Madame Wu's Handbook on Home-Cooking: The Song Dynasty Classic on Domestic Cuisine
is the first Western language edition of the Wushi Zhongkuilu
吳氏中饋錄,
one of the earliest Chinese works on home cooking and the only culinary work written by a Chinese woman from premodern China preserved in its entirety. This translation and annotation by Sean J. S. Chen of this enigmatic cookbook reveal details on the preparation and preservation of foods essential on household tables of Medieval China. It is a valuable snap-shot of Medieval Chinese gastronomy, documenting, among other things, the myriad of home fermentation techniques used in the Song dynasty household, the beginning of soy-sauce use in Chinese cuisine, and the prevalent consumption of Central Asian foods and sweets in Eastern China. The book includes forewords by academic reviewers Eugene N. Anderson and Miranda Brown, as well as preface and notes by the translator.