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Andrew Zimmern fired for critiquing Chinese food

Andrew Zimmern fired for critiquing Chinese food

Old Jan 3, 2019, 11:18 am
  #91  
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Going way back to the OP, the whole thing is absurd since there is no single "Chinese food" any more than there's one American Cuisine. Except in places that serve food from closely related Chinese regions, things quickly go very far off the rails when trying to make something for everyone. Just like you're unlikely to get 5 star pizza and 5 star lobster rolls in the same place. I know, someone will now point me to a place that does just that, but odds are low
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Old Jan 3, 2019, 11:21 am
  #92  
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Originally Posted by milepig
Just like you're unlikely to get 5 star pizza and 5 star lobster rolls in the same place. I know, someone will now point me to a place that does just that, but odds are low
OMG, I *hope* someone points us to such a place.

Either that or Lou Malnati's accepts the challenge to make a lobster pizza. ^
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Old Jan 3, 2019, 11:58 am
  #93  
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Originally Posted by weero
If I take the antihistamines or the cortisone early, the reaction will be much milder. But the food comes up rather quickly nonetheless. I hence only eat it, if socially unavoidable and I keep the intake to a minimum.
It can kill me even with antihistamines, so I can't eat it.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 6:01 pm
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Just wondering, why hasn't a moderator moved this thread to the Dining forum? Three pages in so far, it has failed to manifest either a political or religious angle.

I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Zimmern. Here in my part of the Midwest, nearly all Chinese food is, as someone said above, "mall food quality." Really memorably good Chinese food is at least a 45-min drive away ... and that's living in one of Chicago's collar counties. It doesn't get better as you drive farther away from the big city.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 7:26 pm
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Originally Posted by kipper
It can kill me even with antihistamines, so I can't eat it.
Yes, they are sometimes not strong enough.

But occasionally, you don't know what you are eating and this is when I put in all the precautions.

I was forced to eat at a Jain restaurant recently and the food looked entirely innocuous (I mean there's nothing in there). I did well with a) taking cortisone beforehand and b) eating next to nothing. I recovered the same night....
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 9:11 pm
  #96  
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Originally Posted by weero
Yes, they are sometimes not strong enough.

But occasionally, you don't know what you are eating and this is when I put in all the precautions.

I was forced to eat at a Jain restaurant recently and the food looked entirely innocuous (I mean there's nothing in there). I did well with a) taking cortisone beforehand and b) eating next to nothing. I recovered the same night....
Mine can kill me and I don't recover the same night usually, so I'm extremely careful.
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Old Jan 6, 2019, 11:33 pm
  #97  
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Originally Posted by Kamalaasaa
In Hungary I ate at a Chinese restaurant and ordered a turkey dish (dont remember what, though - but definitely a Chinese dish ). I thought it was pretty good.

And in South Africa I ate at a more upscale Chinese restaurant that had ostrich dishes on its menu. I dont think we ordered any, but again, I cant rember.
In Paris, you find frogs legs on Chinese restaurant menus. Some people claim that this is what one should order, so that you know what the mystery meat really is (unless you want to eat rat).
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Old Jan 7, 2019, 12:15 am
  #98  
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Originally Posted by cubbie
Just wondering, why hasn't a moderator moved this thread to the Dining forum?
You do realize that our unpaid volunteer moderators don't spend all their waking hours reading every single thread on FlyerTalk, right? In order for the thread to be moved, someone has to alert the moderators by clicking on a red triangle next to a post and adding a note suggesting that the thread be moved.

Three pages in so far, it has failed to manifest either a political or religious angle.
There is at least one political comment, post #3 , complaining about SJWs. I believe that the original intent of the OP was to complain about political correctness.
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Old Jan 7, 2019, 10:21 am
  #99  
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Originally Posted by cubbie
Just wondering, why hasn't a moderator moved this thread to the Dining forum? Three pages in so far, it has failed to manifest either a political or religious angle.

