[Sca-cooks] Chinese Road Map

[Philip W. Troy & Susan Troy]

XvLoverCrimvX at aol.com wrote:
>
> In Chinese cooking there are 4 styles of flavors:Hunan, Canton, Peking, and
> Schezuan (sp?). I was wondering what the differences of each style was and
> where in China they are located. I know Schezuan is known for its spicy foods
> and Peking is located around the capital (duh!). Another question is:Are
> there any other styles besides these 4?

The first rule to remember is that the regional styles you mention above
are _not_ (and I mean almost never!) properly characterized by dish
names or regional appelations in American (or other countries') Chinese
restaurants. Szechuan food, for example, is frequently spicy, but often
surprisingly subtle, and overall uses fewer chilies than Hunan food does.

And then, of course, many people would claim that each province (and
even the larger cities) has its own distinct cuisine, and they may be
right, but it's moderately reasonable to simplify things a bit as you've
done. You'd need to add, though, the fairly distinctive cuisine of
Shanghai, probably Taiwanese food as a more or less separate entity, and
the cooking of the Hakka boat people. And even that would be a simplification.

For example, the cuisine of Toysan, where my wife's ancestors come from,
has some similarities to that of Guangdong (a.k.a. Cantonese food), and
that of Hong Kong, but when placed side-by-side they're pretty well
distinct from each other.

There used to be several Toysanese restaurants in New York, but they're
all gone now, as far as I know. Except for my house in late January,
early February ;  )

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98