OP: The Book of Tofu, The Book of Miso, and The Book of Tempeh (3 vols)

Autumn Press and Harper & Row, 1975, 1976, 1979. Paperback. Fair.

Inspired by the then newly published Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé, husband and wife William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi wanted to learn more about the apparent powerhouse of a vegetarian protein, the soybean.

Shurtleff, a former cook at the Tassajara Zen Center, and Aoyagi, an escapee of the superficial fashion world, researched in depth the production and usage of soy. In 1975 they published their first book, The Book of Tofu, and in the following year established the Soyinfo Center as a hub to collect histories, data, and techniques related to soy foods, acquiring over one hundred thousand documents to date.

The two then co-wrote The Book of Miso and The Book of Tempeh in 1976 and 1979, respectively. All three target a western audience, introducing traditional Asian soy dishes and techniques, as well as using soy in novel ways adapted to other cuisines. For example, you’ll find okonomi-yaki, or tofu-egg pancakes, right next to a recipe for tofu meatballs; koji-pickled eggplant; miso taco sauce; Javanese yellow rice with tempeh; and tempeh fondue.

Shurtleff and Aoyagi played an enormous role in the popularizing of soy foods in the US, so we are pleased to offer their original three volumes, all apparent first printings by their original publishers (Autumn Press for the first two and Harper for the third). As they were initially only issued in paperback, they do show some wear and tear; the glue used for binding has become brittle. We present these influential books as reference copies more than collector’s items. All three illustrated by Aoyagi.