1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry. I'm Tracy B. Wilson. I think it's 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: safe to say that one of the most diverse things 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: about the United States is actually its food industry. And 6 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: for foodie, seeking out the elusive and I'm putting this 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: in quotes authentic flavors of any given culture can become 8 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,639 Speaker 1: an obsession. Uh. There are a lot of things that 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,559 Speaker 1: are often seen as belonging to an ethnic cuisine that 10 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: are in fact not even recognized in the culture that 11 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: they're associated with. Fortune cookies, for example, are a North 12 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: American invention. This episode was inspired by our listener Justin, 13 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:49,199 Speaker 1: who actually asked for a history of Thai food in 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: the US. And we're not actually going to talk about 15 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: Thai food this time around. Perhaps if we do a 16 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: follow up episode we will, but for now, we're talking 17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: about the most popular ethnic foods in the US to 18 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: trace their adoption and adaptations to ultimately become part of 19 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: our culinary melting pot. Uh. This also ended up being 20 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: an episode that touches a lot of other episodes that 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: we have done because so much of it is linked 22 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: to the story of immigration. And one of the things 23 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: that all of these foods really have in common is 24 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: a basic trajectory. So they are first thought of with 25 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 1: a degree of suspicion or disdain by the resident population 26 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: when they are brought in via immigration, and then there's 27 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: this slow acceptance and revelation that hey, this is delicious. Uh, 28 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,479 Speaker 1: And then it shifts and these cultural dishes become celebrated, 29 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 1: but in a way that doesn't usually resemble their country 30 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: of origins cuisine very much. The term ethnic food, which 31 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: we are putting in air quotes here, really started to 32 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: see usage in the United States and the nineteen fifties, 33 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: and before that, food from cultures that were outside of 34 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: the United States were just usually referred to as foreign foods. 35 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: And this was to some degree part of a larger 36 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: post war shift where white Americans were trying to figure 37 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: out exactly how to refer to anything that wasn't part 38 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: of their own culture. So like American and quotes white 39 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: people food, calling everything apart from that ethnic that's weird 40 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: and kind of gross, But yeah, I mean, it's one 41 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,839 Speaker 1: of those things where I actually think there was probably 42 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: a desire to find an appropriate way to do it. 43 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: But just in in that that hunt and setting things apart, 44 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: you're kind of automatically in a danger zone, right like 45 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: not us other food, and then US is definitely like 46 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: mainstream white American palette. Yeah, but I I read an 47 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: interview recently with Christian Endu Ray, who is an author 48 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,359 Speaker 1: who wrote The Ethnic Restaurant Tour, and he didn't he's 49 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: also the cheer of Nutrition and food studies at New 50 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: York University, and he brought up a really interesting point 51 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: that he's not the first to make it, but he 52 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: he articulated it really well in a Washington Post interview 53 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: that he did in sixteen, and he pointed out, uh, 54 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 1: something that has been discussed by other scholars, that there 55 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,239 Speaker 1: is this inherent, subconscious association of inferiority with the term 56 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,639 Speaker 1: ethnic food. So, for example, foods that are usually categorized 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: as ethnic and quotation marks a lot of times those 58 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: are Indian and Thai, Chinese, Mexican. I've even heard people 59 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: refer to American cuisines from specific groups, like I've heard 60 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: people call soul food ethnic food when that's an American cuisine, 61 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: or sometimes Cajun food gets it too. Yeah, yeah, and 62 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: and like these tends to be often less expensive a 63 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: lot of times with a less cultural prestige within the 64 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: mainstream then say French food or Japanese food, which a 65 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: lot of times don't wind up in the bucket of 66 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: quote ethnic. There are, of course, some exceptions to that. 67 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: There are high end Chinese restaurants, economically priced French cafes. 68 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: There's a whole idea of fusion, which a lot of 69 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: times is viewed as something that's a little higher class 70 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: but draws from different ethnic ethnicities. But you know, as 71 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: a general rule, that's pretty accurate observation. So as we said, 72 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:37,600 Speaker 1: we want to just sort of set that up so 73 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: you're thinking about it as we go through this. But 74 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,359 Speaker 1: we're going to cover the three most popular categories of 75 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: ethnic food again using the quotes in the US today, 76 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: and those are Chinese, Mexican, and Italian. Chinese food was 77 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: one of the most common cuisines in the United States. 