
Invitation to a Banquet
The Story of Chinese Food
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Narrated by:
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Fuchsia Dunlop
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By:
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Fuchsia Dunlop
About this listen
The world's most sophisticated gastronomic culture, brilliantly presented through a banquet of thirty Chinese dishes.
Chinese was the earliest truly global cuisine. When the first Chinese laborers began to settle abroad, restaurants appeared in their wake. Yet Chinese has the curious distinction of being both one of the world's best-loved culinary traditions and one of the least understood. For more than a century, the overwhelming dominance of a simplified form of Cantonese cooking ensured that few foreigners experienced anything of its richness and sophistication—but today that is beginning to change.
In Invitation to a Banquet, award-winning cook and writer Fuchsia Dunlop explores the history, philosophy, and techniques of Chinese culinary culture. In each chapter, she examines a classic dish, from mapo tofu to Dongpo pork, knife-scraped noodles to braised pomelo pith, to reveal a distinctive aspect of Chinese gastronomy, whether it's the importance of the soybean, the lure of exotic ingredients, or the history of Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Meeting food producers, chefs, gourmets, and home cooks as she tastes her way across the country, Fuchsia invites listeners to join her on an unforgettable journey into Chinese food as it is cooked, eaten, and considered in its homeland.
©2023 Fuchsia Dunlop (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Wonderful insight
- By Tom C on 01-31-25
By: Claude Béata
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Wild Chocolate
- Across the Americas in Search of Cacao's Soul
- By: Rowan Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Sam Rushton
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Chasing chocolate down the supply chain and back through history, Jacobsen travels the rainforests of the Amazon and Central America to find the chocolate makers, activists, and indigenous leaders who are bucking the system that long ago abandoned wild and heirloom cacao in favor of high-yield, low-flavor varietals preferred by Big Chocolate.
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A Gem!
- By Eliza Martin on 02-03-25
By: Rowan Jacobsen
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Around the World in Eighty Games
- From Tarot to Tic-Tac-Toe, Catan to Chutes and Ladders, a Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the World's Greatest Games
- By: Marcus du Sautoy
- Narrated by: Mark Elstob
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning millennia, oceans and continents, countries and cultures, Around the World in Eighty Games gleefully explores how mathematics and games have always been deeply intertwined. Renowned mathematician Marcus du Sautoy investigates how games provided the first opportunities for deep mathematical insight into the world, how understanding math can help us play games better, and how both math and games are integral to human psychology and culture.
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Overall, a very entertaining read.
- By Matt on 11-13-23
By: Marcus du Sautoy
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A Fatal Inheritance
- How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery
- By: Lawrence Ingrassia
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Ingrassia lost his mother, two sisters, brother, and nephew to cancer—different cancers developing at different points throughout their lives. And while highly unusual, his family is not the only one to wonder whether their heartbreak is the result of unbelievable bad luck, or if there might be another explanation. Through meticulous research and riveting storytelling, Ingrassia takes us from the 1960s—when Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr. first met, not yet knowing that they would help make a groundbreaking discovery that would affect cancer patients for decades to come.
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Touching story with powerful lessons in hope.
- By Patricia Elizondo on 07-05-24
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Purpose
- What Evolution and Human Nature Imply About the Meaning of Our Existence
- By: Samuel T. Wilkinson
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Generations have been taught that evolution implies there is no overarching purpose to our existence. Some scientists take this logic one step further, suggesting that evolution is intrinsically atheistic and goes against the concept of God. But is this true? By integrating emerging principles from a variety of scientific disciplines—ranging from evolutionary biology to psychology—Yale Professor Samuel Wilkinson provides a framework of evolution that implies not only that there is an overarching purpose to our existence, but what this purpose is.
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Remarkably Well Written
- By Kindle Customer on 03-17-25
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China's World View
- Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict
- By: David Daokui Li
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Writing in response to the growing anti-Chinese sentiment and alarmed by the threat of war, Dr. David Daokui Li pulls from his wealth of firsthand experience to demystify contemporary Chinese society and advocate for understanding between China and the West. In this urgently needed and fascinating book, he explains the inner workings of a rising superpower to help the world understand how it works-and how to work with it.
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The spirit of this book is critically important.
- By Mike Turner on 06-21-24
By: David Daokui Li
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Lucid Dying
- The New Science Revolutionizing How We Understand Life and Death
- By: Sam Parnia MD PhD
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, for the first time in history, the scientific exploration of death and what happens when we die is real, active and ongoing. Contrary to popular perceptions, this subject is no longer the remit of philosophy, religion, or personal opinion. Truly remarkable scientific discoveries that will fundamentally affect everyone’s lives now and in the future are taking place, yet very few people are aware of them. Most people—including scientists and doctors—maintain strong beliefs about death and its experience. Those beliefs are rooted in traditional, and often cultural, notions of death.
