Japan - lending a hand for recovery

Today 11 March is the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster. On the island I live on people gathered at a beach this morning in remembrance. Our beaches were closed by the tsunami warnings last year and of course there have been a series of major earthquakes in Christchurch - we identify with the people of Japan.

I was asked to be a volunteer for a fundraising initiative, by the respected Japanese culinary author, Elizabeth Andoh. She had come up with a plan to develop a book based on Tohoku cuisine. Her publishers, Ten Speed Press,  suggested that it be an ebook. The volunteers tested Elizabeth's recipes and provided feedback on the book's content, which is rich not only with recipes but with background and with heart. Guidance for vegan versions is also given. The book, KIBO, is being sold online for under $US4,  a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Japan's recovery efforts. My final task as a volunteer is to spread the word.

So here is a link to an excerpt of KIBO for those of you interested to take a look:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/81496605/Excerpt-and-Recipes-From-Kibo-by-Elizabeth-Andoh

I am to lead a tour group to Japan in April (sadly last year our tour was cancelled), the tour will last a fortnight and then I'll have a further fortnight's private stay, with friends. Since I was last in Japan I joined TFL and learned a lot more about the bakeries there. I really enjoyed Pat's (proth5) and Jeffrey Hamelman's blog reports from Paris this last week and hope to check out the bread made by the bakeries the members of the winning Japan team come from. 

Robyn

Please note I received Floyd's approval before making this post.