78 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: Even very small towns typically have a Chinese restaurant. I 79 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: know I have been two, some like incredibly, not even 80 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 1: the stoplight, but there's a Chinese restaurant. Uh. In the 81 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: documentary The Search for General So Sully, Who's the executive 82 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 1: director for the Chinese Historical Society, stated that in Chinese 83 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: people made up only one percent of the US population, 84 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: but most Americans have eaten some form of Chinese food. 85 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: So for clarity, that one percent number represents only people 86 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: who identified exclusively as Chinese, not as people who identified 87 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: in combination with other ethnicities. And that's according to the 88 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: Census Bureau. And to trace the origins of Chinese foods 89 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: popularity to that point where almost all of us have 90 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: had it, even though Chinese people do not make up 91 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: a particularly large segment of the population, uh in North America, 92 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: we have to go all the way back to the 93 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 1: eighteen fifties and even a little bit before that, which 94 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: we'll talk about, but primarily when the California a gold 95 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: Rush brought a great deal of Chinese and specifically Cantonese 96 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: immigrants to the United States through San Francisco, and there 97 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: was already a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco before the 98 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: gold Rush. There was one Cantonese restaurant that had opened 99 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: there in eighteen forty nine, but initially Chinese food seemed 100 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: too new and even scary to most of the white population. 101 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: Also in the general, so documentary they talked about how 102 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: this is where a lot of crazy rumors began about 103 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: the things that might be included in your Chinese food. Yeah, 104 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: that continues to be like a way to insult people's 105 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: native cuisines. Um. But this this, all of this combines together, 106 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: the suspicion of the food and the rumors about what 107 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: the food contained, was in part because Chinese immigrants were 108 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: seen as a threat to the job market. That were 109 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: approximately twenty five thousand Chinese immigrants in California by eighteen 110 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: fifty one, and there was a concern that they would 111 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: be taking jobs away from white residents. There was also 112 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: a xenophobic fear of basically all of the culture that 113 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: they had brought with them to the United States, including 114 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: the food. Eventually, that xenophobia led to the Chinese Exclusion 115 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: Act of eighteen eighty two, and this act, signed by 116 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: President Chester A. Arthur, established a freeze on Chinese labor immigration. 117 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: Non laborers seeking to enter the US had to get 118 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: special certification from the Chinese government, but it was incredibly 119 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: difficult to prove that a person had no intent to 120 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: work as labor once they got to the States, So 121 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: that Avenue of immigration was really largely choked off. This 122 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: entire situation is also mentioned in more detail in our 123 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: two part episode that we did on Executive Order ninety 124 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: sixty six and the Japanese internment camps. Not only did 125 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: the Exclusion Act make it difficult for Chinese people to 126 00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: enter the United States, it also simultaneously sparked islands by 127 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: white communities against Chinese communities. But if a Chinese immigrant 128 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: already in the United States left, they would have to 129 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: go through the certification process to re enter the country. 130 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: So a lot of people stayed in spite of their 131 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: being so much animosity towards their communities. Yeah, in many cases, 132 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: people that had immigrated here had you know, left everything. 133 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: They had built a life here, so they didn't want 134 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: to leave because they really had nowhere to go. Uh. 135 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: And as that door to jobs really closed for the 136 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: immigrants that were already living in the United States, the 137 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: need for self reliant forms of income brought about the 138 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,719 Speaker 1: rise of two business ventures that are still commonly associated 139 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: with Chinese entrepreneurs. It's laundry service and food service. In 140 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: regarding food service, in a really savvy business move, a 141 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: lot of Chinese restaurant owners adapted recipes to American tastes 142 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,720 Speaker 1: so that they could build their customer bases. The culinary 143 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,239 Speaker 1: balance that was struck was sort of foreign but familiar 144 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 1: to the white majority. While China's vast size includes all 145 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: like a lot a lot of distinct styles of food, 146 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: Americanized Chinese food tends to be more homogeneous. There's Chop suey, 147 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: which was the first quote Chinese dish to gain acceptance 148 00:09:17,559 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: in the United States, largely because it was easily adapted 149 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: to include ingredients that would appeal to the palates of 150 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: white customers. It was meat, eggs, and vegetables that were 151 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: a little different from what folks typically had day to day, 152 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: but they weren't too foreign and taste. Uh. That's really 153 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: a dish that was made for Chinese restaurant use in 154 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: the United States, not a dish from China. So for 155 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: a lot of diners in the early part of the 156 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: twentie century, Chop suey was their introduction to this foreign food, 157 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: and the Chinese Exclusion Act, initially