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Excited to See Scientific Rigor Applied to This Vital Topic
- By Mav on 08-27-24
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On Trails
- An Exploration
- By: Robert Moor
- Narrated by: Robert Moor
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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From a talent who’s been compared to Annie Dillard, Edward Abbey, David Quammen, and Jared Diamond, On Trails is a wondrous exploration of how trails help us understand the world—from invisible ant trails to hiking paths that span continents, from interstate highways to the Internet.
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Great to listen to while I was on the trail!
- By Ken Jacobsen on 09-24-24
By: Robert Moor
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A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth
- The Making of the Port of Los Angeles and America
- By: James Tejani
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The Port of Los Angeles is all around us. Objects we use on a daily basis pass through it: furniture, apparel, electronics, automobiles, and much more. Yet despite its centrality to our world, the port and the story of its making have been neglected in histories of the United States. In A Machine to Move Ocean and Earth, historian James Tejani corrects that significant omission, charting the port's rise out of the mud and salt marsh of San Pedro estuary.
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Understanding hindered by the reader
- By Ronald on 04-15-25
By: James Tejani
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City of Fortune
- How Venice Rule the Seas
- By: Roger Crowley
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The rise and fall of the Venetian empire stands unrivaled for drama, intrigue, and sheer opulent majesty. In City of Fortune, Roger Crowley, acclaimed historian and New York Times bestselling author of Empires of the Sea, applies his narrative skill to chronicling the astounding five-hundred-year voyage of Venice to the pinnacle of power.
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A Wonderful Listen
- By Scot on 06-12-14
By: Roger Crowley
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God Save Benedict Arnold
- The True Story of America's Most Hated Man
- By: Jack Kelly
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Benedict Arnold committed treason—for more than two centuries, that's all that most Americans have known about him. Yet Arnold was much more than a turncoat—his achievements during the early years of the Revolutionary War defined him as the most successful soldier of the era. God Save Benedict Arnold tells the gripping story of Arnold's rush of audacious feats—his capture of Fort Ticonderoga, his Maine mountain expedition to attack Quebec, the famous artillery brawl at Valcour Island, the turning-point battle at Saratoga—that laid the groundwork for our independence.
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Missing the Whole Story
- By Derek L. on 08-14-24
By: Jack Kelly
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Bake & Pray
- Liturgies and Recipes for Baking Bread as a Spiritual Practice
- By: Kendall Vanderslice
- Narrated by: Kendall Vanderslice
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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As you follow the steps to bake bread―whether you are a lifelong baker or intimidated by the thought of yeast―you will learn something about the character of God and the life of faith. In Bake & Pray, you will get not only a practical understanding of how to bake bread, but also receive a deeper appreciation for the ways God can shape you in the process.
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liturgies and the gospel mixed throughout
- By Steve & Evie Wesner on 01-12-25
What listeners say about Invitation to a Banquet
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Antonio P. Manahan
- 07-08-24
Encyclopedia of Chinese Cuisines
Loved it not boring very informative. I have many of her books this is my first of her audio books. It’s a great listen
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- Garrett Baker
- 12-13-23
Wonderful prose and subject matter
You know a work of art is good when it makes you feel something, regardless of what it makes you feel, if it gets you to feel, and that feeling sticks, I say it was good. This book made me feel hungry. Very, very hungry. So in that sense it was excellent!
Less important points: The information, and explanations, and historical stories were very interesting and engaging. Good blending of themes introduced early on to make sense of mid-way through concepts. It used enough googleable terms as well that its sad lack of precise recipes is not as sad as it may be in a time before the internet. But that wasn’t really the point either. To me, this seems an excellent high level map for the curious on Chinese cuisine. If I had to make a change, I’d ask for more & more precise history, but that’s just my own taste.
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- Chalupabatman
- 05-29-24
Excellent
There are historical references to the foundations of Chinese cooking and its cultural influences. The descriptions are delightful and your imagination runs wild with enthusiasm for new flavors. This book also addresses climate change and how the modern diet should look to China for inspiration in eating more greens and less meat.
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- Lindsay R
- 10-01-24
Very engaging and insightful
I bought this book blind after it being recommended from a memoir regarding a 1st gen from chinese immigrate parents. I love food history and the author interwove her experience with Chinese culture and cooking with deep history and what recipes mean to certain provinces and how much food is a part of Chinese culture.
If you're interested in China, food or want a good read, pick the book. Her prose alone was worth it.
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- IM EDU DOC
- 12-15-23
Fun
Enjoyable - learned a lot. Detailed explanation in a nice way, I look forward to listen. Historical text . Not a recipe book.
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- ilaria m
- 11-16-23
Knowledgeable and awful
Dunlop knows a lot about Chinese food. However someone must tell her that a whole book with “the West” vs “the Chinese” is unbearable and nonsensical. About nonsense: she seems to have completely assimilated all the most ridiculous cliches that many middle class, rather close minded and little traveled Chinese people may have. But why should she care, as she declaims how fluent her Chinese is and how sinicised she is! Terrible book, in spite of of the knowledge. If I hear more “west” and “western” this month I may scream
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4 people found this helpful