China's Great Wall is holding the good stuff back

The folks who invented the Zagat guide have got some major beef with Chinese food in this country.

If Henry Kissinger could practice “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” perhaps Condoleezza Rice could try her hand at “dumpling diplomacy”? With more chefs who are schooled in China’s dynamic new restaurant scene, we would see a transformation of the way Chinese food is served in this country.

According to the Zagats, China is culinary nut desparetly needing to be cracked. Developing capitalism has brought about a new surge in the restaurant industry and taste buds in China are benefitting from the emergence of regional cuisines into the mainstream.

Apparently you can get sick of too much rice.

And Chinese food in America? Oh, don't even get them started. First the problem was that good traditional ingredients were not found here in the U.S.; then cuturally the American palate was not into anything that wasn't bland. Now, the Zagats say what's missing is a visa program for chef exchanges.

Lesson to be learned: Liberate yourselves from subpar chow mein from the mall. Move to China. Or something like that.

Read the article from the New York Times

Photo by Stephen Doyle