A couple of months ago, I found this cute little cookbook at a local church bazaar. It was printed in 1956 and written by Benedictine Nuns. I was initially drawn to it because of the neat illustrations, but the foreward was fascinating as well.
Sister M. Francetta writes in March of 1956 that she and Sister Regia arrived in China in 1930 as missionaries at the Catholic University in Peking. They learned Chinese cooking from Ta Shih Fu, their cook, and came to love the "tastiness and infinite variety of Chinese cuisine".
They were living in Kaifeng, Honan Province when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and within two hours of the atttack the Japanese army (who were already in Kaifeng) rounded them up and placed them in a civilian concentration camp for the duration of the war. After the war they remained in Kaifeng for a while until the Communists arrived and forced them from Kaifeng to Shanghai and later to Formosa. In 1950, the American Consul thought Formosa might be too dangerous so they were sent to Tokyo. They arrived in Tokyo with literally nothing and decided to eke out an existence by starting a cooking school using the lessons they learned from Ta Shih Fu. Their school started with six students a week and quickly grew to 150 a week by 1956.
It's such a sweet little book. I wonder what ever happened to Sister Francetta and Sister Regia and their cooking school, or Ta Shih Fu for that matter?
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And speaking of cute little things, Amanda's hosting a teeny tiny swap. Go check it out, sign up ends this Friday.
oh myra that book is a treasure! the illustrations are so cute, loving the little pigs, and the proverbs, not to mention the amazing back story and recipes to boot! great find!
Posted by: hannah | August 16, 2006 at 03:29 AM
that is a wonderful book! i love the piggies too. such humor! i wonder what the story is behind the illustrator - you know, if there is one...
Posted by: stephanie s | August 16, 2006 at 04:26 AM
what a great book and interesting story!
Posted by: joyce | August 16, 2006 at 06:08 AM
The illustrations are great. Very cool find!
Posted by: AJ | August 16, 2006 at 08:59 AM
wow! that book is crazy good!!
Posted by: hillary | August 16, 2006 at 09:55 AM
I love it wish I had one just like it. If strange things happen and you find another one, I would love to do a swap. I have a really cool vintage jello book:)
Posted by: Melissa | August 16, 2006 at 10:22 AM
those pictures are fantastic...love the cover..it is so cartoony and graphic.
Posted by: Jessica | August 16, 2006 at 11:16 AM
What a great book!
I'm always on the lookout for older cookbooks for the recipes and the illustrations.
It really is an interesting story behind it too!
Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Ann | August 16, 2006 at 03:58 PM
Oh, this is so cute! I'm glad they found sucess in Japan after everything they had been through.
Posted by: debbie | August 16, 2006 at 09:43 PM
That is the cutest cookbook ever. The pigs are so cute it will feel quite sinful to cook pork, wouldn't it?
Posted by: Aerin Kang | August 16, 2006 at 11:59 PM
Those illos are AWESOME! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jasmin | August 17, 2006 at 05:24 AM
I love how relevant the pictures are to the recipes. Really makes you think about what a bamboo shoot must go through, huh?
Posted by: Amanda | August 17, 2006 at 10:52 AM
amazing!
Posted by: laurie | August 18, 2006 at 10:40 AM
Totally fabulous illustrations!
Posted by: Gillian | August 18, 2006 at 03:24 PM
This is lovely. The illustrations are so cute. Great find.
Posted by: Sheau | August 18, 2006 at 07:21 PM
My Mother had that cookbook and used it often when I was growing up.( in the 60's) It may not seem very Chinesey now, but back then it was considered very exotic. Ingredients were difficult to come by in the average supermarket. My father was an airline pilot who flew to Japan, Hong Kong & Taiwan all through the 60's. He brought many cookbooks and ingredients home for my mother, hopeful that she would learn to make his favorite dishes.
Posted by: Karen | August 18, 2006 at 07:37 PM
i love those images! they are just like the ones in my chinese school workbooks as a kid.
Posted by: stephhung | August 19, 2006 at 04:08 PM
So beautiful illustrations!!
Posted by: natascha | August 20, 2006 at 08:02 AM
cute illustrations
such a great find...i'm a little bit jealous ;)
Posted by: isa | August 21, 2006 at 09:09 PM
I just received the same book from my grandmother! It is such a charming little book, an excellent find for sure!
Posted by: J-G-Toronto | July 04, 2016 at 11:26 AM