Sybil Kapoor

A cook’s tour of China without the crispy caterpillars

How must our recipes appear to the inheritors of thousands of years of tradition?

Grilled fish on Xiao Putuo island [(c) Yann Layma] 
issue 04 January 2014

As I pick my way around the debris in Zhongyi market in Lijiang, our guide points out the yak section. Windpipes, cleaned intestines and huge wobbly magenta livers are neatly laid out on the filthy floor, while the more expensive cuts are arranged on trestles. My eyes are drawn to a row of small boys enthusiastically slurping up noodles swimming in a dark beefy-looking broth.

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