Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper

Britain's most informed Sichuan food expert

Terry Durack, Independent

The best writer in the West - and perhaps in the world - on Chinese food

Bee Wilson

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