China to Chinatown: Chinese Food in the West (Reaktion Books - Globalities)

china To Chinatown Tells The Story Of One Of The Most Notable Examples Of The Globalization Of Food: The Spread Of Chinese Recipes, Ingredients And Cooking Styles To The Western World. Beginning With The Accounts Of Marco Polo And Franciscan Missionaries, J.a.g. Roberts Describes How Westerners’ First Impressions Of Chinese Food Were Decidedly Mixed, With Many Regarding Chinese Eating Habits As Repugnant. Chinese Food Was Brought Back To The West Merely As A Curiosity. the Western Encounter With A Wider Variety Of Chinese Cuisine Dates From The First Half Of The 20th Century, When Chinese Food Spread To The West With Emigrant Communities. The Author Shows How Chinese Cooking Has Come To Be Regarded By Some As Among The World’s Most Sophisticated Cuisines, And Yet Is Harshly Criticized By Others, For Example On The Grounds That Its Preparation Involves Cruelty To Animals. roberts Discusses The Extent To Which Chinese Food, As A Facet Of Chinese Culture Overseas, Has Remained Differentiated, And Questions Whether Its Ethnic Identity Is Dissolving. written In A Lively Style, The Book Will Appeal To Food Historians And Specialists In Chinese Culture, As Well As To Readers Interested In Chinese Cuisine. the Times the Book Is A Valuable And Timely Account Of The West’s Strange Love-hate Relationship With Chinese Food, And A Stimulating Read, Provoking As It Does So Many Challenging Questions About How We Perceive And Adapt To Other Cultures.-- the Times China to Chinatown tells the story of one of the most notable examples of the globalization of food: the spread of Chinese recipes, ingredients and cooking styles to the Western world. Beginning with the accounts of Marco Polo and Franciscan missionaries, J.A.G. Roberts describes how Westerners' first impressions of Chinese food were decidedly mixed, with many regarding Chinese eating habits as repugnant. Chinese food was brought back to the West merely as a curiosity. The Western encounter with a wider variety of Chinese cuisine dates from the first half of the 20th century, when Chinese food spread to the West with emigrant communities. The author shows how Chinese cooking has come to be regarded by some as among the world's most sophisticated cuisines, and yet is harshly criticized by others, for example on the grounds that its preparation involves cruelty to animals. Roberts discusses the extent to which Chinese food, as a facet of Chinese culture overseas, has remained differentiated, and questions whether its ethnic identity is dissolving. Written in a lively style, the book will appeal to food historians and specialists in Chinese culture, as well as to readers interested in Chinese cuisine. "Since Marco Polo first recorded his responses in 1275, the West's encounters with Chinese food have been a measure of the times. For Jesuit missionaries, eating the exotic food of the people was a way of understanding them; for the British merchants in the 19th-century treaty ports, Chinese cuisine was an object of suspicion. During the Cultural Revolution, food was political: despite widespread food shortages, lavish hospitality was used to influence the views of visiting intellectuals and politicians, while, for some, eating the meagre food of the Communist peasantry was a Western gesture of solidarity." "But how did a cuisine that, to the Western palate, admitted the inadmissible - sharks' fins, dog's flesh, cats' eyes - spread to the extent that there is now a Chinese restaurant or takeaway on every high street and a wok in every kitchen? In charting the first immigrant communities, Chinatowns and restaurants in Britain and North America and the gradual domestication of Chinese food, Roberts provides a brilliant analysis of how cultures assimilate and adapt, at times abandoning strict ethnic authenticity, in order to survive."--Jacket Tells the story of one of the most notable examples of the globalization of food: the spread of Chinese recipes, ingredients and cooking styles to the Western world. This title describes how Westerners' first impressions of Chinese food were decidedly mixed, with many regarding Chinese eating habits as repugnant.