intended as a ten 158 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: year moratorium, was extended for a second decade in eighteen 159 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 1: ninety two with the passing of the Gearya Act, and 160 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: then it was made permanent in nineteen o two. In 161 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: the nineteen twenties, it was replaced with a quota system 162 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: as immigration once again swelled after after World War One, 163 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: and then UH, almost twenty years later, the Exclusion Act 164 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: was repealed in nineteen forty three. Throughout all of this, 165 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: as anti Chinese sentiments slowly ebbed, Chinese eateries in the 166 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: US continued to serve up dishes that offered a taste 167 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: of Asia, but was still in this sort of comforting, 168 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: not too aggressive or frightening way to appeal to the 169 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 1: white diners that they were hoping to get. As a 170 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: side note, UH, it seems like every December there will 171 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: be an article about how Chinese cuisine became uh. What 172 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: Jewish people eat at Christmas because for a long time, 173 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: the Chinese restaurants were the only ones that were open 174 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: on Christmas, and so now culturally there's also this connection 175 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: between Chinese community is in Jewish communities, um around the 176 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: food that is eaten at Christmas time. Uh. And next 177 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 1: up we will talk about the ebb and flow of 178 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: Chinese foods growing acceptance in the United States. But first 179 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: we will pause for a quick word from a sponsor 180 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: By the nineteen forties, Chinese food had really become a 181 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:27,960 Speaker 1: two way cultural gate in the United States. It enabled 182 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 1: white Americans to feel like they had an end with 183 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: another culture, and it simultaneously offered Chinese immigrants a way 184 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: to fit into majority white communities and with China as 185 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: an ally. In World War Two and the repeal of 186 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: the Chinese Exclusion Act, the early nineteen forties actually saw 187 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: an explosion in popularity of Chinese restaurants. Unfortunately, though, that 188 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: wave of acceptance for Chinese culture was short lived. Chinese 189 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 1: Communist revolution changed things a lot, and once again Chinese 190 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: people living in the United States were viewed with suspicion. 191 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: There was a drop at that point in the popularity 192 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: of Chinese restaurants. Actually have a whole uh I think 193 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: four part podcasts covering this window of Chinese history. For 194 00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: the next three decades, appreciation for Chinese food really waxed 195 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: and waned within American culture. In nineteen sixty there were 196 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: six thousand Chinese restaurants in the US. Ten percent of 197 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: those were in New York City. And that may sound 198 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: like a lot, but we have a lot more now. 199 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: After President Nixon visited China in nineteen seventy two, and 200 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: he was shown on live television eating Chinese food. During 201 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 1: that visit, Chinese cuisine once again experienced a massive boom 202 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: and popularity in the United States, and this time UH. 203 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: This really led to an interesting diversification. So instead of 204 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: just general Chinese restaurants or what we've come to call 205 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 1: American Chinese restaurants, that sort of homogenized version of Chinese food, 206 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: it became a lot more common to start to see 207 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: eaters that were specializing some of the regional cuisines of China, 208 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:07,239 Speaker 1: think Kunan and Sechuan, for example. Since the nineteen seventies, 209 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: Chinese foods popularity has continued to grow throughout the United States, 210 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:15,199 Speaker 1: and in teen, there were more than forty three thousand 211 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:20,120 Speaker 1: Chinese restaurants spread across across the country. UH. And next up, 212 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: we will talk about another cuisine that makes up a 213 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: really big segment of the ethnic food market in the 214 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,959 Speaker 1: United States. And again we're using ethnic food in quotes, UH, 215 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: and that is Mexican and it has become so popular that, 216 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: for example, salta will now vie with ketchup and sharracha 217 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,199 Speaker 1: for most popular condiment in America. When you see those 218 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: sort of cutesi cultural food articles pop up, and sometimes 219 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,160 Speaker 1: it wins those those um which is the most popular 220 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: condiment discussions depending on what source you're looking at. So, 221 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: in short, Mexican food huge part of the American cultural 222 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,320 Speaker 1: food landscape. At this point. In the early part of 223 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: the twentieth century, Mexican immigrants made up a small portion 224 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: of the It States population. The first instance of tacos 225 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: arriving in the United States was during the Mexican Revolution, 226 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: which started in nineteen ten. Before that, most immigrants were 227 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: from northern Mexico, and tacos, which started being called by 228 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: that name in the eighteen eighties, were common a little 229 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: farther south. If you listen to our episode on the 230 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: Burscero program from August of sixteen, you may recall that 231 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen twenties and early nineteen thirties there 232 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: was a lot of hostility aimed at Mexican immigrants, massive 233 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: deportation and also