The Americanization of other cultures’ food has been a
widely known phenomena. America and sweets and fatness are a running joke
around the globe. Do we REALLY need to add to it? I think NOT!
In this segment I will be talking about something very near
and dear to my heart: The OVER-Americanization of food. For this purpose I will
be targeting one of my pet peeves: General Tso’s Chicken. Now traditionally
this dish is supposed to be more of a sweet dish with a kick (Read SPICY).
That, unfortunately, is NOT the case in most cases.
It has been a long time since I first savored REAL
traditional General Tso’s at an international festival in middle school. Since
that time I had always found the other imitations to be lacking at best. Then I
found another fountain of joy, in the shape of a small kiosk near my college.
These wondrous individuals made the chicken as it was SUPPOSED to be. The sweet
base lovingly caressed the chicken, and held a spicy secret you wouldn’t soon
forget. Am I saying it was fire breathing hot? No, not in the least. But it DID
have a very noticeable kick that would always leave a smile on my face. This is
as it SHOULD be, yet, sadly, is the minority in the culinary availability of some
stuff labeled “General Tso’s.”
What is generally offered, under the guise of “General Tso’s,”
is this sticky, and often sickeningly sweet, syrupy mess. It only vaguely appears
to be a sad facsimile of that which true connoisseurs’ desire. Its taste is
anything but appetizing in most instances. That is not to say the chicken is
overdone, burnt, or even that the cook did a bad job of preparing the meal. They
did an excellent job in preparing... whatever the slop is... but they certainly
did not make proper General Tso’s.
I believe this stems from the unfortunate stereotype that “Westerners
cannot handle spicy food, and all they want is sweet dishes.” While there ARE
people like that, there are just as many, if not MORE, that enjoy other types
of food. Think of a nice thick steak; how often are they candied beyond belief?
Think of Cajun cooking, salty spicy deliciousness that’s usually encompassing seafood
dishes. There are many more examples that helps disprove this stereotype, but I’ll
leave it at that for now.
It's General Tso's, NOT Sweet and sour. If I wanted to eat syrup covered chicken that's what I'd do!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there is a LARGE market
that is going unserved. These shops need to wake up and realize that there is a
customer base just waiting to happen. They wouldn’t even have to have it as
their primary menu. Have it as an available option. Instead of saying “That’s
as hot as it gets,” say instead “I got
just the thing!” In most cases it’s simply a matter of adding extra spices
during cooking or at the end. It CAN be done.
If you’re still skeptical at the pervasiveness of the spicy
culture, I have a fun fact for you. Somewhat recently a local Mejier (a grocery
supermarket with other general goods) started stocking hot peppers. They had
FRESH Scorpion Trinidad peppers and Ghost peppers. These are not kiddie
peppers. These are the kinds that send the unprepared to the hospital. In a word
they’re: Delicious. Why did I say “had” then, if they are so good? Because the
store is having a hard time keeping them in stock! People are buying them out
as quickly as they get shipped in, and I can tell you it’s not me or anyone I
directly know. I’ve only managed to get my hands on three packages. The rest of
the times the shelves are empty. They resemble an ammo case at Wal-Mart: Sad and
Barren! Now if THAT doesn’t tell you how popular and in DEMAND they are, I don’t
know what else to say.
Personally, I’m not a fan of sweets. So the bastardization
of General Tso’s is doubly insulting and revolting to me. The paradigm of
stores and shops needs to shift to stop thinking in such narrow terms. There is
a market for the product. They just need to take advantage of it. So in
short... Shut up and take my money!
--Kirk
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