A golden age for chinese food taiwanese

At the Tredwells’ table Restoring the 19th-century kitchen at New York’s Merchant’s House Museum The Merchant’s House Museum is one of New York City’s greatest treasures and an extraordinary historical document of home life in the antebellum metropolis In fact, the 19th-century row house, intact from the exterior as well as the interior, was Manhattan’s Walking into the period kitchen at the Merchant’s House Museum, one has the distinct feeling of somehow having just missed the cook or a servant darting past you bringing a platter of roasted meat and vegetables to the table Stepping through the door, it’s easy to sense the ceaseless activity that once must have filled this room The cast-iron stove seems ready for another shovel of coal, the beehive bread oven stands waiting for the next batch of risen loaves, and the family pie safe stands solemnly in the corner seemingly protecting its contents from small hands and ever-present pests Courtesy of the Merchant’s House Museum By Carl Raymond The cast-iron stove and beehive bread oven at the Merchant’s House Museum on East Fourth Street in New York, once home to the Tredwell family very first landmarked property upon the passing of the revolutionary landmark law in 1965 Built in 1832 in the affluent Bond Street area at what was then A Golden age for Chinese food Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs in New York City, 1970s –1990s By Chunghao Pio Kuo Until the 1970s, most of the Chinese restaurants in New York City served Cantonese food Starting in the ’70s, however, New York’s Chinese restaurants began serving more diverse regional cuisines This study illustrates that Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs were largely responsible for this change In the 1950s, Taiwanese began immigrating to the United States Some of the immigrants were of high socioeconomic status and worked in white- collar professions, but many, like the Cantonese immigrants that preceded them, worked in lower-status jobs or opened small businesses, like groceries, tailor shops and restaurants These Taiwanese restaurateurs changed New York’s Chinese food landscape They opened restaurants throughout the city, broadened our knowledge of Chinese regional cuisine and made important innovations in New York’s restaurant business, pioneering photographic menus and food delivery continued on page nine the northernmost part of the city, the elegant five-story Greek revival building was home to retired hardware merchant Seabury Tredwell, his wife Eliza, their eight children and a staff of Irish servants The family moved into the house in 1835 and lived there until the youngest surviving daughter, Gertrude, died in the house at the age of 93 in 1933 Miraculously, despite dramatic changes in the neighborhood over the nearly 100 years since the Tredwells took up residence, Gertrude had maintained the house as it was last redecorated in the mid-1850s, “as Papa would have wanted it.” Upon her death, the house was purchased by a distant cousin, New York attorney George Chapman, who, realizing that the house and its contents were rare treasures, made necessary repairs and opened it as a museum in 1936 Today, visitors see the home much as the Tredwell family would have known it, with much of their furniture intact and sitting where it always has Exhibicontinued on page six INSIDE Letter from the CHNY Chair Letter from the Editor Deborah Prinz dips into Colonial New York’s chocolate In Memoriam: Lynne Olver Ari Ariel interviews food writer Mimi Sheraton Jacqueline Newman and Karen Berman on Chinese Food in the US Members’ Books in 2015 ᮣ 21 Andrew F Smith on savoring Gotham 23 ᮣ A Golden Age for Chinese food tinued from page one The Story of Lin Jiongguan’s Cottage Grill Restaurant in Manhattan Mr Lin Jiongguan was born in Taichung, in central Taiwan.1 During the 1960s, he served as a manager of supplies at the Ambassador Hotel (Guobinfandian, 國賓飯店) in Taipei At that time, Taiwan’s restaurant industry was in its early stages and, through his work at the hotel, Lin familiarized himself with a variety of Chinese cuisines.2 In the early 1970s, Lin immigrated to New York City with his family His prime motivation was his hope that America’s higher education would benefit Because New Yorkers his children In 1975, Lin opened a Chinese restau- at that time were still largely rant called Cottage Grill (Wufu, 五福) unfamiliar with Chinese food, on 46th Street and Broadway, which Lin took photos of all of the remained opened until 2000 According dishes and included them on to Lin, before the 1970s, New Yorkers knew little about Chinese cuisine both an outdoor signboard because, aside