November 23, 2005
Day before turkey day, the New York Times publishes a somewhat interesting article about gong bao chicken. Howard French is a typical foreign correspondent who is only sometimes allowed to travel outside of Beijing, and that's probably fortunate both for the Chinese and for readers of the newspaper of record. Of course other well-known international newspapers get an awful lot of details on China dead wrong, somewhat wrong, or mercifully just partially wrong. China remains an enigma to newspaper correspondents mostly because their travels across the vast and beautiful countryside are closely monitored. Sometimes former Beijing-based correspondents "sneak" back in as tourists and travel around, filing dispatches later. Enough background.
It seems Howard French has heard a fascinating tale in Guizhou province about the origins of gong bao chicken, often known in NYC as kung pao chicken, and often prepared in a version here in our big city which (truth be told) is so completely westernized as to be unrecognizable and unpalatable to the discerning native. Of course, "spicy" in our Sichuan and Thai restaurants here is generally not the case either, not unless you beg, plead, and wheedle.
Now a little background on Guizhou province is in order. In case you didn't know, 85% of China's 1.4 billion population lives on a fraction of the vast territory of the People's Republic. The vast provinces of the southwest include Yunnan and Guizhou, which are some of the most fascinating places to visit because they are both "underdeveloped" and rural. "Underdeveloped" means they are not teeming with new high-rises or enormous multi-lane highways like other parts of China. Heck, even enormous Sichuan province, much of which is mountainous and remote (and full of Tibetan yak herders in the north) has enormous multi-lane highways these days. You really meet the people when you get to places like Guizhou, and Mao's edict "serve the people" has taken on new meanings in the new millennium: restaurants are booming everywhere.
But Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, is about as removed from Beijing and Shanghai as Wheeling, West Virginia is from New York or Los Angeles. No one would doubt you'll get fed much better and much healthier food in Guiyang. And amusingly, Howard French quotes one famous chef who is quite right about gong bao chicken in the USA: "Whatever they are eating there is certainly not authentic," he said.
But Howard French falls for the Guizhou chefs' claims that gong bao chicken is native to Guizhou, not to Sichuan. His interlocutors declaim Sichuan cooking for adding peanuts. Well, Sichuan chefs add peanuts to lots of dishes. I am sure if French had conducted his interview in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, the famous chefs there (of which there are many more than in Guizhou) probably would have said: "Ah! Those backwards fools in Guizhou, what do they know about gong bao chicken!?" To his credit, French reminds his readers that Americans "have to remember that provincial rivalries also exist here." Actually, provincial rivalries are far more marked in China than in America. NYC barbecue ain't Kansas City barbecue, but that isn't saying much.
Anyhow, things are changing so fast in China, but you can still get the most amazing famous dishes of Guizhou and Sichuan at restaurants and outdoor cook stalls over those provinces. The quibble here isn't where this famous dish originated. Instead, it's to note that cuisine and fine dining has rocketed forwards so fast all over China in the past few years. Think about it: you now can get an authentic German meal at the Hotel Kempinski in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which cures its own meats and brews its own beers. You can easily find hand-pulled spinach dan dan noodles in a spicy meat sauce that rivals the finest bolognese sauce you've ever eaten. In contrast, how many provincial American cities can offer authentic Chinese food? Or even fresh-brewed beer or cured meats? And moreover, how many Chinese restaurants even in New York or Los Angeles offer authentic Sichuan cooking? Sadly, not nearly enough. That's ultimately what makes French's article so worth reading: the chefs obsess over their ingredients, from the fresh zi ba peppers to the type of chicken meat used. "One must not be even slightly careless in the choice of materials," the chef added. Too bad in our American age of tractor-trailer Sysco food product deliveries and ArcherDanielsMidland mega-soybean farms we have largely become completely complacent and careless in the choice of materials.
And tomorrow I'm gonna eat an organic turkey. So there.
Tags:
adm, chengdu, gong bao chicken, guiyang, guizhou, sichuan, soybeans, sysco, turkey
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Posted on 11/23/2005
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November 22, 2005
The MTA is preparing to test a new technology that lets commuters into the system with a simple wave of the hand, the Daily News reported yesterday. WNYC's Brain Lehrer picked up the story and ran with it today.
Let's face it: The MetroCard was great when it was introduced, but MetroCard 2.0 would be a lot faster. We are a city of speed, and every tenth of a second counts. If you've ever visited Hong Kong, you know how cool the Octopus card is: you don't even have to remove it from your wallet or purse--you just wave it close to the sensor, and you're in. While it was primarily intended for locals in HK, and not for tourists, the key element is SPEED. Because you probably will never forget what it's like to walk into Times Square or Grand Central on a hot summer day and be stuck behind a group of dumb tourists frantically swiping those MetroCards, a smart card alleviates the problem. In other words, no matter how dumb you are, you get through the gate fast—very fast. Doesn't that sound wonderful?
