Cookbook Nostalgia. Sushi Secrets, by Mazuco Masui and Chihiro Masui.
"There were a few other books around but this one and I had naturally locked eyes."
Welcome to another post in the session ‘It’s Food o’Clock’, where I spill my culinary stories and fantasies, recipes, and mysticism. Today I will share about the nostalgia we develop for books, especially, old books. All photos in this post were taken by me, from the book I will mention. Which are those books to you? Let me know in the comments. I hope you like enjoy post and that you hit like, leave a comment, share it, and if you haven’t subscribed…
There are books that we go back to. That no matter how much we change, evolve, or transcend they call us. They attach to your very emotional essence and call you from within, when you are hungry, sad, happy, or feeling adventurous. “Touch me”, “Look at me”, “Turn my pages”, “Smell me”, “Hear me”, “Let me heal your pain”. To me, it's cookbooks. Old ones, with survival marks, with annotations, and character.
Ever since I was a kid, I've had wet dreams about old cookbooks. It must have been back in the eighties somewhere between my grandma’s home (mom’s side) and my home. I must've accidentally sniffed an old cookbook (with yellow pages and moldy smell). I don't know what happened. I just felt alive, and it called me to open it.
I would sit with my mom’s old cookbooks, and magazines with recipes to look at them. To feel them.
When I was learning how to make sushi, I first got a general Japanese cookbook that had a few basic recipes (Japanese Homestyle Dishes: Quick & Delischous Favorites), I bought this book out of desperation to learn, to impress someone. When and where I went to buy it (Borders Book Store, San Juan PR), at that moment, that was the only book with sushi recipes available. And instead of waiting a few days for what I was looking for, I said ‘Fuck it’, and I got it. It served its purpose (it still does), but I still had a craving for something more sushi focused.
Borders Bookstore is where I got the theoretical component of my culinary education. This place had an air of intellectual fantasies, coffee, and jazz. I didn't need excuses to go there. Free culinary theory, complemented by the purchasing of a few books, and a lot of coffee.
Sometime later, after learning the basics of sushi to the point of satisfying others, I was hired to do sushi catering for a party. I realized that I needed a little more reference for such a simple and complex delicacy. So, I went to the bookstore and bought myself another book (Sushi Secrets).
Everything in and around this new book touched my soul. From the cover to the colors, and the pictures caught my attention. There were a few other books around but this one and I had naturally locked eyes. It was serendipity. It felt old and familiar, yet new and unknown.
After I bought this book, I took my time to study it. I took notes, marked it, and made calculations. Back then I didn't know much about making sushi for a lot of people and it helped me to have a book with recipes for a party. From it I was able to calculate (badly) and adapt it to my menu.
As I studied the book I fell in love with it. I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture and as I turned the pages, I felt a nostalgic connection that kept me coming back, again, and again.
It survived a bad storm back in Puerto Rico. The rain had filtered through the roof and drowned many of my cookbooks, along with other personal stuff. I was able to save this one (and a few others). It took me a while to separate the pages from having stuck, without damaging it more. But I think these marks give the book character and soul. When I'm feeling hungry for sushi, I look for inspiration in it, despite having read it about a thousand times.
This book has been with me for around two decades. It has lived in six different houses, and three different lands (Puerto Rico, Texas, and Florida), where it has inspired amazing meals. Out of all my cookbooks, this is the only one that has fed over a hundred people. From just me, to family, friends, catering, cooking classes, demo tastings, sushi bars, personal chefing, and parties.
I hope that Sushi Secrets stays with me for a long time. I will leave it to my daughter when I pass away, or when she moves out, as a legacy. She is another suchi fan, with her own instruments to prepare it.
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I am actually reading the old books that my father left in my home when he leave away including books that he used to study during his bachelor in social work, a lot of psychology and sociology for me for while! Love your writings allways love u so much!!!
There is a book that belonged to my mom from the 1950s that I wish I still had. Its yellow pages and musky smell were oh-so-comforting to me…. I swear I had a physiological reaction every time I smelled it: a relaxation down to the tips of my toes or a let-down reflex of some sort. It had a basic genoise recipe that was one of my first bakes as a kid. I still make it from time to time with dulce de leche or raspberry jam to dress it. The book has been gone for a while…. Too many moves. 🌸🌸