That book is way more useful for techniques than the recipes in it. I wouldn't dream of trying their mapo tofu!

Pretty much everything from the technique to the details were pretty far off the mark. It was pretty cringeworthy to watch.

I meant the techniques portion of the book, not techniques for the Mapo Tofu.

Sure, but the non-European techniques are way off. Look at how they tell you to stir fry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AujuLHK3hvs

...The world, for just a moment, was a far more interesting place. Then the realization that no, the Central Intelligence Agency does not have a crack division of crypto-culinary experts in the midst of a cold war, attempting to thwart or coordinate psyops in which they sabotage other nations morale through spreading deliberate, yet subtly disasterous cooking advice.

Thailand's culinary diplomacy program isn't _too_ far off

Yeah, they use vacuum cleaner salesmen instead.

My kid goes to a camp that abbreviates its name as CIA (the C stands for Camp and the IA are the initials of some old rich guy) and it always throws me.

I imagined it as them needing to have experienced chefs on hand to teach ethnic cuisine skills, so that deep-cover spies wouldn't be unmasked by their inability to make the local cuisine.