from the Cantonese restauand interior displays rants in Chinatown, only a few Chinese restaurants dotted the city landscape Lin regarded his restaurant as a fast-food establishment and marketed it accordingly In fact, he characterized it as a cafeteria that served only “one main food staple (either rice or noodle) and three dishes” (Sancaiifan, 三菜⼀飯).3 Most meals cost just $2.99; shrimp dishes were $3.99 Cottage Grill’s menu included Japanese-style curry chicken, shelled fresh shrimp, beef with green peppers, fried chicken and mixed vegetables Because New Yorkers at that time were still largely unfamiliar with Chinese food, he took photos of all of the dishes and included them on both an outdoor signboard and interior displays According to Lin, photographing and displaying images of Chinese dishes was rarely done at the time and proved to be extremely expensive He emphasized this point and expressed pride in his pioneering work As Cottage Grill’s business grew steadily year after year, Lin hired numerous chefs who had moved to Taiwan from China’s Dachen Archipelago (Dachendao, ⼤陳島), off the coast of Zhejiang Province, and then to the United States In 1955, the United States Seventeenth Fleet, in cooperation with Taiwan’s Kuomintang party, had evacuated the Dachen Archipelago before the Chunghao Pio Kuo received his PhD territory was taken by the Communist from New York University in 2013 and Party of China’s People’s Liberation is currently an Andrew Mellon postArmy Some of these Dachen migrants, doctoral scholar at the University of lacking sufficient social networks in Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Kuo is a Taiwan, had difficulty resettling on the historian of early modern China, specialisland and decided to immigrate to the izing in food, medical, animal and enviUnited States; New York was one of their ronmental histories He has published major destinations Ultimately, many of numerous academic articles and chapters them found work in the city’s restaurant in English and Chinese A book version industry, principally as chefs at Chinese of his dissertation, which explores the restaurants run by Taiwanese immigrants practice of pig-feeding and the consumpfrom an earlier wave of migration.4 tion of pork in early modern China, will Lin’s Cottage Grill restaurant be published by the University of remained in operation from 1975 to 2000 for three major reasons First, prior Hawai’i Press as Pigs, Pork, and Ham: to the opening of his restaurant, very few From Farm to Table in Early Modern cafeteria-style Chinese fast-food restauChina He is currently working on a rants were in business outside of Mansecond project titled Animal Matters: hattan’s Chinatown Second, the innovaEpidemic Diseases, Public Hygiene, and tively displayed photos of dishes, Food Safety in China (1700-1900) continued on following page A Brief History of Chinese Food in the United States By Jacqueline Newman and Karen Berman 4th Century CE No one really knows when the first Chinese migrants arrived in what is now North America Some scholars, both American and Chinese, believe they arrived as early as the 4th century CE 1785 Three Chinese sailors arrive in what is now the US, and are stranded, penniless, in Baltimore for a year, after their ship sails home to Guangdong without them They waited a year before returning home 1840s Chinese émigrés, largely from the area then known to the West as Canton (now Guangdong) come to the US, lured by news of the California Gold Rush Once here, they take dangerous and dirty jobs such as building the railroads, digging tunnels and working as farm laborers 1849 The first Chinese restaurant in the United States, Canton, opens in San Francisco 1850 The first all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in the US, the Macao and Woosung, opens in San Francisco territory In this period, most Chinese restaurants are frequented by Chinese emigrés; many non-Chinese disparage Chinese food 1882 Xenophobia and fears of immigrants taking jobs and depressing wages leads to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which bars entry of Chinese migrants into the US It follows decades of discriminatory taxes and rules restricting the freedoms of Chinese immigrants The law affects the Chinese restaurant business, as well (See cartoon on following page.) ᮣ page nine tinued from previous page Photo courtesy of Morris Lee A Golden Age for Chinese food 1893 A Chinese cafe opens at the Chicago World’s Fair in an exhibit depicting a Chinese village 1894 In China: after centuries of on-again-off-again rule by European powers, Taiwan falls under Japanese control 1909 American painter John Sloan paints “Chinese Restaurant.” 