menu
Skip to main content
Kirschner Collection

Chinese New Year and the Drama of Cooking

By January 26, 2012September 16th, 2023No Comments

1460719183_86ad29b883The Chinese Year of the Dragon began this week. In celebration, I’d like to highlight a cookbook by Su Chung (aka Lucille Davis): Court Dishes of China: The Cuisine of the Ch’ing Dynasty (1966). This book is interesting for several reasons. In addition to the pages and pages of recipes included in it, the Forward to the book details the dramatic story of how these recipes were acquired from the Japanese Princess Alchingioro, the wife of a political prisoner, and how the author’s sense of duty compelled her to study cooking (previously not an interest of hers) to carefully compile this cookbook. It’s quite a sensational history of food and culture. 

Mark Engebretson

Author Mark Engebretson

More posts by Mark Engebretson

© 2024 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Privacy Statement | Acceptable Use of IT Resources