Comments on: Why Did Jewish Communities Take to Chinese Food?

By: Leslie G.

Leslie G. — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:48:03 +0000

In the section of Brooklyn that I grew up in, you knew if you were either in a Jewish neighborhood or Italian neighborhood by the ratio of Chinese restaurants or pizzerias to the surrounding blocks, more Chinese restaurants & take-outs, meant you were in a predominantly Jewish area, more pizzerias, it was Italian. We ordered in Chinese food a lot in those days, so it was always a treat to eat out in one of our favorites, and there were several to choose among. In fact, those restaurants were so good, that Mayor Beame, would come in from Manhattan, to eat at his favorite, Richard Yee’s on Avenue U & skip Chinatown entirely. As a Brooklyn College student with limited funds, my friends & I would walk off campus to the local Chinese restaurant for their lunch menu specials. For just a couple dollars, we could get a full meal, including soup, rice, egg roll & unlimited tea.

By: OFBG

OFBG — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:42:02 +0000

Has anyone seen the GEICO commercial that featured a “scientist” holding a test tube while the voice-over told us that they (GEICO) sent him out to get data on why people were switching to GEICO? Asked to give his results, the “scientist” said “Maybe they just like to save money.”
Maybe Scott Berkowitz and Top Secret have the answer – Jews like Chinese food for the same reason everyone else does – it just tastes good!

By: Carol Eckman

Carol Eckman — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:01:04 +0000

My mother (born 1913)who lived in Chicago with her parents, told me about being sent up an alley to get chop suey. My grandmother, who was an immigrant from Hungary, did not keep a kosher house.

Clearly the eating of Chinese food by Jews has a long and enigmatic history. It would be interesting to focus on when Chinese food became available in Jewish neighborhoods and how that impacted eating habits.

By: Top Secret

Top Secret — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 06:25:27 +0000

Here’s the reason why. Sweet and Sour chicken!

By: Clifton Palmer McLendon

Clifton Palmer McLendon — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:21:48 +0000

“Yes, all well and good, but do the Chinese eat at Jewish restaurants at Tet?”

Tet is a VIETNAMESE holiday.

By: Beverly Kurtin

Beverly Kurtin — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 22:14:48 +0000

Lisa Shaffmaster hit the nail on the head; she should become a carpenter for her accuracy.

Me? At 72, I believe that qualifies me as being over 50, I lived in Connecticut. It was so blue that it went for the Democrats last year .

The blue laws to which she refers to is potentially the real reasons, but it does not explain states that were sans blue laws.

My brother and I looked forward to Christmas because we knew we could have some of our favorite foods…Chinese. Even today, my taste for Asian cuisine is only increasing with some of the foods that are now coming to the fore. Sushi, and other marvelously tasty foods from the Asian countries delight my taste buds.

Keep in mind that the three major monotheistic religions in the world are Eastern: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Israel is in Asia, not Europe.

Methinks that Lisa missed one thing…many Chinese dishes taste like Jewish food. Won Ton soup anyone?

By: Lisa Shaffmaster

Lisa Shaffmaster — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 17:12:07 +0000

Most people are over thinking this. The reason that Chinese food on Christmas for Jews became a tradition has everything to do with “blue laws” and very little to do with culture and dietary laws. Folks over 50 can remember a time when on Sundays and major Christian holidays ALL businesses were closed except for delicatessens and Chinese restaurants. On Christmas, the larger society ground to a halt. The kids were off of school and the majority Christian culture was focusing all their attention on hearth and home and church. What to do? The movie theaters were empty but open. So Mom, Dad, and the kids went out to catch a show and pass some time. The only places that were open and serving food were Chinese restaurants. These “unchristmasy” entertainment options were so consistently limited in most large towns and cities prior to 1970 that it became a custom that was anticipated with a bit of pleasure. A time to get together with fellow non-Christians and have a pleasantly ironic “outsiders unholiday”. This article is vastly overthinking this. Did the guy who wrote this article even ask any Jews over 50 about this? I kind of doubt it.

By: JT

JT — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 20:36:39 +0000

“A Chinese eatery was more likely to have secular decor.” – not sure if I’d use the term “secular”. Buddhist and Taoist imagery was probably just so exotic that most non-Asians just saw it as more kitschy than as religious.

By: Robert B Godwin

Robert B Godwin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:04:40 +0000

I wonder if this preference for Chinese cuisine has extended to other Asian restaurants and their cuisines.

Because my daughter and her children are Cambodian, and I am Jewish, I find myself eating in a variety of SE Asian restaurants between Olympia and Seattle, WA: Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian – or a mix of the three.

Many Anglo Jews find the Chinese-American restaurant to be more American than Chinese these days, and have switched to other Asian cuisines – even South Indian (but not Filipino, for some reason): here in Lacey, WA, an Indian and a Filipino restaurant operate side-by-side quite profitably.

Bob Godwin,
Lacey, WA

By: Anita Silvert

Anita Silvert — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:46:42 +0000

I had an aunt from NY who found herself living in Chicago. Chinese food was her favorite, so for her, it went beyond Christmas Day! I learned to like it for her sake. Now….love it! I heard about the whole deeper connection from my daughter who took a “Food and Rabbinics” class in college. Worth the tuition!

By: Judith C.

Judith C. — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:58:14 +0000

My mom just told me that we went to Chinese Restaurants when it rained- not certain why- but that was the plan-I also remember eating tomato egg drop soup- can’t find it any longer- and for those from LI- August Moon in Mahasset was the place to go in the 60′s & 70′s!

By: Ethel Carol

Ethel Carol — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:15:13 +0000

We never ate at Chinese restaurants on Christmas or other times–they weren’t kosher. But it was a nice day because most of us had the day off and unlike other Jewish holidays we could travel to visit each other. We ate standard Jewish American kosher food.
And now there are kosher Chinese restaurants which I occasionally patronize; actually I prefer Mediterranean food.

And now just about any cuisine has its kosher counterparts–great.

By: Chaya

Chaya — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:18:30 +0000

For additional information on this topic, read this touching, humorous and sometimes sad book:
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee. There is a chapter devoted to Jews and Chinese food but the entire book and the history of Chinese food in America is fascinating.
http://www.fortunecookiechronicles.com/

By: Scott Berkowitz

Scott Berkowitz — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:33:44 +0000

I think it was the Chinese tea and fortune cookies that were the main attraction.

By: Deb

Deb — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 05:16:38 +0000

I think chew (#8) is on to something. I know many Jews who are more comfortable eating shellfish or bacon than mixing dairy and meat.