1911 In China: Revolutionaries overthrow the Qing dynasty, ending nearly 4,000 years of dynastic rule The Republic of China is established the following year, with Sun Yat Sen as president Dr Jacqueline M Newman is professor emerita, Queens College, the City University of New York She is author of more than a dozen books, hundreds of articles – many research-based, and almost all about Chinese food on one of three continents As editor-in-chief of Flavor and Fortune for 23 years, she started and is still leading the first and only English-language Chinese food magazine published in the U.S For the past several years she has given a keynote address at the annual Asian Food Studies Conference Karen Berman is a writer and editor who loves Chinese food She is the author of five cookbooks, including Friday Night Bites: Kick Off the Weekend with Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family (Running Press, 2009) and an illustrated history book, North American Indian Traditions and Ceremonies (World Publications, 1998) page ten Restaurateur Morris Lee receives an award for business excellence from the Borough of Queens in recognition of his contributions to the Taiwanese community whether inside or outside the establishment, created a customer-friendly atmosphere, helping patrons recognize what type of dish they would be ordering and eating Third, the restaurant benefited from President Richard M Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 and the United States’ establishment of diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1979 These shifts in American diplomacy fueled people’s interest in Chinese food and benefited Lin’s restaurant in particular The Story of Morris Lee’s Foliage Restaurant in Flushing Morris Lee (呂明森) didn’t always want to be a restaurateur.5 After what he described as a carefree childhood growing up in a doctor’s family in southern Taiwan’s Jiayi County, he attended Tamkang University in Taiwan, and then moved to Tokyo to study interior design He then relocated to New York City, where he established an architectural business called the Pan-Beauty Company in Flushing, Queens Obsessed with the idea of promoting Taiwanese cuisine in the Unites States, Lee opened Foliage Restaurant (Hongyue, 紅葉) in Flushing in 1982 His previous academic and vocational experiences in Taiwan, Japan and the United States gave him a rare set of talents and abilities, and his restaurant attracted considerable attention from members of New York’s Taiwanese community, as well as from the local news media, with much of the focus on the restaurant’s unique design and delicate Taiwanese cuisine Lee incorporated Japanese elements into his restaurant liberally Japan had occupied Taiwan from 1895 through 1945, and the island was greatly influenced by Japanese culture Lee had become even more familiar with Japanese culture during his time as a student in Tokyo Foliage Restaurant’s decor highlighted a dining atmosphere in a Japanese style, while emphasizing the visual appeal of the establishment, and of course, the visual delicacy and refined character of its foods Lee worked tirelessly to achieve these features For example, he applied natural Japanese elements to his restaurant’s design, using decorative wood and stone for the main entrance, dining tables and floor In fact, the restaurant had a distinctly Japanese visual appeal to it Lee also combined Japanese and Taiwanese cuisines, going so far as to create a sushi bar serving both Taiwanese dishes and Japanese sashimi The purpose of this bar was to help customers relax before they were seated at tables Lee hired chefs from Taiwan to prepare Taiwanese cuisine ranging from steamed fresh abalone, steamed lobster and mullet roles (wuyuzhi, 烏⿂⼦) to high-end dishes Lee also used music to enhance his customers’ dining experience He hired bands to perform Taiwanese, Japanese and English songs on weekends The restaurant’s piano bar operated daily and livened up the dining atmosphere with karaoke performances Rarely seen in New York City in the 1980s, karaoke was prominent in Japanese culture Lee had learned about this form of cabaret in Japan and introduced it to his customers To market his restaurant, he placed advertisements in many influential Chinese-language newspapers printed in New York In large part because of the time and effort that he devoted to both designing and running Foliage Restaurant, it soon attracted a reverent following in Flushing’s Taiwanese community In fact, Foliage Restaurant received a prestigious business award from the borough of Queens for promoting Taiwanese cuisine in Flushing Unfortunately, Lee closed his restaurant in 1986, after a shootout involving