Someone wrote: > I am originally from Peking... and to be honest, I havent found >anything around here that is at all close to what we used to have back >in the old country. I'd like to find out about a place around here that comes >up with a close approximation. Now, I wouldn't call myself an expert on Peking Duck, but I have had it many times, and I've looked at a number of cookbooks (but never actually tried to make it). So, with that in mind, ... Back in 1985 I went to China, and spent a bit of time in Beijing (as we are calling Peking now). While there, I had what was probably the worst Peking Duck of my life. One meal, lousy restaurant. Our tour guide insisted it was the place to go; he lied. Big gobs of unrendered fat under a skin that wasn't even vaguely crispy, and really tough (I'm describing the duck, not the tour guide). This was a place they took stupid Americans who didn't know the difference between good food and bad :^(. No real point here, I guess. Just reminiscing. I'm sure there are many places in Beijing to get wonderful Peking Duck. There was a useful side- effect. I was so angry that the next day I insisted that we go to where I wanted to go. So we visited Fengzeyuan, where we were treated to the best Chinese meal I have ever had. Their food is Shandong style. You can actually taste their food here in the US: when in Boston, go to Legal Seafood. They did an exchange with Fengzeyuan and got a chef or two for awhile. Training and recipes were left behind. Shandong scallops, etc. Salivating, Jon
China