Sake: Discover the Culinary Pleasures of Sake’s Japanese Cuisine
Food & Drink Reference Cookbook Culinary Education Japanese Cuisine Beverages & Wine Drinks & Bartending
Sake: Discover the Culinary Pleasures of Sake’s Japanese Cuisine (2015, hardcover) is the definitive English-language reference for anyone who wants to move beyond the “shot-glass” cliché and understand how premium sake is brewed, graded, and—most importantly—paired with food. In 232 generously illustrated pages, Tokyo-born chef–sommelier Hideo Dekura distills three decades of professional tasting and teaching into a visual master-class: rice-polishing ratios, yeast strains, regional water profiles, and the subtle difference between ginjō and daiginjō are explained with crystal-clear infographics and lush studio photography of bottles, labels, and finished dishes. The result is a book that satisfies curious beginners yet still serves as a quick-check bible for certified sake professionals.
What makes this copy especially appealing to collectors and chefs is its near-pristine condition—only a handful of pages carry the faintest handling mark, and the boards remain tight and unmarked, making it shelf-ready for a design-conscious kitchen or bar library. Every page is intact, so the detailed flavor-wheel pull-outs and bilingual bottle glossaries remain fully usable. Because the 2015 first printing was never released in large numbers outside Japan, clean hardcover examples now trade quietly among sommelier circles; securing one in this state spares months of hunting through Japanese specialty importers.
Beyond reference value, the book doubles as an entertaining cookbook: Dekura matches 60 boutique brews with recipes such as yuzu-marinated scallop sashimi with junmai daiginjō or miso-glazed black cod with a dry namazaké. Young adults and culinary students especially appreciate the sidebars on sake etiquette, temperature service, and affordable bottle recommendations under $40, while veteran oenophiles use the advanced tasting matrices to calibrate sake flights against Burgundy or Riesling. Whether you are building a beverage-program library, hunting for a memorable gift, or simply want to explore Japan’s national drink without wading through academic jargon, this illustrated hardcover delivers authority, beauty, and immediate kitchen utility in one elegant package.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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