segregation, and this was all spawned by 234 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,239 Speaker 1: the same problem that had caused a distrust of Chinese immigrants, 235 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: which was concern over the effect migration was going to 236 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:45,200 Speaker 1: have on the labor pool, and that environment of distrust 237 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: fostered an opinion the Mexican food was for the poor 238 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: and lower classes, and it had that reputation for a 239 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: long time. For decades, Mexican cuisine was a staple in 240 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: more low income homes. But slowly the middle glass, starting 241 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,640 Speaker 1: in the border States and then spreading throughout the country, 242 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: came to adopt Mexican food as their own, and in 243 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: the nineteen forties, San Antonio, Texas, actually started importing chili 244 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: powder from Mexico to meet the growing demand. In nineteen 245 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: sixty two, fast food giant Taco Bell was founded in Downey, California. 246 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,120 Speaker 1: By the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties, Mexican restaurants had 247 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: become popular neighborhood eateries throughout the country. But then, as now, 248 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: if you were to go into most Mexican restaurants, you'd 249 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: see a pretty similar list of items on the menu, 250 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 1: things like ca city as, tacos, and burritos. The concept 251 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: of Mexican food has become, as with Chinese food, largely homogenized. Mexico, 252 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: like China, has a number of regional cuisines that don't 253 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: always get as much focus in restaurants in the States, 254 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: so in very broad strokes to talk about some of them. 255 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 1: Northern Mexican food tends to include a lot of beef 256 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: and cheese and wheat. Wahaca cuisine includes a lot of corn, chili, peppers, 257 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: and beans. Yucatan dishes feature avocados and slow cooked salted 258 00:16:06,200 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: pork and chocolate. Western Mexican food is characterized by the 259 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: frequent inclusion of fresh fish and Vera Cruz cuisine favors 260 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 1: the use of tropical fruit. I want to eat all 261 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: of that. I know it sounds so good. It doesn't 262 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: help that we are recording this at eleven forty eight 263 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: a m uh. As you listen to that list, you 264 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: probably noticed a number of items that are common ingredients 265 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: in Mexican food here in the United States, because as 266 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: Mexican food gained mainstream acceptance, it became a hodgepodge of 267 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: all the various aspects of regional cuisines that appealed to 268 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,920 Speaker 1: a broader audience. Yeah, it's not to say there wouldn't 269 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: have been crossover in those cuisines anyway, but like it's 270 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: almost like somebody went through and went, yes, fish, fish, 271 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 1: tacos would be good. Yes, Also, we want the cheese 272 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: for sure. Also to put avocado on a fish taco, 273 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: put avocado on everything, and additionally, approaches to preparation change. 274 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: So while a burrito in Mexico might include a simple 275 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: assortment of ingredients like beans and a meat protein, as 276 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: they became the handheld standards of the US, they really 277 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: changed and started to be packed with additional things and 278 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 1: just got larger and larger. So the burrito in its 279 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: American incarnation didn't even get it start in a border 280 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: town near Mexico either. It's actually credited to the Mission 281 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: District in San Francisco sometime in the nineteen sixties. I 282 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: have witnessed a couple of very heated arguments about what 283 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:38,920 Speaker 1: items in a tortilla are acceptable to call a burrito. 284 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: As long as they're delicious, I don't care, But if 285 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: you're looking at it from a cultural and historical standpoint, 286 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: you might want to get more specific. One of the 287 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,439 Speaker 1: other appeals of Mexican food in the United States was 288 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,400 Speaker 1: the ability to make it at home. Kitchen cook wear 289 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,880 Speaker 1: sets that included tortilla presses and a taco friar mill 290 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: started appearing for the home market in the latter half 291 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century, and dishes that were both very 292 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: popular and very unique to American Mexican food also came 293 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: about in the second half of the twentieth century. So, 294 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: for example, taco salad made its debut in nineteen sixty eight, 295 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: and fahitas, which all confess that I deeply love, were 296 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 1: invented in nineteen seventy one. I love uh. I love 297 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: the fragrance of fajitas like I love it when someone 298 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: else orders fahitas. That is it the d I y 299 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:38,200 Speaker 1: aspect that is not for you. The flavor of it 300 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: is never as amazing to me as the fragrance of it. 301 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: Gustavo Ariano, journalist and author of Taco Usa, How Mexican 302 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:49,639 Speaker 1: Food Conquered America, take some more relaxed view of what 303 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 1: qualifies this Mexican food. In an interview with the Christian 304 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,399 Speaker 1: Science Monitor in he said quote, I know a lot 305 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 1: of Mexicans and people who love Mexican food who believe 306 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: that there's real Mexican food and fake Mexican food. To me, 307 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: if you think it's Mexican food, it's Mexican food. But 308 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: the good news is Mexican restaurants haven't entirely homogenized or 309 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,120 Speaker 1: they have once again diversified, and many offer lesser known 310 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: specialty dishes now that appeal to those on the hunt 311 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:20,440 Speaker 1: for that quote, more authentic flavor. There's also this whole discussion. 