China Gaoshou 中国高手, Mountain Man, Food Maven

Now don’t get me wrong, I love spaghetti Bolognese, the spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs that is most familiar to Americans.   However, Italians are extremely inventive and have all manner of delicious ways of eating pasta in general and spaghetti in particular.   I tried a new spaghetti dish—well, it was meant for linguine, but works really well with whole wheat spaghetti—the other day and it has quickly become a favorite of mine.   Like most Italian food, it is so simple to prepare and yet so tasty. What I’m talking about is spaghetti with pesto and cheese.   I added to this dish a topping of toasted pine nuts, more cheese, shrimp, and a chopped parsley garnish. Pesto is one of glories of Italian food, a simple mix of pine nuts, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, and salt (well the salt can be optional, I think) that is used in so many ways.    The stuff is incredibly easy to make; one only needs a food process, like a Cuisinart, to whip up pesto. ...

Let me introduce myself: I know the title of my blog is long, but I wanted that title to convey three big passions in my life that will make up the content of this blog.   The first part of the title, of course, refers to China, where I lived and worked for over a decade, from August 2005 through June 2016.  The phrase "Gaoshou" (or 高手) literally means "high hand," and in Chinese, can also denote someone is an expert.  The two characters before it is the Chinese name for the country of China, or Zhongguo, which literally means "middle kingdom."  With my long and rich China experience, I think I can claim to be a China "Gaoshou."  My China adventure was largely spent outside the usual expat bubble.  To be sure, I spent my first two years in the country doing what many foreigners who went there in the early 2000's did, namely teaching English at Chinese universities.  However, my first China home was a lower tier city in Henan Province, an area...