Everybody is talking about this before I have a chance! ;oP
I have for some time now really really wanted to read Jennifer 8.Lee's book. I recently finished reading another book, China to Chinatown: Chinese Food in the West, which was very emphatic about the fact that there exists Chinese-XYZ styles.
I agree with your thoughts on there not being anything wrong with people eating "Chinese" food. Experimentation with food and food styles creates deliciousness, and although I've often scoffed at the idea of fusion food, being Chinese-Malaysian means that a lot of the food I think of as home food is already fusion food. It's Chinese food with all these changes, extra spices due to the Indian influence and changes in noodle styles thanks to Malay influence and it's all grand, and so the fact that there exists Chinese-Australian (or Chinese-American or Chinese-French) food isn't inherantly bad, so long as we can recognise these things for what they are. In some instances of course they are demonstrations of cultural imperialism - the China to Chinatown book suggests that the creation of Chinese-American food like chop suey was to make people like Chinese food better, and therefore like Chinese people better.
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I have for some time now really really wanted to read Jennifer 8.Lee's book. I recently finished reading another book, China to Chinatown: Chinese Food in the West, which was very emphatic about the fact that there exists Chinese-XYZ styles.
I agree with your thoughts on there not being anything wrong with people eating "Chinese" food. Experimentation with food and food styles creates deliciousness, and although I've often scoffed at the idea of fusion food, being Chinese-Malaysian means that a lot of the food I think of as home food is already fusion food. It's Chinese food with all these changes, extra spices due to the Indian influence and changes in noodle styles thanks to Malay influence and it's all grand, and so the fact that there exists Chinese-Australian (or Chinese-American or Chinese-French) food isn't inherantly bad, so long as we can recognise these things for what they are. In some instances of course they are demonstrations of cultural imperialism - the China to Chinatown book suggests that the creation of Chinese-American food like chop suey was to make people like Chinese food better, and therefore like Chinese people better.