Japanese Patisserie: Exploring the beautiful and delicious fusion of East meets West

by James Campbell

Stunning recipes for patisserie, desserts and savories with a contemporary Japanese twist. This elegant collection is aimed at the confident home-cook who has an interest in using ingredients such as yuzu, sesame, miso, and matcha.

Stunning recipes for patisserie, desserts and savories with a contemporary Japanese twist. This elegant collection is aimed at the confident home-cook who has an interest in using ingredients such as yuzu, sesame, miso, and matcha.

The concept of fusion in food can be magical—when cuisines and cultures collide, combining flavors, ingredients, and methods from around the world creates new classics, the best of which become staples in our everyday lives. Trends like Japanese Matcha in our lattes, Korean kimchi in our burgers and Thai Sriracha hot sauce on—well everything—prove that our love-in with Asian cuisine is thriving. Tokyo is now considered a food-forward city, currently boasting 15 three Michelin-starred restaurants (compared to France's 10). Over the past 20 years there has been a surge in celebrated French patisserie chefs moving to Japan to open fine patisseries. The art of French patisserie appeals very much to the Japanese culture—both share values of beauty, precision, and care within cooking. This book features 60 recipes, from reinvented classics to stunning Patisserie creations made achievable to the home-cook. The chapters will be broken into Small Cakes & Individual Patisserie, which will include Lemon & Yuzu Éclairs. Sweet Tarts will offer delights such as Miso Butterscotch Tarts and the Large Cakes & Gateaux section offers celebration cakes like a Matcha & Pistachio Opera. In the Desserts section find dinner party classics with Japanese twists such as White Sesame & Adzuki Cheesecake. The Cookies & Confectionery chapter is full of fun treats like Sesame Peanut Butter Cookies and a Green Tea chocolate candy bar. To finish, some mouth-watering savory recipes such as Panko Donuts stuffed with Pork Katsu. A flavor matrix will helpfully map key characteristics of Japanese ingredients.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Japan, Gastronomy

176 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2017

About the author

James Campbell is a Scottish writer. He left school at the age of fifteen to become an apprentice printer. After hitchhiking through Europe, Israel and North Africa, he studied to gain acceptance to the University of Edinburgh (1974–78). On graduating, he immediately became editor of the New Edinburgh Review (1978–82). His first book, Invisible Country: A Journey Through Scotland, was published in 1984. Two years later, Campbell published Gate Fever, “based on a year’s acquaintance with the prisoners and staff of Lewes Prison’s C Wing”.

Campbell's other books include Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin (1991, 2021), Paris Interzone (1994), Just Go Down to the Road: A Memoir of Trouble and Travel (2022). He worked for many years at the Times Literary Supplement and wrote the column 'J.C.' A collection of these appeared as NB by J.C.: A Walk Through the Times Literary Supplement in 2023.

Reviews

[Kendrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the photographs and all the food looked really good. I was pretty disappointed in the actual recipes however. The choux pastry dough specifies you to put eggs in the hot batter, which cooks the eggs and creates a pastry that won't raise at all. This is a pretty crucial and base element to a lot of the other recipes and this was a frustrating tidbit that made me question the rest of the recipes.

[Spudpuppy]

These recipes were wayyyyyyy to advanced for me and also required a lot of equipment I don’t have so that’s a bummer. But the pics are beautiful and everything seems like it would be delicious if I was capable of making it lmao

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a home cook I was a lot intimidated by this book but as a reader and serial eater? It was fantastic! I have so much to learn to make these recipes but I want to try them so bad! They all looked delicious- even with so many unfamiliar foods and ingredients I’m here for trying it. Just gotta find some videos and maybe someone to talk me through the unfamiliar stuff ‘cause danggit I want to try these so bad and since I have no money for a Japan trip right now I’ll need to figure out how to source the ingredients and make these babies myself! Whooo!

[X · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this thinking "Well, seems like it's probably aimed at professional chefs and way above my head" and was left pleasantly surprised.

I would say that 70% of these recipes are ones I would be able to try at home without having to go out and buy special equipment and ingredients beyond the Japanese staples (matcha, miso, adzuki, ...) I already own.

The author's appreciation for Japanese cuisine really shines through and I can't wait to find out if they hit their target situated between West and East by trying out these recipes.

[Archi Tart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures were beautiful and veggie instructions were clear. However, I was expecting a book of Japanese pedictory and this was more of a European patisserie book incorporating Japanese ingredients cleverly. There was a lot of yuzu, sesame, and matcha added to well known French patisserie. Maybe I would have been happy if the title was more explanatory that it was European patisserie with Japanese ingredients. But I was expecting some of the iconic Japanese patisserie and desserts that you would find in Japanese bakeries.

[Betty Bakes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received this beautiful book as a present. I found this not a book for beginners, nor easy reading. For some recipes you need to have knowledge of basic techniques as they are not properly explained, which is especially important when baking. Not all ingredients are ready available. But this said the recipes are fun, a challenge, you learn and the result is something to be proud of!

[Tory · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, unique flavor combinations, great detail and explanations.

[Dray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite. Flavors, design, artistry.

[Bee 🐝 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chefs kiss 💋