Chairman Mao Zedong was born in Hunan and never lost his love of the local spicy cuisine, insisting that: "Those who do not eat hot dishes are not real revolutionaries." It was only a few decades ago that genuine revolutionaries were temporarily based in Sichuan, so it is no surprise that the local cuisine's fame has spread all over China, along with communist ideals and people power. Chefs are very cautious when choosing ingredients and flavorings; every dish is cooked in its particular way. The Chinese Western school of cooking is often referred to as the "cuisine of one thousand and one tastes." Among its most famous dishes are spicy pork, gongbao ji ding—Chicken fried with nuts and vegetables, chicken bites cooked with spices, and bean curd with chili and prickly ash tree.
