Buy Book "Ants climb a tree" in Ukrainian

I am amazed at the author’s encyclopedic knowledge and her attention to detail. I read it slowly because I was trying to memorize everything. I would highly recommend this book to Chinese students. I really would! Because it has everything, and more, that you need to know about Chinese cuisine and Chinese culture in general. The book is also great because it is not just a “dry” presentation of facts, but also stories from the author’s life in China, memories of her childhood, life in Ukraine, and her family. I also liked that the book has a lot of funny moments 🙂 I wish Kateryna to write many more interesting books, because she does it well. p.s.: read only after you have eaten a lot!… however, this does not always save you

The other day I finished “Ants Climb a Tree”. It’s an easy and enjoyable read. In the book, I found a rather cursory but interesting overview of Chinese cuisine. The text is purely informal, and this is not a cookbook at all, but rather arbitrary memories organized thematically.

It is because of the format and the small depth of historical and culinary information that I find it difficult to recommend Ants Climb a Tree to anyone. Because the reader, like me, must know little about China and at the same time be interested in the topic. But if these two conditions are met, feel free to pick it up. Especially since the appendix does contain a few recipes that will help Ukrainians.

Finally, regardless of the quality of the book, I would like to grumble a bit and make a remark to the author: not “khmys” (literally, “brushwood”), but “khrusts” or “verguns” (if twisted), and not “pumpkin gourd” (literally, “pumpkin gourd”), but simply “gourd” (Latin for “gourd”). Bashtan is full of false friends of the translator. I hope there will be reprints and these two Russisms will be corrected.

Thank you for your attention.

I wish Safran every success. Ukraine needs specialized publishing houses.

I really liked this book, it is interestingly written, diverse. The book covers an interesting topic – Chinese cuisine, which is quite interesting for both Europe and America. And it is important that the book is intended for the Ukrainian consumer, the author has taken full care that this consumer is fully “armed” in every way in interaction with one of the most famous cuisines in the world.

And although there are many resources on the Internet where you can learn about any cuisine in the world and Chinese in particular, this book is imbued with such knowledge of the topic and love for this cuisine, filtered through your own experience, perception and taste buds, and seasoned with interesting historical references.

I confess that this book repeatedly drove me to the kitchen in search of food (I recommend reading it not on an empty stomach)), and in the end, it encouraged me to do some culinary experiments with some new ingredients – something I have never done before.

I recommend this book to those who want an interesting, fascinating journey into the world of Chinese cooking. Both to those who have been there and those who are planning to do so.

Although the title of the book may sound like the notes of some strange naturalist to the uninitiated, its content will definitely appeal to many people because of the tempting descriptions of strange and incomprehensible Chinese cuisine. Despite the fact that cooking is the leitmotif of the book, this book is not about food or cuisine (or not only about them), but it is a strange interweaving of travels in time and space through ancient and modern Chinese culture and history, my own experience of exploring its incredible cultural and culinary diversity, a book about an interesting vision of China through the prism of cuisine, which is strangely intertwined in all spheres of life, so it is a book about the taste for life.

At first, I was interested in the title – how it can be related to cooking, and then the book itself captured me completely. Before the pandemic, I traveled to China and its food was not the last place in this trip!!! It is worth noting that the author skillfully describes culinary tastes, if I had this book before the trip, it would greatly facilitate the choice of dishes on the menu; and now it is memories and saliva that you swallow when reading descriptions of your favorite dishes:)

The literary language is light, fascinating, there are many historical references, and special thanks for the recipes that can be prepared at home.