This week, we're excited to welcome Nancy Singleton Hachisu to SALT + SPINE, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.

Nancy Singleton Hachisu is the author of Japan: The Cookbook, a hefty volume with more than 400 recipes that explore the rich, culinary history of Japan, specifically from the 1970s and 1980s. She's a James Beard Award winner and the author of Japanese Farm Food and Preserving the Japanese Way.

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In her latest book, Nancy wrote about the importance of understanding the meaning of a recipe "so not to lose the heart or soul from where it came." That shines through, both in her book and in our conversation with her about the many influences and sources she turned to while creating her recipes and building this informative collection of some of Japan's most well-known dishes.

“Japanese food is very insertable...into any menu and very democratic in that way.” — NANCY SINGLETON HACHISU

We sat down with Nancy at San Francisco's The Civic Kitchen cooking school to talk about the stories behind Japan: The Cookbook.

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