Archive for December, 2010
Team General Tso in the Taipei Mountains
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010From left to right: Ian Cheney, director and co-producer Curt Ellis, co-producer Me, co-producer, and translator Taylor Gentry, director of photography We went up to get some panoramic shots for B-roll. This is a film (gasp) shot that Taylor took. It looks like Instagram. But it’s not. No filter to be had to do this. […]
A photo collage from a reader, Kenneth Cronk
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010The above image was submitted from a reader, Kenneth Cronk. I did a photo-collage of one of my favorite Chinese Restaurants called Mee Mah. I mentioned this place in a previous email and you said you had never been there. BUT – Isn’t that you I see sitting there? Sitting in front of those two […]
The original General Tso’s chicken
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010In all its glory, from Peng’s Agora Garden in Taipei. We filmed it very carefully.
David Mamet On Jews and Chinese Food on Christmas
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010Hipster Brooklyn Jewish Deli, Mile End, to Serve Chinese Food on Christmas
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010Mile End Delicatessen, which is famed for its Montreal-style Jewish food (such as smoked meat), is drawing a ream of publicity for its decision to serve Chinese food on Christmas. (It’s of course had its share of press anyway. People love writing about Jewish food). They originally announced it on Twitter, “We’re taking reservations for our […]
Finding the Chef Behind General Tso’s Chicken with the Documentary
Monday, December 20th, 2010We found our way to Peng’s Agora Garden in Taipei, owned by C.K. Peng, the chef behind General Tso’s chicken, who is now 93 and comes into the restaurant. As my book notes, Chef Peng is the person who came up with the name of the dish. Here are Ian, Curt and Taylor, setting up […]
Japanese take on American takeout boxes. In City Centre Tokyo.
Saturday, December 18th, 2010Wear Your Fortunes Around Your Neck! On Etsy.
Friday, December 17th, 2010Love these fortune cookie fortune scarves on Etsy for $22. They read “Success is a journey, not a destination,” which is actually a fortune I have on a giant roll I got from Wonton Food.
Hunting for Chicken in Taipei with the Wicked Delicate team
Tuesday, December 14th, 2010I’m working on a documentary on Chinese food with the Wicked Delicate team — Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis — which gained fame with King Corn. We got a $40,000 development grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities [pdf]. So we headed to Taiwan for our first international shoot. Taylor Gentry, a great cinematographer, […]