312 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: I didn't include it in this right up, but I 313 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: found it in one place where people were saying that 314 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:28,920 Speaker 1: for people that are not familiar with any given cuisine, 315 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: they tend to assume that the spicier it is, the 316 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: more authentic it is, which is really not the case 317 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 1: and kind of robs a lot of cultures of their 318 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: actual food identities because it's not all about heat. But 319 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,040 Speaker 1: Ariano also gave great advice in that interview on how 320 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: you can find the hidden treasures and Mexican restaurants. He said, quote, 321 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: when you go to a Mexican restaurant and you see 322 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: Spanish on the menu that you have never heard in 323 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,160 Speaker 1: your life, order it. That will be the regional cuisine, 324 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: and more likely than not, it's really good. I was 325 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: reading something about about Mexican cuisine before we came in 326 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 1: here to record, and there was one particular writer. It 327 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 1: was like, y'all stop bragging about how you tried corn 328 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: smutt is like a normal part of cuisine. You don't 329 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: get a medal for having tried it. YEP. As of 330 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: twenty four teen, there were more than seventy Mexican restaurants 331 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: just in the ten cities that were flagged in this 332 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: one particular article. Thousands more are threads are spread throughout 333 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: smaller cities and towns and rural areas. This is similar to, Uh, like, 334 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: the place where I grew up was not very large. 335 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:47,080 Speaker 1: We we definitely had multiple Mexican restaurants. Yeah, and I 336 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: feel like I am in the area of town I 337 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: live in now, which is very diverse. I will often 338 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,679 Speaker 1: see a lot of little, small taco shops pop up, 339 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 1: and often they'll stick around for years and years. Uh 340 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: and they're to sucked sometimes into just like a random 341 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: part of a neighborhood, which is kind of awesome because 342 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 1: those places often have gold, super deliciousness. Uh. So, next up, 343 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: we are about to talk about Italian food in its 344 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: place at the American table. But first we're gonna take 345 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break before we do that. The other 346 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: big hitter in the triumvirate of popular ethnic foods in America, 347 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: again we're using the ethic foods and quotes is Italian 348 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: and It's life in the US parallels that of Chinese 349 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: food in a lot of ways. Also Mexican food, but 350 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: this one has some pretty direct tie ins. In the 351 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,120 Speaker 1: early twentieth century, Italian food, like both Chinese and Mexican, 352 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 1: was seen as a cuisine for the lower classes or 353 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: lower income homes. And the smells of garlic and the 354 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: red sauces that started to be used in the US 355 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 1: not necessarily a particularly Italian thing. We're seen as far 356 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,240 Speaker 1: too pungent and overwhelming to the American palateate. That sort 357 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:03,760 Speaker 1: of cracks me up, because garlic is like the magic 358 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: siren song that will draw me to any kitchen. Things 359 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: have changed. One of the things that's funniest to me 360 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: as as far as people's UH perception, sort of like 361 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: mainstream wide perception of what Italian food is, is that 362 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: it's sort of spaghetti in a tomato sauce, and uh, 363 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:30,000 Speaker 1: tomatoes did not exist in Italy until after Europeans started 364 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,080 Speaker 1: going back and forth to North America and brought tomatoes 365 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,199 Speaker 1: back with them, and then pasta also likely introduced. All 366 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: though that before pasta was introduced into Italy, before tomatoes 367 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:45,120 Speaker 1: were but both of those are UH things that came 368 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,200 Speaker 1: about a little bit more recently. In the grand scope 369 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 1: of Italian history, immigration quotas from the nies had a 370 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:57,760 Speaker 1: significant effect on the way the Italian immigrant population was 371 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: distributed throughout the United States. Because the Immigration Act of 372 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: four cut the Italian immigrant quota from forty two thousand 373 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:10,479 Speaker 1: to just four thousand a year, Italian neighborhoods started to shrink. 374 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: Residents who lived in the Little Italy neighborhoods moved in 375 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 1: increasing numbers to the suburbs or other neighborhoods that were 376 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,199 Speaker 1: less identified by one culture and were more diverse in 377 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: terms of which cultures lived there. The internal migration led 378 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,919 Speaker 1: to a deeper integration of Italian immigrants into the so 379 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: called American melting pot, where they were both influenced and 380 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: influenced others. And during World War Two, Italian immigrants had 381 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: been classified as enemy aliens, and there were Italian Americans 382 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: interned in the same way Japanese Americans were, and there 383 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: was there was, of course, some uh hostility and anti 384 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 1: Italian sentiment that went on at the same time. However, 385 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: there was a less systematic implementation of the provision that 386 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:05,240 Speaker 1: allowed for the removal of Italians to detention centers. Immigrants 387 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 1: who had been in the United States for a lengthy 388 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: period of time, and Italian immigrants who had become US 389 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: citizens and your naturalization were not generally subjected to the relocation. 