I enjoyed this short (16 minutes) lecture on the history of so-called "Chinese" food in the United States.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jennifer_8_lee_looks_for_general_tso....
On the history of Americanized Chinese food
Mon, 2009-01-05 06:59
#1
On the history of Americanized Chinese food
Mon, 2009-01-05 09:03
#2
Le T
Yeah that was great. Thanks for the post.
Mon, 2009-01-05 09:56
#3
lots of cuisines get (North)Americanized, as I discovered in Italy, eating ""pizza" unlike anything I had tasted in my life ...
Mon, 2009-01-05 10:15
#4
ElizaQ
Thanks Doug. I really enjoyed that. I find the cultural history surrounding what we eat and why we eat fascinating and can be quite enlightening about history in general. The fortune cookie making the jump from Japanese to Chinese because of the internments is a great example of intersection.
Mon, 2009-01-05 17:19
#5
Refuge
I loved the reactions to the fortune cookies! Great link.
Mon, 2009-01-05 18:10
#6
ElizaQ
Here's her blog.
Lot's of interesting stuff for foodies in it and different food cultures intersecting.
Reminded of the annual Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner I went to a number of years ago in Vancouver. It's a joint celebration of Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day started by Todd Wong or "Toddish McWong" whose family background is both Scottish and Chinese. It's the only time I ever ate haggis. How could I have turned it down when it came in a wonton? 
Loads of fun though starting with the piping in of the Haggis by both traditional pipes and chinese drums and definately worth the money to check out if you can.