Although restaurants in China are closed on Sundays and holidays, it is not only the similarities between Jews and China that link the two groups. Lee said that Jews like Chinese food, which reflects the history of immigrants and shows the living conditions of foreigners in the United States.
In 1899, there were only 400,000 Jews living in new york, but in 19 10, it increased sharply to about 65.438+00,000. They found that only Chinese restaurants can tolerate them, and besides Jewish food, Chinese restaurant food is more acceptable to them.
Ed Schonfeld, the owner of RedFarm, the most acclaimed China restaurant in new york, said: "China restaurant is the place where people are most often associated with Jewish food."
Jewish law stipulates that meat can't be eaten with milk, and Chinese restaurants have never had dairy products.
Why do Jews in America have the custom of eating Chinese food at Christmas?
Look at the food of Mexico and Italy, the other two major ethnic minorities in the United States. These dishes are mixed with a lot of dairy products and meat. So Chinese food allows Jews to eat foreign food with confidence.
In addition, for Jews, Chinese restaurants in the Lower East Side and Chinatown are full of pork and shellfish (pork and shellfish are considered unclean food in Judaism, so pigs are unclean because they don't ruminate. "Anything with fins and scales in the water, whether in the sea or in the river, can be eaten." Shellfish can't be eaten without fins and scales. ), however, chop suey and jiaozi gave Jews the illusion of conformity with the doctrine.
However, Schoenfeld said that Chinese food and Jews are constantly developing, and Christmas is the best day for many restaurants in China.
Why do Jews in America have the custom of eating Chinese food at Christmas?
However, just ask any person who insists on eating authentic Chinese food. Just ask him/her what you think of American Chinese food, and he/she will definitely scoff at these non-authentic Chinese food.
This week, two Americans opened a restaurant in Shanghai, specializing in delicious Chinese food, such as dried tangerine peel chicken, pork omelet and, of course, Zuo's favorite chicken. These are all "fake Chinese food" that does not exist in traditional Chinese food. Even the name of the restaurant is American: "Lucky Cookie".
Schoenfeld is very disdainful of American Chinese food. He thinks that these Americanized Chinese dishes trample on the innocence of culture. He said: "If you go to Italy, you will see that any China restaurant is trying to cater to the preferences of Italian customers."
Centuries have passed, different religious customs have emerged in the United States, and new spiritual etiquette has taken root. Although it is a new thing, many cultures come from the past. In many ways, Jewish Christmas can be regarded as a new belief concept of contemporary Jews. After all, there is no holiday in the United States that reminds Jewish Americans of "I still have Jewish blood on me" more than Christmas.