rival gangs took place during a late-night meal His career as a restaurateur over, Mr Lee devoted himself to the promotion of commercial development in the U.S Taiwanese communities and used his expertise in interior design to help many owners of Taiwanese restaurants in the greater New York City area design their restaurants The Story of Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise (Shuxianyuanjituan, 蜀湘園集團)6 1916 Pekin Noodle Parlor opens in Butte, Montana Still in existence today, it is reported to be the oldest operational Chinese restaurant in the United States It still serves chop suey, chicken chow mein and egg foo yung 1916 From 1976 to the 1990s, Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise, run by Taiwanese immigrants, played a pivotal role in the Chinese restaurant scene These immigrants ushered in a golden age of Chinese cuisine in greater New York, simultaneously running Fortune cookies are introduced at David Jung’s noodle shop in Los Angeles 1922 Photo courtesy of Morris Lee Sinclair Lewis mentions chop suey in his novel, Babbit 1922 The La Choy brand of Chinese ingredients for the home cook is founded 1926 Louis Armstrong debuts the song “Cornet Chop Suey.” 1943 The Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed and replaced with an annual quota that restricts entry into the US by immigrants from China to 105 per year Chinese people now have the right to become naturalized citizens 1945 In China: Taiwan is returned to Chinese control, ending half a century of Japanese rule 1948-49 The interior of Foliage restaurant was greatly admired for its spare, modern Japanese aesthetic, a quality that was unusual in Chinese restaurants at the time In China: Chiang Kai-Shek and his Nationalist forces, along with some million Chinese, flee the mainland to the island of Taiwan to escape Communist rule under Mao Zedong’s People’s Republic of China up to 14 restaurants in the 1980s and the 1990s Moreover, the chain was a pioneer of restaurant food delivery in New York City The first restaurant in this chain opened its doors to the public on the southwest corner of 97th Street and Broadway in 1976 The restaurant’s establishment was a collaborative effort undertaken by three people: Mr Hsiao Chungchen (蕭忠正), Mrs Chang Yafeng, (張亞鳳), and Mr Wong Yinjun (翁英俊, also known by the nickname “Handsome Wong”) Wong was Chang’s younger adopted brother continued on following page 1957 Madame Cecelia Chang opens a restaurant in San Francisco that serves Mandarinstyle cuisine, marking the first time Northern Chinese food is served in the United States ᮣ page eleven Joyce Chen opens a restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, serving Northern Chinese food In 1967, she hosts a television show on Chinese cooking that airs on public television 1961 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s film, Flower Drum Song, features a song titled “Chop Suey.” 1963 Cashew chicken is invented at Leong’s Tea House in Springfield, Missouri 1965 The Immigration and Naturalization Act abolishes entry quotas based on race and nationality As a result, the Chinese American population nearly doubles, 1960-1970 Many early émigrés are from the islands of Taiwan and Hong Kong 1972 New York Times food writer Craig Claiborne collaborates with Virginia Lee on The Chinese Cookbook (J.B Lippincott) 1972 President Richard M Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China Americans become fascinated with all things Chinese, including the cuisine 1973 General Tso’s chicken is invented at Peng’s Restaurant in New York City page twelve A Golden Age for Chinese food tinued from previous page According to Hsiao, his wife came up with the name “Empire Szechuan” in reference to New York State’s nickname, the Empire State Furthermore, President Nixon’s aforementioned visit to China in 1972 had spurred Americans’ interest, not just in Chinese food generally, but particularly Szechuan and Hunan cuisines Thus, the decision was made to name the chain “Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise” (Shuxianyuanjituan, 蜀湘園集團), which in Chinese literally means “The Garden of SzechuanHunan Cuisine.” During the initial operation of the chain’s first restaurant, Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise sold both Taiwanese and Szechuan dishes The former specifically attracted the attention of Taiwanese students attending nearby Columbia University Hsiao and Chang were responsible for the front-of-the-house work, such as taking orders, managing food-delivery services and training and A menu from Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise restaurant hiring employees; Wong was responsible for the