I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Zimmern. Here in my part of the Midwest, nearly all Chinese food is, as someone said above, "mall food quality." Really memorably good Chinese food is at least a 45-min drive away ... and that's living in one of Chicago's collar counties. It doesn't get better as you drive farther away from the big city.
Makes me think Zimmern could have phrased this differently.

It has nothing to do with the Midwest USA. I've had sh*tty Chinese food in the UK, Canada, and most regions of the U.S.

It has nothing to do with China, America, recent immigrants, or actual heartfelt and skilled attempts at culinary fusion.

He could have rightfully and without controversy railed on the thousands of Chinese restaurants that completely phone it in because they know people are more than happy to buy $8 takeout sweet & sour chicken. Or belly up to the $5.99 MSG buffet at lunch. The rant is really directed at those of us who consume mall-quality food. (I'm guilty too...how else would I have gotten through college without really cheap late-night Chinese takeout?)

But then again, I don't follow this guy and from this thread am aware he's on a mission to sell his own product. So I realize I'm not talking about an unbiased food critic here.
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Old Mar 1, 2019, 9:45 pm
  #100  
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Originally Posted by Silver Fox
We are entering the era of where, before you even open your mouth or put pen to paper, that you may as well start everything with "I apolgize if you find this offensive". The SJW are strong and the force is with them. There are pleny of "horses**t" restaurants of all ethnicities that are being called out on yelp, tripadvisor, etc., each and every day and I have no issue whatsoever with him describing it as such if that is his opinion.
That's really the problem. He shouldn't have apologized.
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Old Mar 1, 2019, 10:59 pm
  #101  
 
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Originally Posted by Skyman65
Heh, I've got a bit of a different take on the "secret menu" at Chinese restaurants. A couple years back, I took my (Taiwanese) in-laws on a road trip tour of the American West. By the time we reached West Yellowstone, MT, my sister-in-law was dying for Chinese food. She'd already had about ten straight days of American restaurant food, and she was fed up (no pun intended). I was surprised to find there was one Chinese restaurant in town, so we went there.
I have an experience with the Chinese language menu page that starts out vaguely similar to yours but ends quite the opposite of "TL;DR it was a scam".

I'd just hired a man in Beijing to work with our customers in China, and had flown him out to our HQ near San Francisco for two weeks of training. I'll call him Quan. Quan had rarely if every traveled outside of China before and wasn't fond of foreign (to him) food. Even on his day of arrival in the US he was already jonesing for the tastes of home. I picked him up at the airport and told him we could have anything he wanted for lunch. He said "everything is okay" but our widely-traveled colleague from Hong Kong discreetly explained that to me that Quan was terrified of Western food and perhaps we should try American-Chinese to help him.

I drove to a neighborhood where there are many decent Chinese restaurants (Silicon Valleyites: Castro Street in Mt. View) and invited him to choose. He picked the first one he saw. "Do you want to read the menus at a few restaurants then pick?" I asked, quietly thinking to myself that it was only the third-best Chinese restaurant on the block. No, the first one he saw was the one he wanted. Inside, he was happy to find that the staff spoke Mandarin. He began quizzing them on how various dishes were prepared. I suggested he order for the three of us, which he did. The staff in the otherwise unremarkable, hole-in-the-wall quality restaurant rose to the occasion and put on the atmosphere of a feast for us.

Was it the best food ever? Of course not; remember, it was only third best on the block IMO. But Quan enjoyed the experience. He offered a gentle critique of the dishes (I appreciated the learning), and the meal was close enough to comfort food to de-stress him at the start of his foreign trip. Plus, it built enough trust that later in the week he was willing to try my recommendations for enchiladas and cheesesteaks.
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Old Mar 2, 2019, 1:35 am
  #102  
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Originally Posted by darthbimmer
I have an experience with the Chinese language menu page that starts out vaguely similar to yours but ends quite the opposite of "TL;DR it was a scam".

