Ken Albala describes the initial impression of Japanese Cuisine and its ingredients by Portuguese traders and missionaries, followed by their usage and detailed discovery by the Dutch in the 17th and early 18th century. He then describes the mysterious process by which ingredients such as soy, miso, sake and pickles were first imported to Europe and even North America and then completely forgotten by the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Professor of History at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, he is the author of numerous books about food including academic monographs, cookbooks, reference works and translations. He edited several food series with over 100 titles and co-edited the journal Food Culture and Society. His classes Food A Cultural Culinary History and Cooking Across the Ages were produced by the Great Courses. His next book is about Gelatin and he is currently working on a project provisionally entitled The Professor Cooks Breakfast.