I remember the first time I had Peking duck. Not the restaurant, not the street, but the way it arrived – golden, glistening, a perfect lacquered dome – and the brief moment of panic over what I was supposed to do with it.
At the time, my Chinese dining experience was limited to Kites in Ballsbridge and Kingsland on Dame Street, both in Dublin. I was in Cambridge for the Magdalene College May Ball, back when it was still a male-only college and hosted the only white-tie affair….