sometimes the racism is so unhinged and pure that it’s kinda fascinating
“These are first drafts?” - Salieri
The title is actually true. The Chinese diaspora in the US preceded the Italian by decades. While the Chinese diaspora faced segregation and then mass deportation, Americanized versions of its food - and basically just enough people to run the restaurants - remained. At first, Italian food was considered exotic and vulgar by white Americans, a category that did not include Italians.
Ironically despite spaghetti westerns being a thing, cowboys ate chow mein but not spaghetti
I fully believe my grandma’s hatred of garlic stemmed from this sort of racist nonsense. She was born in that era and definitely had some issues.
I’d post
, but honestly the less ‘American’ my culture is seen as, the better.The first Chinese restaurants opened during the California gold rush, 90 years before that quote was written
And Joe was from Martinez, in the Bay Area. He started his playing career in San Francisco, the location of that first Chinese restaurant.
I would argue that Chinese food is still more Amainican than spaghetti
Isn’t chow mein also usually done with a decent amount of garlic? If so, hilarious to call out the italians over it
no, they mean this (cw: meat and yankee slop):
woah, how awful! (i want one)
I grew up near where those were invented and thank the yeast gods I never encountered one until the link you just posted.
it’s also really funny because italians don’t cook with a lot of garlic, italian-amerikkkans do, ergo this old-timey racism is even dumber.
Same with oak in wine. The French use specific oak for the barrels. Americans buy those barrels, put them through wood chippers and put the wood chips in the wine while it ferments.
That is…not the type of bear I was picturing when I read that.
The thought of it on my scalp is pawsitivly un-bear-able.
