The Search for General Tso

2015 • 72 хвіліны

Пра гэты фільм

This mouthwateringly entertaining film travels the globe to unravel a captivating culinary mystery. General Tso's chicken is a staple of Chinese-American cooking, and a ubiquitous presence on restaurant menus across the country. But just who was General Tso? And how did his chicken become emblematic of an entire national cuisine? Director Ian Cheney (King Corn) journeys from Shanghai to New York to the American Midwest and beyond to uncover the origins of this iconic dish, turning up surprising revelations and a host of humorous characters along the way. Told with the verve of a good detective story, The Search for General Tso is as much about food as it is a tale of the American immigrant experience.

Ацэнкі і агляды

Interesting topic but "mystery" structure gets tired halfway through and drags on the story. Could also have some 20-30 min shaved.

The film explores a critical history of this much-beloved Chinese American dish. Rather than assigning the dish in/authenticity, the film does well to trace the historical trends of anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment, American discontent with the rise of Mao Zedong, and immigration patterns in the shaping of this Americanized dish, named after a revered Hunanese general who ironically believed in keeping China and its cultural and gastronomy "Chinese". More so than the obvious question "what is Chinese food", this film rightly asks—what is Chinese America, and what is the role of authenticity in diaspora?

I watched this on Netflix. It's an okay documentary - nothing special, but not terrible either. Rent, don't buy.