INTRODUCTION

Of all human frailties that of the gourmet is probably the gentlest and the most amiable. His very weakness marks him out as that rare thing, a man of taste and discernment. It can do no harm to anyone but himself and need not harm even him if he has wisdom as well.

To all gourmets I commend this book. If, in these unhappy times, they cannot come to China to see and eat for themselves, this book will build for them an easy and pretty bridge by which, from their own homes, they can reach the simple and surprising delights of Chinese cooking.

In the matter of food, as in all else that has grace, the Chinese have long been past-masters. They put into the cooking of it all the loving care for detail, the daintiness, the spice and the wit that characterize their art and their understanding of the business of life, which is one of the chiefest of their charms. In China every province boasts its own fashion of preparing food and claims that it is the best. When you eat you tend to admit the claim without demur. But a practiced palate will tell in a twinkling whether the juiciness of a duck or the crispness of the crackling of a suckling pig is due to the craft of Cantonese, Pekinese, Szechuanese, or what you will. For myself,I cannot pretend to so much“expertise”.Nor does this book set out to guide you to it or to cover the vast field of Chinese cooking. It offers 75 straightforward recipes of every day, but none the less delicious, food which is within the reach of everyone, which calls for no expense and which will quench the passions of the greedy and enchant the finer feelings of the gourmet alike.

The authoress, Dolly Chow, is the daughter of Sir Shouson Chow, a well-known and much respected member of the Chinese community of Hong Kong. She has been so kind as to give me some lessons in cooking at which I had the emotion both of finding out the secrets of the Chinese kitchen and of eating the dishes as they came off the fire. If you had seen and tasted what I did, you would agree with me that no one is better fitted than Dolly Chow to introduce you to the dressing of Chinese food.

Maria Teresa Clark Kerr