kitchen, owing to his previous experience doing prep work and line cooking in Taiwan At a time when delivery from New York City restaurants was rare, Hsiao hired Taiwanese students from Columbia University to this work In fact, Empire Szechuan was one of the city’s first eateries to popularize home delivery Within a short time, this market strategy quickly expanded the first Empire Szechuan branch’s reputation throughout upper Manhattan In 1980, Empire Szechuan opened its second and third restaurants at the same time, one located at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 68th Street and another on Third Avenue and 29th Street As the chain expanded, the number of owners increased from three to six In addition to Hsiao and Chang (and not including Mr Wong, who left the chain because of differences over management styles), Empire Szechuan had four new co-owners: Mr Ma, Chef Chen, Chef Jiang, and Chef Wu, the last three of whom came from the Dachen Archipelago As noted above, many former residents of the Dachen Archipelago immigrated to New York in search of employment opportunities, and many of these immigrants, after learning how to cook, became highly competent chefs Hsiao and Chang had worked with Chef Chen, Chef Jiang and Chef Wu for several years, and had come to regard them as amiable and responsible Thus, during the expansion of the chain, they decided to invite the three chefs to join the list of co-owners According to Hsiao, the golden age of Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise stretched from the 1980s into the 1990s, during which time there were, at the chain’s peak, a total of 14 restaurants simultaneously operPresident Nixon’s visit ating in greater New York City, to China in 1972 had spurred including locations from Manhattan to Long Island.7 In order Americans’ interest, not just to ensure sufficient daily food in Chinese food generally, supplies to all of the franchises but particularly Szechuan in greater New York, the company even established a supply and Hunan cuisines center near Lincoln Center Empire Szechuan Gourmet The number of Empire Franchise sold both Taiwanese Szechuan franchises ebbed and flowed as a result of organizaand Szechuan dishes tional factors, economic climate and personal conflicts between Photo courtesy of Rare Books Division, New York Public Library 1958 the owners In addition, the revitalization of New York’s Chinese food scene that the company had helped to create greatly increased both demand and competition By the 1990s, Chinese immigrants were flooding into greater New York, and many of them opened their own restaurants specializing in Chinese food, thus creating fierce competition for the chain When I interviewed Hsiao, he had been retired from the company for almost two decades In retrospect, he was very proud of the contributions that the chain had made, promoting Americans’ awareness of Chinese food in general and of SzechuanHunan cuisines in particular Hsiao enthusiastically praised the chain’s Szechuan offerings, including fish-flavored eggplant in garlic sauce, a series of dry-fried dishes and sesame-paste noodles The stories of the these three Chinese restaurants run by Taiwanese immigrants in New York from the 1970s to the 1990s illustrate that Taiwanese immigrants, due to their commercial competence and ingenuity, played a pivotal role in promoting and selling Chinese cuisine, broadly defined, before the huge flood of mainland 1978 Martin Yan debuts Yan Can Cook, his TV cooking show (mostly) about Chinese food, on public television Photo courtesy of Morris Lee 1983 Chinese food continues to go upscale Celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck opens his Asian fusion restaurant Chinois on Main in Santa Monica 1992 The Chinese Restaurant News estimates that there are 30,000 purveyors of Chinese food in the US 1993 Upscale chain P.F Chang’s opens its first branch in Scottsdale, Arizona 1997 In a series of reports on unhealthy foods, the Center for Science in the Public Interest deems Chinese restaurant food greasy and unhealthy 1998 Ming Tsi’s TV cooking show, East Meets West, debuts on Public Television Another innovation at Foliage Restaurant was the combination of Japanese and Taiwanese cuisines, complete with a sushi bar that served both Taiwanese favorites and Japanese sashimi Chinese immigrants began in the 1980s Nowadays, restaurant-goers enjoy various Chinese cuisines in New York, including American-Chinese food, regional Chinese cuisine and even authentic Taiwanese cuisine Back in the early 1970s, however, before US-China diplomatic relations were officially established in 1979, and even before President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972, Americans