Long before I visited Japan, when I was still dreaming of traveling there, I clipped articles about the food and culture of the place from the New York Times. One writer's work in particular captivated and inspired me: Elizabeth Andoh. I kept her pieces about restaurants, chefs, ingredients and places in a manila folder, a folder which traveled with me when I started traveling to Japan. Her invisible hand guided me through the country again and again, Adam Smith-like.
Besides writing for the Times, Elizabeth is also Gourmet's Japan correspondent. When the magazine assigned me a piece about Japanese pottery, I decided to look her up. I was a little apprehensive, to be honest. Elizabeth is the leading authority on Japanese cuisine in the non-Japanese world, a legendary figure. I was concerned how she'd receive my interloping.
I needn't have worried. Utterly kind, warm and gracious, Elizabeth invited me for a bowl of green tea in an old teahouse in Tokyo. She was enthusiastic about my article -- and happy to know more writers were tackling Japanese cuisine. There are lots more things to write about here, she said, and ticked off a half-dozen story possibilities she thought I should pursue. I left our meeting grateful, energized -- and more inspired than ever.
Since that time I've had the great fortune to meet Elizabeth on a number of other occasions. The most recent was this past Friday, when we got together for coffee with our mutual friend Marian Goldberg, the head of public relations for the Japan National Tourism Organization. Elizabeth was in town to get ready for the publication of her new book, Washoku, Recipes From The Japanese Home Kitchen. Make sure you buy it when it comes out! It's going to be a seminal work. Please check out Elizabeth's organization, too, A Taste of Culture. (That's Elizabeth on the right, with Marian)
I met the writer and photographer Jim Oseland at a Malaysian tourism official's Christmas party in Forest Hills. At this feast they didn't speak roast goose and candied yams; shrimp in sambal chili sauce, orange-colored fish-head curry, coconut-flavored beef rendang, char kwai teow noodles and a mound of perfectly white jasmine rice crowded the buffet table. The official's wife cooked everything. I begged her to teach me. She just laughed.