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(More customer reviews)Well, the gauntlet has been thrown.
In the wake of Mireille Guiliano's runaway best seller, French Women Don't Get Fat and its common sense nudge urging dieters and just plain folk in general to look back to tradition rather than seek out convenience to buttress the pillars of your culinary and nutritional foundation, Naomi Moriyama with her husband William Doyle fire back with enough fact, statistics, recipes, menus and history to send Western Civilization back to the Dark Ages.
Naomi Moriyama, a chic and slim 45 year old marketing consultant, doubles as a powerhouse of energy and vitality as she meters out her rebuttal to Mme. Guiliano in a righteous defensive strike of her culture's dietary habits and staples worthy of any 10th century shogun --- i.e. Japanese women live on average to age 85; only a birdlike 3% are deemed obese) And she does this with a straightforward panache that puts all of Mireille's pandering of her French ancestry to shame. (Note: my review of FWDGF was favorable in as much as it underlines the need to return to a real slow food way eating rather than pre-packaged, chemically enhanced non/fast-food junk) However, where Mireille barefacedly underlines her anthem of quality over quantity by compelling her readers to nosh on pricey triple creams, imbibe expensive champagne by Veuve Clicquot ----the company for which she works--- and with these offers vague advise about love being a natural slimming agent, Naomi, just gives us a straight shot of brown-rice samurai wisdom backed by enough scientific sources and academic studies that keeps eating plain, simple, and a step above common-sense.. In a way, she kamikazes the competition into the Maginot line by providing more than 30 economical recipes, menu plans, and portion control with internet ingredient URLs provided for easy access to Japanese market staples. The biggest out of pocket expense, besides the price of the book, could be replacing your present dishes with the small and elegant place settings preferred by Naomi's countrymen.
But will the idea of becoming like the mysterious doll-like Japanese geisha succeed in capturing the attention of an American audience with the same whole-hearted obsession of morphing oneself into a Gitane smoking, cigarette skirted French demoiselle?
Like FWDGF, JWDGOOF abounds with little vignettes about the respective author's childhood comfort and food experiences. While the focus remains similar to that of FWDGF, namely real seasonal food, quality over quantity, no snacking, smaller portions, social eating and the very Eastern contemplation of the food's beauty and nutrition, the author relies on the tradition provided by her mother, an obviously clever woman who presents fruit carved like flowers for dessert instead of a mountain of cake and cookies like her American counterpart;
On a purely technical level, tradition for Naomi and her family consists of a food wheel of seven spokes: fish (her description of the Tokyo fish market with its sights and smell is a fish-lover's heaven), vegetables( an emphasis is on sea vegetables; no canned or frozen here except for edamame), rice (brown preferred), soy (no processed stuff here, only tofu, miso, beans and sauce), noodles (soba, udon, ramen and somen), tea (types and preparations are provided) and fruit. Note the obvious exclusion of dairy---full fatted or otherwise, ----bread and flours. Beef and chicken are used as condiments rather than main entrees. That's not to say that Naomi and husband Billy don't indulge in the occasional bagel or pizza binge; however their main nourishment takes place in Naomi's New York facsimile of her mother's Tokyo kitchen.
All in all, if there is a contest in the war of the dieting worlds, I doubt that JWDGOOF will win in spite of its right-on message and clearly stated facts. Unfortunately, as svelte and vivacious as Ms. Moriyama is, there is something good or bad about the French stereotype that utterly captivates Americans. Check out all the books on Amazon,com that feeds into this desire for sophistication French-style.
That said, don't discount this book. Although, I would have liked Ms Moriyama to address the issue of menopause and diet and provide a Japanese food pyramid, as a utilitarian manual, the book is a good buy for the money. It's got everything on its side, science, history, and how-to instructions on how to prepare Japanese staples that are unfamiliar to the typical American. I am confident that like Naomi's non-Japanese husband, you will find the pounds melting off by following her centuries-old secrets. Recommended as a lethal weapon in your real food arsenal against weight gain.
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