Welcome to the weekend, a time of limitless possibilities, particularly where TV watching is concerned. Here are three recommendations for things to check out this weekend, plus a roundup of the week’s food-related entertainment news.
A dish that tells a big American story
The Search for General Tso is so much more than a history of the Chinese dish that became a staple of take-out menus across America. This lively 2015 documentary actually offers a concise look at how Chinese immigrants came to America and used food to carve out a niche for themselves in a land where they first faced extreme adversity.
After establishing that the titular sweet-and-sour chicken dish is virtually unknown in China, director Ian Cheney cycles back in time to look at how the first wave of Chinese immigrants in America — many of whom originally came through the Port of San Francisco during the Gold Rush — were drawn to restaurant work as a means of survival. “The Exclusion Act basically forced them out of labor, and so they have to be self-employed,” historian Peter Kwong explains in the film. “And this is where two very important professions came into being: one is providing laundry, one is providing food.”
Read more at Eater.com: https://www.eater.com/2018/6/23/17494860/search-for-general-tsos-documentary-where-to-watch
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