The Cleaver and the Butterfly
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The Cleaver and the Butterfly
Sichuan food, globalization, and the Dao.
By Andrew Leonard
· Launched 3 years ago
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The Road to Shu is Hard
The road to Shu is hard. Harder than climbing the sky. On a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Chengdu, in April 2019, a few weeks into the beginning of the Year of the Pig, I am reading a passage in "Looking for Chengdu," a diary kept by the feminist Marxist anthropologist…
Oct 17, 2019
16
Tapping the Mapo Doufu Source
A dish that contains multitudes, collapses peripheries and explains the rise and fall of empires.
Apr 11, 2021
3
3
The Impossible Dictionary of Truth
Or: How everything I knew about hogs in Chinese homes was wrong. The Cross-stitched Pig, Part III
Jun 23, 2022
11
8
The Original Sin of Competitive Feasting
From Neolithic dinner parties to the "vast, existential inequality" of the Shang, as told by culinary ware. Part III of The Annals of Neolithic Globalization
Jan 20
5
2
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I Have Seen The Future and it is a Chinese Vegetable Washing Machine
7
In Praise of Taiwan
11
3
The Road to Shu is Hard
16
Joan of Sichuan
5
4
What The Fire Taught Me
15
7
Hacking the Huainanzi
11
2
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New
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The Phoenix-like Miracle of Coleus Resurrection
This is how the new year begins: with flowers, new pens, and the cleanest of slates
Jan 1
9
5
When Cooking Pots Ruled China
Big dings, mortuary selfishness, and the mandate of heaven: Part II of The Annals of Neolithic Globalization
Dec 14, 2022
5
1
"Yin and Yang are my Chef"
Assuaging pre-election jitters with a sharp knife and some exuberant poetry
Nov 7, 2022
4
1
Sanxingdui is Back and Brighter Than Ever
What does a 3000-year-old lightshow on the streets of Chengdu really mean? Part I of the Annals of Neolithic Globalization
Oct 30, 2022
2
3
The Torch of Chaos and Doubt
In honor of the newsletter's third anniversary, here's some data to chew on and couple of amazing vegetarian Sichuan recipes.
Oct 17, 2022
3
1
Twice Cooked Pork Belly Home Fries
The Cross-Stitched Pig, Part V
Oct 16, 2022
4
A Unified Theory of Pork Belly
From North Carolina to Berkeley to Chengdu, a price-point sensitive love affair to die for. (The Cross-Stitched Pig, Part IV)
Oct 5, 2022
15
11
Roasted along the Way
Regular production of this newsletter was delayed over the last two weeks by the extensive preparations involved in putting together a feast for about…
Jul 26, 2022
12
4
See all
Most popular
I Have Seen The Future and it is a Chinese Vegetable Washing Machine
7
In Praise of Taiwan
11
3
The Road to Shu is Hard
16
Joan of Sichuan
5
4
What The Fire Taught Me
15
7
Hacking the Huainanzi
11
2
See all popular
The Cleaver and the Butterfly
Sichuan food, globalization, and the Dao.
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The Cleaver and the Butterfly
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