For Momoyo Taniguchi, a Japanese cooking instructor of Chinese herbal medicine dishes, known as yakuzen, the crowning moment of her career was winning a respected international cookbook competition for health and nutrition.
Nominated for her book, "Beauty Recipes of Yakuzen — Chinese Herbal Medicine Dishes," Taniguchi took one of the top honors at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, which took place last month in Yantai, China.
"I was so surprised and I couldn't believe my ears at first," says Taniguchi, a mother of two in her 40s, at her home in Tokyo after returning from her trip to China. "I was emotionally overwhelmed and shed tears (of joy) during my acceptance speech," she says of the award, considered the Oscars of gastronomic literature. Her book, published last year by Kodansha Co. in Japan, won the Grand Prix in the category of "health and nutrition for the public."