. When he was 9, his Mother left the family. Around this time, his best friend took him trout fishing near their home in Connecticut. For whatever reason, he was smitten and fished as often as possible. He fished in areas where it is prohibited. He was caught by the Conservation officer who allowed him to continue and nurtured his interests. At 13, he began corresponding with trout experts to delineate what are the native trout to various rivers and streams. When he was 16 and had a drivers license, then he began driving around the country to hunt the native trout. Once caught, he painted their images and took notes for his edification. At 19 while at Yale, he was submitting a book proposal on the trout book, which was declined numerous times. Knopf took the project because Mr. Knopf himself was a trout fisherman. James Prosek is now in his late twenties and working on his 8th book.

Another interesting book he has authored Fly-Fishing the 41st: From Connecticut to Mongolia and Home Again : A Fisherman's Odyssey. He traveled the 41st parallel around the world fishing trout. Only when he came upon a dessert did he divert north or south to reach a trout stream.

On another occasion while in England, he had to go to art museums to identify native trout. There had been so much overfishing and stocking of ponds with non-native fish, it often made it impossible to find the native fish due to inbreeding. He was allowed to fish at an estate where records of the lake's activity had been kept for centuries. This lake was unique because it had not been restocked and very likely native fish were present.

I can confidently advise Hammond and I were very impressed by James Prosek. You may want to consider borrowing one of his books from your local library.

You may not need a book on Tsukiji but if you're ever in Tokyo, you need to experience it. You've got to get there around 4 in the morning and stay out of the way ... an astounding ballet of electric carts zipping around, streaking morning with their green and red lights ... the freshest smell of sea everywhere ... and more species of sea creature than you've ever seen. The bidding can be fierce if you overhear the auctions

After a couple hours of unbridled activity it wraps up almost instantly, everything and everyone disappearing. Then you shimmy over to one of the restaurants surrounding the market - past barrels of pickled items such as a booze heavy watermelon and dried bonito stacked so it looks like cords of wood - and eat a wider variety of sushi than you've probably ever been offered in your life for incredible prices. The friend I was with was American but had lived in Tokyo for several years. Through him I kept asking the chef "what do you have that's rare/good/weird." He would offer a couple amazing slabs of fish and half the time my friend would tell me "I think it's some OTHER kind of tuna." The other half it was "I have no idea what this is ... he said it's some kind of big, ugly fish." The range, even among things that seem known, is broad. And the ambience - business men pounding bottles of beer and eating sashimi, literally, by the fist full at 6 am; young sumo wrestlers decked out in hip-hop gear, complete with "dukie rope" gold chains - couldn't have been better.

rien

http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/welcom_e.htm