If you\u2019re doing things right, you gained as much weight as possible in November so that you have a good base to build on for December\u2019s feasts. I am pleased to provide leadership by example on this note. Well, maybe \u201cpleased\u201d isn\u2019t the right term, but there\u2019s no doubt that I\u2019m well-qualified. <\/p>\n
But today we\u2019ll drop our napkins for a while as we consider two culinary luminaries who recently passed away, both at the age of 98. These are the Michael \u201cJim\u201d Delligatti, inventor of the Big Mac; and Peng Chang-kuei, inventor of General Tso\u2019s Chicken. <\/p>\n
The Big Mac is so famous that it needs no introduction on Saipan or anywhere else. But the very ubiquity that makes it unremarkable is, of course, remarkable. The Big Mac hasn\u2019t always existed. Somebody had to invent it.<\/p>\n
And that somebody was Delligatti. He invented the Big Mac in 1967, unveiling it at a franchise he owned in Uniontown, Penn. The following year it went nationwide on the McDonald\u2019s menu. <\/p>\n
By the 1970s all my pals and I could name the Big Mac\u2019s ingredients. They were enumerated in an advertising jingle: \u201cTwo all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun.\u201d <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve since had many a time in strange, far-away lands when a Big Mac was my only touchstone of Americana, so I\u2019ve always had a real appreciation for this product. I don\u2019t eat many of them these days, but I like knowing that they\u2019re there when the need arises. <\/p>\n
The Big Mac is such a homogenous and common product that it has significance in economic analysis. As I point out from time to time, the Big Mac serves as a measure of purchasing power between various national currencies. This is called the Big Mac Index. It was invented by The Economist magazine in 1986. One reason I like the index is that it\u2019s a lighthearted approach (that characterization is from The Economist magazine itself), so you\u2019re free to take it as seriously, or as not seriously, as you care to. There is real juice to the concept though, so it\u2019s not just a lark.<\/p>\n
We now aim the gimlet eye of gastronomy at Taiwan, where, according to the Taiwan News website, restaurateur Peng Chang-kuei concocted an ad-hoc dish to serve to an American admiral in 1952. Peng dubbed the dish \u201cGeneral Tao\u2019s Chicken,\u201d so named for a famous Chinese general from back in the day. Another restaurateur eventually introduced the dish in New York. Its popularity spread throughout the U.S. from there. <\/p>\n
In summary, then, it was not a traditional Chinese dish, but was something concocted for contemporary American palates. So it\u2019s more Peoria than it is Peking. <\/p>\n
You\u2019ve got to admire the winding way of the world\u2019s trade routes. The American hinterlands are serving \u201cGeneral Tso\u2019s Chicken\u201d in strip malls; meanwhile, Colonel Sanders has claimed a lot of Asian market share as he hawks \u201cKFC\u201d fried chicken. I haven\u2019t received any dispatches from Cap\u2019n Crunch, but he must be somewhere out there. <\/p>\n
One thing about Saipan that can spoil you is the variety of little restaurants that have some genuine character. Come to think of it, I guess I could say that about most places I\u2019ve been to in the west Pacific. Were you to be dropped into the broad expanse of mid-America, though, you might not feel so spoiled; outside of the usual chain restaurants, there isn\u2019t much action in some places. I once spent a few weeks on a business trip where the best food in the area was the sandwiches at the local truck stop. To this day I have no idea where those sandwiches came from. They just appeared at random intervals on a dingy shelf between the sinus spray and batteries. <\/p>\n
Well, if that bleak scene doesn\u2019t make you appreciate what\u2019s on your plate this holiday season, I guess nothing will. So let\u2019s grab our forks and get on with things, shall we?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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