in general – even New Yorkers – knew little about Chinese food except for what they ate at the early Cantonese restaurants The first case examined in this study reveals that Lin invented, or at least pioneered, a specific market strategy both by running a Chinese fast-food restaurant, which was rare in the 1970s, and by offering signboards with photos of the menu’s Chinese dishes, which served as visual guideposts for Americans untutored in the world of Chinese food The case of Lee’s Foliage Restaurant illustrates a high-end restaurant’s blending of Japanese and Taiwanese elements, including sophisticated decor inside and outside the restaurant, karaoke entertainment and exquisite Japanese and Taiwanese cuisines The last case – that of the Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise – concerns a restaurant that remains a legend among owners and operators of Chinese restaurants in New York City The story of the company demonstrates how Taiwanese immigrants successfully ran a Chinese restaurant chain, serving food that went beyond the traditional Cantonese-inspired dishes (chiefly Szechuan-Hunan cuisines) The franchises offered boldly flavored Chinese dishes to an American dining public, which, in the 1970s, became increasingly interested in Chinese cuisine, in part because of political developments The golden age of restaurants initiated by Taiwanese immigrants faded with the dramatic influx of Chinese immigrants that led to the establishment of “authentic” Chinese restaurants in greater New York City These three stories reveal an oftenoverlooked aspect of the history of Chinese cuisine in the United States continued on page nineteen 2002 The Chinese Restaurant News estimates that there are 36,000 purveyors of Chinese food in the US 2007 The Chinese Restaurant News estimates that there are 43,139 purveyors of Chinese food in the US 2008 In China: The Beijng Olympics captures the world’s attention and puts the focus on Chinese food once again 2011 The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History mounts “Sweet and Sour: A Look at the History of Chinese Food in the United States.” ᮣ page thirteen ingredients in Chinese food are generally chopped, non-kosher items are less identifiable or intimidating Do you find that convincing? MS: Well, I think I know why Jews liked Chinese food when they got here What they liked was Cantonese There was no other kind of Chinese food then My parents went to Chinatown a lot, and there were Chinese restaurants in our neighborhood, but it was all Cantonese It was made with onions and celery, sautéed soft, crisp noodles, a lot of chicken, chicken soup with wontons that were like kreplach, and the beverage was tea, and it was cheap, and you shared You could take a big family out to dinner and everybody shared Really kosher people wouldn’t go Semi-kosher people would go and not order shrimp or pork While I was reviewing for the Times we began to get a crop of kosher Chinese restaurants They were generally horrible They would use corned beef for ham, and made all kinds of weird substitutions A Brief History of Chinese Food in the United States tinued from page fifteen sources Chan, David R “How American Chinese Food Came To Be.” The Huffington Post: HuffPost Taste: The Blog: Menuism September 26, 2012 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/Menuism/howamerican-chinese-food-came-to-be_b_1902395.html Chen, Stephen “Savoring the Legacy of Joyce Chen: Chef Restaurateur Entrepreneur.” Joyce Chen Foods (website) http://joycechenfoods.com/legacy/ (accessed August 24, 2015) Li, David K “Chinese Food a Main Chow.” The New York Post May 5, 2008 http://nypost.com/2008/05/05/chinese-food-a-mainchow/ (accessed August 13, 2015) Museum of Chinese in America (website) http://www.mocanyc.org/learn/timeline/first_chinese_ in_the_united_states (accessed July 28, 2015) “National Museum of American History Showcases ‘Sweet & Sour.’” The National Museum of American History (website) http://americanhistory.si edu/press/releases/national-museum-american-historyshowcases-sweet-sour (accessed August 25, 2015) Newman, Jacqueline M “Chinese Cuisine: 1900-1999.” Flavor & Fortune Winter 2013 36-37 Newman “First Fifty Years of Chinese Cuisine in the USA.” Flavor & Fortune Fall 2013 37 Newman “Letters to the Editor.” Flavor & Fortune Spring 2014 Newman “Taiwan and Its Food.” Flavor & Fortune Winter 2014 28-30 “Timeline of Chinese History and Dynasties.” Asia for Educators (website) http://afe.easia.columbia edu/timelines/china_timeline.htm (accessed August 9, 2015) But in general, I think Chinese food was cheap, it was soft and We weren’t kosher My mother mild flavored and