I'd just hired a man in Beijing to work with our customers in China, and had flown him out to our HQ near San Francisco for two weeks of training. I'll call him Quan. Quan had rarely if every traveled outside of China before and wasn't fond of foreign (to him) food. Even on his day of arrival in the US he was already jonesing for the tastes of home. I picked him up at the airport and told him we could have anything he wanted for lunch. He said "everything is okay" but our widely-traveled colleague from Hong Kong discreetly explained that to me that Quan was terrified of Western food and perhaps we should try American-Chinese to help him.

I drove to a neighborhood where there are many decent Chinese restaurants (Silicon Valleyites: Castro Street in Mt. View) and invited him to choose. He picked the first one he saw. "Do you want to read the menus at a few restaurants then pick?" I asked, quietly thinking to myself that it was only the third-best Chinese restaurant on the block. No, the first one he saw was the one he wanted. Inside, he was happy to find that the staff spoke Mandarin. He began quizzing them on how various dishes were prepared. I suggested he order for the three of us, which he did. The staff in the otherwise unremarkable, hole-in-the-wall quality restaurant rose to the occasion and put on the atmosphere of a feast for us.

Was it the best food ever? Of course not; remember, it was only third best on the block IMO. But Quan enjoyed the experience. He offered a gentle critique of the dishes (I appreciated the learning), and the meal was close enough to comfort food to de-stress him at the start of his foreign trip. Plus, it built enough trust that later in the week he was willing to try my recommendations for enchiladas and cheesesteaks.
1. Chinese people want to eat Chinese food when they travel
2. I brought an investor group to Fresno 10 years back, and after the meetings finished, they simply wanted to eat at any Chinese restaurant
3. I happen to love the Chinese restaurants on Castro Street in Mountain View, especially the lunch specials
-while many people love to mock American Chinese food, the honey walnut prawns in the bay area simply put their Guangdong comparables to shame
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Old Mar 2, 2019, 12:37 pm
  #103  
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How is this offensive to anyone? People need to stop being offended by everything.

Originally Posted by kale73


What else should one expect with a NPD in the Oval Office?
Not to delve into politics, which is frowned upon on FT, but it's pretty clear that it's snowflake leftists driving this sort of victim culture. Everyone has to be offended by everything, because being a victim is the ultimate feather in ones cap. See for example Smollet, Jussie.
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Last edited by iluv2fly; Mar 3, 2019 at 7:01 pm Reason: merge
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Old Mar 2, 2019, 8:42 pm
  #104  
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Moderator's note....

This forum is NOT for political discussion or politicized or partisan characterizations.

Please keep this forum focused on food and dining and take political views to OMNI/PR

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Old Mar 3, 2019, 2:44 pm
  #105  
 
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Originally Posted by Sheikh Yerbooty
I may be close to the only one here, but Chinese food does not sit well with me. It's just variations of a single theme, which is deep-fried fat. What's more, in my neck of the woods Chinese restaurants are consistently ranked lowest when it comes to hygiene. To anyone who's been to China that's hardly a surprise; they are, for lack of a better word, swine. It stinks, it tastes all the same and it's mainly saturated fats. Regardless of whether it's in China, Europe, the US or the Middle East (I've had the misfortune to be invited to Chinese restaurants in all of those places), it's just foul. Chinese food in China was, however, on it's own distinct level of disgusting - and that's before we even touch on the hygiene.

I fully appreciate the Chinese kitchen is considered one of the 5 great kitchens, and you're welcome to it if it tickles your tastebuds. Personally I prefer any of the other 5 (Italian, French, Mexican and Turkish), thank you very much. And while we're at it, Korean food hardly does anything for me either. Thai, on the other hand, can be very delicious if prepared properly and using quality ingredients. Here's my favourite, which holds a Michelin star: https://www.kiin.dk. If you're ever in CPH, make sure to have reserved a table well in advance.
Swine? saturated fat? deep fried fat? Have you ate any of the great seafood dishes, steamed dishes, stirred fries?
Obviously your view of the little world is showing. Not to mention your arrogance, ignorance and rudeness.
Why even be on a travel site with that mindset? Why travel? just stick to your little cocoon.
Just read this thread today, but very disappointed no one commented on this post. and how its allowed to stay posted.
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