390 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 1: Only Italian nationals were, and that was a pretty small 391 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: sliver of the Italian immigrant population. While that already indicates 392 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: that Italian immigrants were more accepted than some other immigrant populations, 393 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:32,040 Speaker 1: another factor gave Italian culture a boost in the United States. 394 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:36,320 Speaker 1: Approximately five hundred thousand Italian Americans served in the war, 395 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:41,800 Speaker 1: sometimes going to Italy to fight. Uh This further eroded 396 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,639 Speaker 1: the sense of Italians as outsiders the United States. It 397 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: bolsterred the image of their cuisine. I will add that 398 00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,040 Speaker 1: at this point, I mean, there had been immigration from 399 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:52,920 Speaker 1: Italy to the United States for a long time, so 400 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,880 Speaker 1: there were a lot of people of Italian descent who 401 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: were more than one or two generations removed from Italy, 402 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: which met that unlike with the Japanese American population, it 403 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: just was not feasible to try to round up all 404 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:13,159 Speaker 1: of those folks and incarcerat them. But what's interesting is, 405 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,919 Speaker 1: unlike Mexican and Chinese food, which were to some degree, 406 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: both really consciously shifted to appeal to American tastes. Italian 407 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,480 Speaker 1: food in the United States changed, at least in part 408 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,679 Speaker 1: just because of a ingredient availability. So, for example, canned 409 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: tomatoes were inexpensive and they were easy to find it 410 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:34,240 Speaker 1: almost any market, and meat was far more plentiful and 411 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: affordable in the United States than in southern Italy, for example. 412 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: And so dishes like spaghetti and meatballs that Tracy referenced 413 00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:45,479 Speaker 1: earlier and baked zd slowly developed here in the United 414 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: States in Italian neighborhoods, although those were not common foods 415 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: in Italy. Even the ever popular fetatini Alfredo, which I know, 416 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,920 Speaker 1: I know and love, was invented in Italy, but it 417 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: took on a very different pro profile in the United States. 418 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: According to the lore, in nineteen fourteen, Alfredo Delileo put 419 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: parmesan and butter on noodles as a meal for his 420 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 1: wife who was pregnant, and it was such a great 421 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: simple dish that he opened up a restaurant to serve 422 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,359 Speaker 1: it to the masses. But once Delileo moved from Italy 423 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: to New York and opened a new restaurant, heavy cream 424 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: entered the picture, and that became a much different, much risher, richer, 425 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 1: very tasty dish. It's so delicious. But yeah, there are 426 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: still things that are served similar to his original dish 427 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: in Europe, but it's usually just called like pasta with butter. 428 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: It doesn't have the name Alfredo, and it certainly is 429 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,120 Speaker 1: not coated in a heavy sauce the way we think 430 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: of it. A geni alfredo. Spaghetti carbonara, another Italian American 431 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,000 Speaker 1: dish that is now often mentioned as one of the 432 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 1: most unhealthy things you can eat, was invented here in 433 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:59,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven. And as for a pizza, we did 434 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: a whole epis old lawn that last year, which were 435 00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: accorded in Chicago at C two e two. It basically 436 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 1: experienced the same lifespan as other Italian food. Neapolitan pizza 437 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:14,919 Speaker 1: slowly morphed into this Americanized version, was heavier and doughier 438 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: and has way way more stuff on top. One of 439 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: the things I said in that live show was, if 440 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: you have this for the first time, and all you've 441 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,480 Speaker 1: eaten your whole life is the kind of pizza that 442 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: served as the United States, your first reaction might be, 443 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: where are the toppings? It's a lot, a lot simpler 444 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,240 Speaker 1: as a dish. Uh. And pizza, you know, once it 445 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: had a foothold, has become one of the most popular 446 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 1: foods in the United States. Yeah. I was reading in 447 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,800 Speaker 1: the course of doing research for this a quote from 448 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,439 Speaker 1: a gentleman who runs a Neapolitan pizza restaurant, and his 449 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: specific thing was about the crust being less doughy but 450 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:56,439 Speaker 1: also less crispy, so he would have customers come to 451 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 1: him and say this didn't cook all the way, and 452 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,360 Speaker 1: he was like, oh, no, no, no, no, I promise 453 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: this is how Neopolitan pizza works. Uh. In the nineteen nineties, 454 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:08,720 Speaker 1: According to John Marianni, who is the author of How 455 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: Italian Food Conquered the World, Because foods all conquered things 456 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: I discovered while researching this Italian cuisine in the US 457 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,120 Speaker 1: really got what he perceived as a much needed makeover 458 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: thanks to the rising popularity of the Mediterranean diet, which 459 