China to Chinatown: Chinese Food in The West 1

 

 I chose this book for my book report assignment because I was curious of how Chinese food had gotten so worldwide and eaten all over the world. I've only read a few of the pages but I'll be writing what I learned from it so far and my thoughts about the book.

 This book traces how Chinese food came to achieve widespread acceptance in North America and Britian in particular. Chinese restaurants began to attract Western customers when Chinese food and Chinese cooking methods were to be welcomed in Western kitchen and on Western tables, and when Westerners began to cook a version of Chinese food to eat in their own homes, the author says. I did imagine that Chinese food wouldn't been so popular among Westerners if they were exactly what they were eaten in China, but I was surprised that they even changed the way they cooked it! Well, westerners wouldn't have had the same kitchen tools as the Chinese, they must have had a hard time to try cooking with tools and ingredients that were close to what was used in the West. It also says that the media began to popularize Chinese food and so, publishers began to include ethnic cookbooks on their lists. 

  And before looking at what Chinese food in the West is like, the book also explains about what Chinese food originally is. It gives information about from when the Chinese started eating the particular food and how they cooked it. Having a pet dog, I was most interested in eating of dogs in China. It seems like eating of dogs in China has a long history and even today, they are eaten mostly in the south. Maybe it's because people feel pathetic for dogs, and so they're eaten less today, but that doesn't mean that cows and pigs don't have any emotion when they're killed. I felt that we should be more grateful of what we have. What was new of what I learned as that Chinese eat dogs for warmth in the winter and cats for medicinal purposes. I never knew there were meanings or timings for Chinese to eat them. It didn't mention about the taste so I would like to hear what it actually tastes like from Chinese people.

This is what I read from the book so far, I would post farther reports of the book in the next posts!