The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

With the Olympics opening this weekend in Beijing I thought it would be a good time to post about a book I've just finished reading... The Fortune Cookie Chronicles. This is a terrific read about what the subtitle calls Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. The author, Jennifer 8. Lee, is a Chinese-American writer with the New York Times and she has put together a wonderful account of the impact of Chinese food in America. I first heard about Lee and her book on an NPR interview with the author. So when the book showed up in my library I grabbed it for a quick read. There's lots of great stories concerning fortune cookies, soy sauce, chop suey, General Tso and the history of Chinese restaurants in America. It was a very enjoyable book and I really had to have some Chinese food after reading it. I'm going to get lots more in the coming weeks, take out of course, for sitting in front of the TV with my chopsticks watching the Olympics from Beijing. Visit Lee's blog - fortunecookiechronicles.com The NPR story is here.