Invitation to a Banquet

from learning the story of Chinese food from a Brit to tasting it in Flushing, Queens

In this week’s blog post I share my mixed feelings about learning “the story of Chinese food” from a British author, as well as discuss the experience of cultural food as lived vs learned. I also share a list of some of my recommendations for Chinese food in Flushing, the OG Chinatown of Queens, which includes a map and notes on my favorite bites at each spot! Hope you enjoy 🙌

Before we begin…

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Now without further ado…

Who gets to tell the story of Chinese Food?

I recently started reading the book Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food by acclaimed British author and Chinese food writer Fuchsia Dunlop. I’m still in the early chapters of this book, and I may be breaking the cardinal rule of never judging a book by its cover, but I feel particularly conflicted about this one.

My very first thought was, “Why is a white person explaining Chinese food to the world?” Surely there must be someone among the billions of Chinese people in the mainland or among the millions of members of the Chinese diaspora who could serve as an authoritative voice on our cuisine?

After perusing the introduction and dust cover flaps, I learned that Fuchsia has lived in China and studied at the Sichuan Higher Institute of Cuisine, and has been researching and cooking Chinese food for thirty years. That’s longer than I’ve been alive. Despite my being born there, Fuchsia has probably lived in China for longer than I have.