... the first mass-consumed cuisine in the United States. By 1980, this food had become the country's most popular ethnic cuisine. 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...

... China Immigration and Nationality Act 1965 American Chinese food culinary history culture race American society Chinese Americans The rise of Chinese food in America’s gastronomical landscape in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is one of the greatest epic stories of cultural...

... was on the rise, Chinatown existed as a sanctuary; at the end of the nineteenth century, Chinatown became a launching pad for Chinese food to extend to non-Chinese neighborhoods. Simply put, without Chinatown, there would be no American Chinese food as we know it. At the same time, Chinese food defined Chinatown...

...The rise to prominence of American Chinese food in turn-of-the-century markets was shaped by the interplay between Chinese restaurant owners and their non-Chinese consumers. This chapter first describes several groups—the so-called slummers, African Americans, and Jews—who provided an indispensable...