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: took that focus away from the heavy cream based sauces 460 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: that were developed here and the massive portions that also 461 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 1: came to be kind of an American standard. They were 462 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: also more refined ingredients becoming more consistently available to both 463 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: chefs and home cooks. Thanks to globalization, things like truffles 464 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 1: and for studo became increasingly more available and more popular 465 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: in the United States. And this development of more options 466 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: and flavors beyond this heavily americanized Italian fair caused a 467 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: massive surgeon popularity for Italian restaurants. There are now about 468 00:28:55,280 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: seventeen thousand Italian restaurants just in ten US cities. Uh. 469 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: I think very very similarly to both Chinese and Maga 470 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,080 Speaker 1: Suan cuisine. Things like pizza and spaghetti people think of 471 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: as really, you know, cheap food, yes, inexpensive and not 472 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: nutritionally very amazing for you, but there are also at 473 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: this point kind of intriguing uh I want to put 474 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: it in quotes artisanal pizza places well, and I feel 475 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: like there's this interesting parallel that's also gone on that 476 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: as the food industry has become more health conscious, we 477 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: are seeing restaurants move two recipes that more closely resemble 478 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: their place of origin. It's like America really is the 479 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: land of like put more butter on it, which don't 480 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: get me wrong, I love butter, but it is an 481 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: interesting parallel to watch that development. So foods adopted from 482 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: other cultures continu new to gain popularity in the US. 483 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 1: Restaurants serving everything from Vietnamese fa to South African bibodi, 484 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: which holy man, I'm in love with, are now available 485 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: in a lot of large cities and even in some 486 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 1: small cities. Hybrid foods like Korean Mexican tacos started cropping 487 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: up as early as the ninety nineties, and today, you know, 488 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: all kinds of international cuisines from all kinds of combinations 489 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: can be found in restaurants and food trucks, especially food trucks. 490 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: It seems like all over the United States. Yeah, I 491 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 1: feel like food trucks kind of offered this um opportunity 492 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,280 Speaker 1: to experiment more. I could be wrong. I'm I'm literally 493 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:41,280 Speaker 1: just um basing this on personal experiential chasing of food 494 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 1: trucks and eating a lot of food from them. You know, 495 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: It's not the same overhead as opening a restaurant and 496 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: and having to like staff up and and do things 497 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:52,920 Speaker 1: that way. It's a little bit of a smaller initial investment, 498 00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:58,120 Speaker 1: So I think people have a little more of a 499 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: sense that they can experiment without being like, my whole 500 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: life just went down the tubes. If a restaurant fails, 501 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: you might not recover. So it's not easy to recover 502 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,080 Speaker 1: from any business failing. But a restaurant seems like a 503 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: much bigger initial investment than a food truck. So I 504 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:15,880 Speaker 1: feel like that's why food truck culture has really brought 505 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 1: us some amazing and interesting and very creative things. So 506 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: as food trends wax and Wayne, we will no doubt 507 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: have opportunities to sample all kinds of other foods in 508 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: the United States. But for the moment, the heavy hitters 509 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: in terms of these international foods that have made their 510 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: way into like especially White American, mainstream, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, 511 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 1: will continue to be the big three most likely. Yeah, 512 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:46,280 Speaker 1: especially I think once you get out of a city, 513 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: it drops off pretty significantly. How like the the amount 514 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: of different cuisines available to you will be unless you 515 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: live in Like one of the great things I have 516 00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: discovered is if you live in like a military town, 517 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,200 Speaker 1: like an air force town, where there might be more 518 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: people from different parts of the globe, those often have 519 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: really interesting, um you know, food scenes where you can 520 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: get some pretty yummy and different stuff. Yeah. Well, and 521 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: the places sometimes the places that are small but also 522 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:21,720 Speaker 1: have a big tourism industry. Sometimes we'll have really really 523 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: interesting restaurant scenes, so you know, little places that maybe 524 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:32,400 Speaker 1: have fifty people but a lot of tourism will often 525 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:37,200 Speaker 1: have in pretty interesting restaurant selections. Given the size of it. 526 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,360 Speaker 1: Do you want to do a little listener mail? I 527 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:45,200 Speaker 1: sure do. Uh this listener mail it comes from our 528 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: listener Kim, And I will tell you that when I 529 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,760 Speaker 1: opened it, our office manager Tamika, who I adore, had 530 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: come over to talk to me, and she just saw 531 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: me grinning like a fool, and then I had to 532 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: share it all with her because it's so cool. So 533 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,360 Speaker 1: Kim writes, Dear Tracy and Holly, your podcast have kept 534 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: me entertained, informed and inspired for many, many hours. But 535 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: I'm writing you today because last year's episode on French 536 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: protest hats, that's when we had our guest, April Callahan 537 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: on inspired an entire art exhibition that is now on 538 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,960 Speaker 1: display at the Doyle Art Pavilion at Orange Coast College. 