East Asian Art, Food & History in Paris

Yesterday, I went to an exhibit at Musée du Quai Branly called Seductions of the Palate: Cooking and Eating in China. The exhibit chronicles the history of Chinese cuisine through a collection of ceramics, cooking ware, and artwork. There are also recipes every now and then, like this one: Chien Braisé Dans Un Boillon De Tortue, which is essentially braised dog in turtle soup. Yum.

On the right, I also have a photo of a grill, which dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). It'd be fun to grill a few burgers and hotdogs on that for the fourth of July (although being that I am in France, there hasn't been much celebration). According to the exhibit, during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD), the Office of Internal Affairs was in charge of the imperial kitchens. Four hundred officers were assisted by one hundred and fifty eunuchs to cook around 12,000 meals a day. No wonder China had so many peasant revolts...

I love the prints and Japanese folding screens at Musée Guimet, which I went to today. It's just something about the bold lines and the patterns. The first three photos are of the prints (some of the first graphic novels - I wish I knew the stories behind the pictures) and the rest are from folding screens.