Sometime in the late 18th century, a wealthy salt merchant named Tong Yuejin decided to throw a banquet. The event took place in Tong’s luxurious quarters in Yangzhou, a metropolis 170 miles north of Shanghai. The meal was opulent, even by the standards of the city, whose inhabitants were notorious, as contemporaries quipped, for “throwing money around like dirt and dung.” Tong’s dinner was a study in conspicuous consumption, with more than 400 dishes. For the occasion, he ordered his cooks to prepare some of the most scrumptious delicacies that…