Did I mention you can also use the Octopus card at stores like Starbucks and 7-11 in Hong Kong? What a great idea. No more fumbling for coins. Of course, HK's coins are heavier than ours, so maybe the need was more dramatic! Seriously, HK is so forward-thinking on technology and design, we can only hope the MTA will roll out this technology soon. It's in the MTA's best interest anyhow; no more bent MetroCards giving out free fares, no more silly swiping.
Tags:
hong kong, metro card, mta, octopus card, smart card
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Posted on 11/22/2005
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November 20, 2005
The debate over blogs vs. newspapers and online books vs. printed lit came to the New York Public library last Thursday. Most interesting was that it came at a time when Google's stock price hit $400 and exceeded the capitalization of many of the most [in]famous bricks-and-mortar Fortune 500 companies. Shades of Y2K again? Perhaps not. But the debate of digitization of libraries is utterly fascinating, and for more reasons than most people consider. Aside from copyright issues, the access to information that people all over the world have become accustomed to in recent years just keeps hitting breathtaking new highs. Think about it: you can sit in an Internet Cafe in Kathmandu, where you might not have access (or the financial means) to get the works of Shakespeare, but you can search them online. Shakespeare might not be the best example, obviously, for a citizen of Nepal, but it is just one. Scholars have been immensely aided through online searchable texts; no more flipping through a dusty old concordance in the library when you can get instantaneous gratification towards your scholarly output. (How many times does the word yarely appear in Shakespeare's The Tempest you might ask?)
There will be debates, there will be lawsuits, there will be uproar. Printed books will never disappear, no matter what some digerati might tell you. You would be quite naive to forget that, if nothing else, they will exist as antiques for sale. And the greatest bestseller of all time, the Bible, is generally most beloved in old print editions, handed down from generation to generation. Yes, you can now download and read it in SMS text message form, which is also quite a fascinating development from Down Under. In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth," it begins, reports the BBC.
Our beloved NYPL has been at the forefront of adopting and adapting to so many technologies. Many New Yorkers are seemingly still unaware that its catalog can be searched online, and you can request books over the Internet, to be delivered to your local branch library. (If you don't feel like paying Amazon or B&N thousands to deliver all the year's bestsellers, just request them online...but be prepared to wait a bit. Hey, remember: it's free!)
While you will hear much noise and experience a number of bumps on the road to digital downloads of books, try to have some sympathy for the naysayers. Copyrights and royalties are very important, protecting intellectual property rights are most important as well. But the tantalizing notion that people everywhere who are connected to the Internet can eventually download portions or entire copies of books seems stunningly close. And our forward-thinking library system is at the heart of the matter.
Tags:
google book search, new york public library, sms bible
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Posted on 11/20/2005
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November 10, 2005
Greed, American style: One of the two Oregon couples who won the $340 million powerball last month demanded via their-newly hired publicist free flights to New York, a stay at the Waldorf-Astoria, etc., to see whether Good Morning America or the Today show would dole out the most comps. We all love to hate the filthy rich, especially the newly filthy rich, but this seems utterly contemptible—which is why it's so delicious. Don't ask how much they plan to donate to charity.
Doug Orr, the national director of marketing for the Multi-State Lottery Association, e-mailed "Today" execs: "I spoke with Curtis Bennett [the Wests' publicist] this morning again . . . I was able to convince Curtis that one of the smaller private jets really would not be nearly as comfortable as first class in the commercial airlines . . .
"It appears the Wests would like the following in order to give you their first live interview: [first class-tickets for] the Wests, three of their children, and Curt Bennett and his wife."
They also wanted: "Four rooms per evening for the entire stay at the Waldorf . . . Meal allowance for the entire [four-day] trip for the group . . . [perhaps] an NBC representative taking the Wests' group out to a nice restaurant as a possibility? The Wests really, really want to go to a 'Saturday Night Live' performance . . . The Wests would like theater tickets for a Broadway production. 'The Lion King' was mentioned . . . A guided tour of NYC . . . A limo to take them around during their entire stay."
A source from within "Today" said, "When [executive producer] Jim Bell heard about the demands he said, '[Bleep] them!' " Bell declined comment.
Tags:
powerball, private jet, winners
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Posted on 11/10/2005
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November 08, 2005
Of course this chap is Dutch; who else in the world would do this? Fresh has met Dutch cyclists from the lowlands of Holland to the high Himalaya. They are everywhere. While Fresh is an avid bike enthusiast and supports the mission of Critical Mass, making the streets safer for cyclists has been a tough haul. But this fellow, Michael de Jong has used his custom-built folding bicycle to get to and from airports in 30 cities around the world, including New Delhi, London, Lagos and Rio de Janeiro. Once he finds the most sensible route, he posts it on the Internet for others to follow. In most cases, he said, biking from the airport to a city center is faster than traveling by car or taking public transportation. Brilliant, perhaps, although the AirTrain is a nice option as well.
Tags:
airport, bike path, critical mass, jfk, lga
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Posted on 11/8/2005
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