duck-shaped pain

I especially like it when I can infer some of the book's history by what I find in it. Tonight, I was looking over one of the books I bought in Portland -- Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji -- and I found all sort of things stuck between its pages.

Laid together, they form sort of a narrative. I know where this book was purchased -- Sur La Table in Seattle's Pike Place Market. The receipt is there, and I know that whoever bought this book also picked up a fondue set at the same time -- an interesting combination. A Sur La Table bookmark is also included, upon which said previous owner scribbled their grocery list:

• shrimp paste

• tamarind liquid

• peanut

• lime

• ginger

• cardamom pods

• coconut milk

• mushrooms - straw

• red curry paste

• black bean sauce

• coriander

• bandaid

Sounds like a pretty awesome curry, although I usually add more than the one peanut. The band-aid is sort of a mystery, though.

As if whoever had this book knew, deep down, that it was going to be sold someday, the same bookmark features a handwritten list of the good recipes out of Japanese Cooking. It will be interesting to see, after I use the book for awhile, if our tastes match at all, because I don't know if Pork Balls would be a favorite of mine. There's a phone number on here, too, a 1-800 number for the Mallory Hotel. [1] Also, some random names and dates: "Jane, 7:30, Sat" and "Lorie: Ams. Jean?"

Next, we enter the New York City phase of this book's existence. I found a menu from a Japanese restaurant called Shiki's, on 66 Seventh Avenue South. They seem to have a pretty standard repertoire of Japanese dishes, but I liked that they have one of my favorite dishes, cold soba with dipping sauce. Maybe this was Previous Owner's favorite neighborhood joint -- keeping a menu usually signifies frequent patronage or is sometimes a memento of some memorable encounter there.

There are some random, assorted articles from the New York Times here. One concerns how to properly select and purchase fish in Chinatown, and another lists seven different recipes for stock. The recipe for Wild Mushroom Broth with Buckwheat Noodles seems the likeliest reason this article wound up in a Japanese cookbook, as it calls for both soba and shiitake mushrooms. I wonder if they actually worked up the courage to go to the fish market -- I also wonder what special new significant other they made Wild Mushroom Broth for. Did they like it?

His/her wild, carefree New York days over, Previous Owner decided to return to the Pacific Northwest, trying out Oregon this time, maybe on a whim, maybe not. Happiness in a new town depends on many things, not the least of which is finding new favorite restaurants -- hence the Oregonian article on Japanese fast food restaurants. I wonder did they try them all -- Beach Boy Bento? Mr. Moto? Zeebento? The article is dated March 1993, and many of these places must have floundered in the vicious Portland bento scene, as I don't recognize most of them.

"Now that I've made every recipe in this book, what do I do?" thought Previous Owner. "Oh, look, here's an interesting article on how to make pot stickers." As much as I am grateful for this tidbit, half of the pot sticker instructions are missing. Damn shame -- I love pot stickers.

More clippings, more stories. About every mention of Japanese food in the Oregonian from early 1993 to late 1995 is included -- restaurant reviews, lists of Asian groceries, wasabi steak marinades, sushi competitions, all here.

Maybe they decided to sell all their possessions and wander around the world with only what they could carry on their back with them. Maybe they needed money to pay the phone bill. Maybe they were moving in with someone and were in the process of consolidating book collections, culling the duplicates, ridding yourself of reminders of your single past. Maybe they just got sick of Japanese food. Finally, one day, the decision was made, and off to Powell's it went. Now it belongs to me -- and I never get rid of things I find in books. Maybe I'll end up adding my own stuff to the book, which will convolute the story even more for anyone who owns this book after I do.