It is also about culture, economics, race, and identity. Jeffrey Pilcher, University of Torontoįood is not just about sustenance and taste. Hasia Diner, New York UniversityĪ thoroughly researched, highly readable account of the development of Chinese American food, this book fills important gaps in the literature of ethnic and food studies, while incorporating an appealing personal memoir into the narrative. Well organized and breathtakingly broad in its geographic scope, Chop Suey, USA is an utterly original and significant contribution to the field. They streamlined certain Chinese dishes, such as chop suey and egg foo young, turning them into nationally recognized brand names. Chinese American restaurant workers developed the concept of the open kitchen and popularized the practice of home delivery. Barred from many occupations, Chinese Americans successfully turned Chinese food from a despised cuisine into a dominant force in the restaurant market, creating a critical lifeline for their community. The rise of Chinese food is also a classic American story of immigrant entrepreneurship and perseverance. Epitomized by chop suey, American Chinese food was a forerunner of McDonald's, democratizing the once-exclusive dining-out experience for such groups as marginalized Anglos, African Americans, and Jews.
Americans fell in love with Chinese food not because of its gastronomic excellence but because of its affordability and convenience, which is why they preferred the quick and simple dishes of China while shunning its haute cuisine. It reflects not only changes in taste but also a growing appetite for a more leisurely lifestyle. Engineered by a politically disenfranchised, numerically small, and economically exploited group, Chinese food's tour de America is an epic story of global cultural encounter.
Chop Suey, USA offers the first comprehensive interpretation of the rise of Chinese food, revealing the forces that made it ubiquitous in the American gastronomic landscape and turned the country into an empire of consumption. By 1980, it had become the country's most popular ethnic cuisine. American diners began to flock to Chinese restaurants more than a century ago, making Chinese food the first mass-consumed cuisine in the United States.
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