Thank you to NetGalley and Stone Bridge Press for giving me the opportunity to read Eating Wild Japan and provide an honest review. Congratulations to author Winifred Bird on this gorgeous book which was no doubt a labor of love.

Recently repatriated after having lived in Japan for a numbers of years, my family still has a running joke that everything green and not immediately identifiable is a "mountain vegetable". For that reason, the description of this book immediately appealed to me and I am delighted that it far exceeded my expectations.

Bird takes us on a journey to places not typically visited by a casual traveler and had access to the people who are using traditional techniques to forage for and prepare the ingredients they find. The author's thorough research and obvious ability to connect with people and tell their stories makes this book read like a wonderful mash-up of travel writing / food writing / cultural and character study. I love that each essay begins with a piece of poetry and concludes with a recipe. Many of the things foraged need to be manipulated to remove toxins or bitterness before cooking can even begin. Pairing that knowledge with the care taken in the many steps that are required in these precise recipes serves to reinforce the respect that the foragers have for their bounty.

I highly recommend this book and believe it will no doubt appeal to a wide range of curious readers. I am eagerly looking forward to its publication date so that I may purchase it in hardcover and add it to my library.

An informative and interesting guide to Sansai or wild plants, Eating Wild Japan is a blend of essays, illustrations and recipes. Winifred Bird lived in rural Japan for eight years and is well versed in the country’s history and culture.

The essays begin the book. Her essays feature weeds, horse chestnuts, fiddle leaf ferns, bamboo and seaweed. Her research introduces her to cooks, fisherman and farmers who
provide her with local legends as well as recipes. Bird describes how foraging in the woods for edible plants was once considered a sign of poverty. She is treated to a 12 course dinner, with all but one course featuring bamboo cooked in different styles. She compares wild captured seaweed to farmed seaweed and prefers the taste and texture of the former. She hears that the god of the mountains lives in horse chestnut trees. The plant guide is next. Beautifully illustrated in pen and ink by Paul Poynter, the guide lists the scientific name of each plant, its toxicity, how to prepare it and suggests several recipes. The recipes are the final section. Preceded by a definition of the Japanese terms, the recipes sound interesting and worth trying. The weakness here is that the ingredients are not readily available in American supermarkets. However, the strength of Eating Wild Japan is in the essays. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stone Bridge Press and Winifred Bird for this ARC.