the fortune cookie chronicles

Lately I've been really enjoying Jennifer 8. Lee's recently-launched blog, which accompanies her forthcoming book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, on how Chinese food is all-American. It's due out next year. (That sounds like a hell of a fun book to research—did she get to eat a lot of Chinese food?) The blog is chock full of great information about trends, history, and insights on Chinese food around the world. Last week, she wrote about a cat named General Tso, which led to some great historical background on the roots of this pesky stereotypical perception that Chinese people eat cats. And dogs. And rats. Check out this fascinating pamphlet from 1907 she uncovered at the Library of Congress: Some Reasons for Chinese Exclusion. Meat vs. Rice American Manhood vs Asiatic Coolism. Which Shall Survive? (PDF). And this New York Times article from 1883: Do Chinese Eat Rats? (PDF). You gotta love it. Xenophobia—it's so American! Anyway, be sure to check out her blog.