539 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 1: I was considering curating a show of hats by the 540 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: Birthday Crown Society UH, a group that began by accident 541 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,880 Speaker 1: when Kathleen McMurray asked a friend to make her a 542 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,680 Speaker 1: personal crown for her fortieth birthday. Kathleen was protesting the 543 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: popular idea that we should dread getting older and wanted 544 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: instead to celebrate the empowerment of entering middle age. Her 545 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,600 Speaker 1: crowning ceremony was such a success that all her friends 546 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 1: wanted crowns for their round number birthdays of any decade, 547 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: and since tradition has been spreading here in Southern California 548 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,280 Speaker 1: with more than sixty coronations. Your episode on the French 549 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: Ladies Fabulous Protest Hats gave me the historical context I 550 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: needed to see the birthday crown Society hats as both 551 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: folk art and a form of social protest, and that 552 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: motivated allery director Steve uh Rda Savach and I to 553 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: pursue the exhibition Crowning Glory and an accompanying catalog, which 554 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:08,480 Speaker 1: I have included for you as a thank you for 555 00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:12,400 Speaker 1: your inspiration. This catalog contains portraits by photographer Erin Namura 556 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 1: that capture many silly people proudly acting their ages while 557 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: wearing funny hats. It also includes an art historical essay 558 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 1: that references the French protest hats and the stuff you 559 00:34:21,920 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 1: missed in history class episode. Thank you and everyone at 560 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:27,800 Speaker 1: the podcast for the inspiration from this episode and every episode. 561 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: Your work really does affect our lives and helps us 562 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:33,799 Speaker 1: listeners make connections and generate new ideas. Um, this is 563 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,760 Speaker 1: the coolest thing. She also adds one more thing. Sometimes 564 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: people ask how they can get a hat for their 565 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,319 Speaker 1: round number birthday, and the answer is you ask your 566 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,839 Speaker 1: friends to make you one, which is great. I love it. 567 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,440 Speaker 1: This book is gorgeous and it is so fun and 568 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,480 Speaker 1: it is so up my ami because it's very creative, 569 00:34:51,880 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: really fun art um, just the wackiest, most wonderful. They're 570 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:03,399 Speaker 1: all sort of art pieces that represent the person who 571 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 1: will be wearing them for their birthday. I'll try to 572 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,839 Speaker 1: uh share some pictures on our social Some of them 573 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,520 Speaker 1: are absolutely breathtaking and gorgeous. Some of them will make 574 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:16,640 Speaker 1: you laugh and laugh and laugh. Um. Everything from hats 575 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: that look like bird's nest, two hats that look like 576 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: giant cookies, two hats that just have a million things 577 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,120 Speaker 1: on them, And they're all just to celebrate people as 578 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:28,360 Speaker 1: they they transition from one year to the next. And 579 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 1: they're really really fun and I think everyone should be 580 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:32,960 Speaker 1: doing this because that seems like the most fun way 581 00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:35,439 Speaker 1: to celebrate a birthday. So thank you so much, Kim, 582 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: because not only is this a delightful letter, but this 583 00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: book is spectacular and the whole thing brought a massive 584 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: smile to my face. I was literally grinning like a 585 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 1: fool looking through this this gorgeous book, so right, who 586 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:51,759 Speaker 1: I need it? But if you would like to write 587 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: to us, you can do so at History Podcast at 588 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,480 Speaker 1: house to have works dot com. You can also find 589 00:35:56,560 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: us across the spectrum of social media as missed in 590 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: History so that it's Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumbler, Pinterest. I 591 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: don't know if I forgot anything. Uh, you want to 592 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: visit our parents site. That's how stuff works dot com. 593 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,800 Speaker 1: You could search for almost anything you're interested in learning 594 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:17,600 Speaker 1: by typing it into the search bar, and you will 595 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,440 Speaker 1: generate a load of results that will keep you busy 596 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: and hopefully happy and well informed. You can visit us 597 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: at misston history dot com for all of the episodes 598 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: of the show that have ever existed, as well as 599 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: show notes for the lens Tracy and I have worked 600 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:35,000 Speaker 1: on and as of uh recently, we have consolidated show 601 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,880 Speaker 1: notes into the episode page, so you can look at 602 00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,000 Speaker 1: our sources right there. At the same place you are 603 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 1: getting the podcast, which makes life a little easier fewer 604 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,879 Speaker 1: clicks for you. Who doesn't want that? Uh So, Come 605 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,080 Speaker 1: and visit us at Misston history dot com and how 606 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:55,320 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com for more on this and thousands 607 00:36:55,320 --> 00:37:00,000 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is that how stuff Works dot com? 608 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: You do