Reviews Archives — Page 30 of 366

Szechuan Superiority

Besides being a fun read about the birth of a food writer, Fuschia Dunlop’s Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China is a great primer on the glories of Szechuan cooking.

An unabashed fan of the Szechuan province (she considers it the ne plus ultra of Chinese cuisine) her book explores everything from the tongue-numbing effect of those mysterious peppercorns, to the Chinese propensity to eat “everything that flies except an airplane, and everything with four legs except the table.”

We’ve been hearing the rumors about China Mama for a couple of years now.

“Not as good as it used to be.”

“Nothing like it once was.”

“Fallen way off.”

“They’re using store bought, frozen xiao long bao, now.”

And on and on it has gone, with most of these reports coming in from our regs, loval readers, and other trusted foodie friends.

(Photo by Cierra Pedro)

Do you like a good sandwich?

I know I do.

If you’re like us and our staff, you think that John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich did the world a solid in the 18th Century by placing his lunch meat between two pieces of bread:

(Photo by Jon Estrada)

….the better to expedite his eating and not interfere with his gambling habit.