For lunch today I had some General Tso’s Chicken; while eating, I started wondering about the story behind this ubiquitous American-Chinese dish. Is it really Chinese in origin? Who was General Tso, and did he like fried chicken kibbles in spicy-sour sauce? Is the brilliant orange color of the sauce obtained from uranium oxide, much like antique Fiesta Ware, or is it a lead-based glaze? I thought that this might be an opportunity to examine a bit of history and maybe even contribute something original to the collective knowledge of the web.
Well, it turns out that more than one person had the same idea. Not only is there a Wikipedia article on General Tso’s Chicken, someone has a dedicated web page highlighting the dish. Even the Washington Post has dedicated valuable page space to the topic. In turns out that everyone agrees that G.T.C. was “invented” in the 1970’s, but there are two competing theories as to who created it. I’m sure the debate would make for some lively discussion between the two sides; maybe my contribution to this area of study could be to organize an international symposium on faux Chinese cuisine (it would have to be international since they apparently also have the dish in Canada).
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