Beyond peppercorns

Sichuan food is famous for its numbing spiciness, but the provincial capital, Chengdu, demonstrates that the cuisine is not one-dimensional. Mike Peters reports.

When I was making plans to visit Chengdu, my Western friends wanted to know if I was going to see pandas. (Yes.) My Chinese friends asked if I was planning to eat a local delicacy: rabbit head. (Uh ... maybe? But on Easter weekend?)

The most authentic rabbit head restaurant, according to various reports, is Old Mother From Shuangliu's Rabbit Head, located near Shuangliu Old Station. Locals say "old mother" was selling hotpot at her shop - originally located where the airport sits today - but in the back she often prepared rabbit head for her son, who apparently craved this dish with the homemade sauce he grew up eating. Her hotpot customers "went crazy for it when they got a taste", and the rest is history, or at least her story.