oniony We cooked ham and bacon at only ordered about 10 dishes from the menu: subgum, chow home and once in a while she mein, chop suey, sometimes made a pork chop, but she egg foo young; my mother hated the word “pork.” If you liked beef and peppers The same dishes kept coming up said ham is smoked pork, and every time I went to a she’d say, “Who asked you?” Chinese restaurant I wanted to order something new I appetizer It was different there; all bets thought, “There are other things on the were off Anyway, that’s a particular menu Why we keep [ordering the kind of history I remember seeing a same things] .” Now Jewish people go documentary film seven or eight years to all the different kinds of Chinese ago about Jews who were rescued from restaurants, but it was Cantonese that the Germans and settled in China, in really got them in the beginning Shanghai in particularly After the film, We weren’t kosher My mother cooked the director took questions and I asked, ham and bacon at home and once in a “Were the Jews in Shanghai happy to be while she made a pork chop, but she eating Chinese food?” But that’s not hated the word “pork.” If you said ham where the connection began I had been is smoked pork, she’d say, “Who asked eating Chinese food long before that you?” But if we went to a Chinese restauThat’s certainly history rant we always ordered the roast pork A Golden Age for Chinese food tinued from page fifteen notes Interview with Mr Lin Jiongguan via telephone on April 20, 2015 By 1950, forces affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party had expelled supporters of the Chinese National Party (Kuomintang, KMT) to Taiwan Many KMT soldiers in Taiwan ran restaurants serving hometown cuisines The KMT’s high officials came chiefly from central China’s Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces, and many restaurants serving Jiangsu-Zhejiang cuisine established themselves in Taipei Other Chinese regional cuisines emerged in Taipei after 1950 By “staple food,” Mr Lin was referring to white rice, fried rice or fried noodles (i.e., the starchy basis for dishes containing more flavorful, richer ingredients) The Retreat from the Dachen Archipelago was a notable event in the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalist forces and the Chinese Communists Approximately 28,000 people took part in the retreat, and of them, a majority settled in Taiwan while a small minority made their way to the United States Interview with Morris Lee via telephone on April 20, 2015 During my interview with Hsiao, he specifically used the name ‘Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise’ to refer to the chain For example, during this period, Empire Szechuan Gourmet Franchise opened two branches in downtown Manhattan near New York University, one at south Washington Square and another one at LaGuardia Place Another franchise opened at the corner of First Avenue and 84th Street In midtown Manhattan, Mrs Chang was in charge of yet another franchise, this one at the corner of Broadway and 68th Street From 1993 to 1999, Hsiao was in charge of a franchise on Long Island in Nassau County Apart from the above-mentioned franchises, several were run by the co-owners in Manhattan *** sources Hsiao Chungchen, interview, April 23, 2015 Morris Lee, interview, April 20, 2015 Lin Jiongguan, interview April 20, 2015 timeline photo credits John Chinaman on the Railroad (1875) The Miriam and Ira D Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, the New York Public Library; “The Chinese Question Again,” The Wasp , July 23, 1889, UC Berkeley Bancroft Library; Joyce Chen Forever Stamp, USPS and Stephen Chen via Wikimedia Commons; President Lyndon B Johnson at Ellis Island for signing of the Immigration Act, 1965, LBJ Presidential Library; President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai toast, Feb 25, 1972, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum via Wikimedia Commons; Martin Yan, May 29, 2009 by San Jose Library via Wikimedia Commons; Olympic torch, Alex Needham via Wikimedia Commons page nineteen ... served as a manager of supplies at the Ambassador Hotel (Guobinfandian, 國賓飯店) in Taipei At that time, Taiwan’s restaurant industry was in its early stages and, through his work at the hotel, Lin familiarized... ending half a century of Japanese rule 1948-49 The interior of Foliage restaurant was greatly admired for its spare, modern Japanese aesthetic, a quality that was unusual in Chinese restaurants at... English-language Chinese food magazine published in the U.S For the past several years she has given a keynote address at the annual Asian Food Studies Conference Karen Berman is a writer and editor