I saw a documentary the other night here in Taiwan called The Search for General Tso, General Tso's Chicken apparently being right behind pizza as America's favourite fast food. Which is interesting in that I've never heard of it. But, anyway, the documentary crew went to China, where most people have also never heard of it, except for a few in Hunan Province who took them to see a giant statue of Tso, who lived in the Qing Dynasty.
Then it turned out /SPOILER ALERT/ /SPOILER ALERT/ that General Tso's Chicken Dish was actually invented in the 50s by a chap called Peng, who worked and lived in the US for a while, and is still alive, and whose son now runs a chain of restaurants here in Taipei. As a result of which, at some point quite soon, I will not only be having General Tso's Chicken for the first time, it'll be prepared by the same people who invented it. Or at least by people who work for Peng's son. But, hey. Close enough. The old man probably keeps a close eye on the quality of the output.
Highlight of the documentary: Peng flicking through a sheaf of photos of General Tso's as sold by various restaurants in the US, and muttering 'What is this crazy nonsense?' to his son.
