A modern classic by Britain's foremost expert on Chinese food.

Follow Fuchsia on her fascinating journey of discovery as she explores China and its culture through first-hand experiences of the country’s extraordinary culinary customs.

The award-winning cook and food writer vows to eat everything offered to her on arriving in China (however unusual!), covering an eclectic range of weird and wonderful dishes, from dog meat, civet cats, scorpions and rabbit heads, to the ovarian fat of the snow frog!

In this unforgettable food and travel memoir spanning the vibrant markets of Sichuan to the desert oases of Xinjiang, Fuchsia seeks to discover if it’s really possible for a Westerner to become a true convert to the Chinese cuisine …

Prizes

Winner of Guild of Food Writers Awards: Kate Whiteman Award for Work on Food and Travel 2009

The best writer in the West - and perhaps in the world - on Chinese food -- Bee Wilson
Britain's most informed Sichuan food expert -- Terry Durack * Independent *
I, for one, am grateful to be living in an era when I can read Fuchsia Dunlop's erudite writing. Her latest, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper is filled with personal and humorous observations that make for fascinating reading. It is not only a memoir about food but also of culture from one of the world's oldest civilisations. -- Ken Hom
Fuchsia Dunlop is not just one of the world's experts on Chinese regional food, but a beautiful writer too. You can almost smell the Sichuan pepper and fish fragrant aubergines wafting off every page. She captures Sichuan life with a keen eye and elegant pen, at a time where China was on the cusp of opening up to the West. It's as evocative and eloquent picture of Chinese food and culture as you'll ever read, quietly erudite yet utterly addictive. -- Tom Parker Bowles
Fuchsia has a rare ability to convey an encyclopaedic knowledge of Chinese cuisine in a compelling and totally delicious way; this is a great book -- Heston Blumenthal
A journey from the pleasure of the tongue to the soul of a culture -- Xiaolu Guo
An insightful, entertaining, scrupulously reported exploration of China's foodways and a swashbuckling memoir... What makes it a distinguished contribution to the literature of gastronomy is its demonstration . . . that food is not a mere reflection of culture but a potent shaper of cultural identity. -- Dawn Drzal

Fuchsia Dunlop was the first Westerner to train at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine, and has been travelling around China and collecting recipes for more than two decades. Her previous books include the Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook (Ebury 2006), Sichuan Cookery, Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking and Land of Fish and Rice. She speaks, reads and writes Chinese, and she lives in East London.