Fuchsia Dunlop: belief

Transcript context

…In terms of the history of my Sichuan peppercorns and the history of yours, these at least pretend they’re from China. Correct? Is it that they’re from the wrong place, or they’ve been sitting around too long, or you know the best source? What’s the underlying difference behind the difference? In Sichuan they would say that the best Sichuan pepper comes from a particular region, Hanyuan, in the west of Sichuan. There’s a real, as I said, a concern with provenance of things. I think there are different varieties, which will be more fruity and less fruity. The other thing is, I think most of the Sichuan pepper that is exported has been exported and handled by Cantonese people. In parts of China apart from Sichuan, Sichuan pepper is used differently. It’s used in spice combinations. It’s used to take away the fishiness of meat and poultry ingredients. That’s a Chinese culinary concept. But it’s not used for this tingling ma sensation. Unless you’re Sichuanese, you’re not going to be seeking out the really zingy Sichuan pepper. That’s the problem, really, that you would need Sichuanese exporters taking command — [laughter] And making sure we all get the tingly Sichuan pepper. Let me ask you a deep philosophical question here, just for some background. Someone once asked you, “What are your favorite parts of Chinese food?” You gave a long answer, too long for me to repeat. And a lot of it I can’t pronounce anyway. You listed seven or eight different regions that all seemed quite different. These Sichuan peppercorns and ma la is not in general done in Shanghai, as you well know. What is the underlying unity that makes all of this Chinese food — because you instinctively believe in that concept — but what is that unity, given the fantastic diversity?…

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