re: History Channel The Food that built America

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Chinese influence was relatively limited.

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I'm not talking nationwide influence just origins.

Mass Italian immigration didn't happen until the 20th Century.

The restaurant was still a novel idea in the 19th Century and Chinese Americans made a living out of it on both coasts.

Sure, it took the Midwest more than half a Century to get such food or accept it but the origins of the restaurants and Europeans falling in love with exotic foods or at least going to a place to eat outside their homes on a weekly basis can be somewhat reliably traced to Chinese restaurants and the Gold Rush.

There's another History doc on that...on the history of food in America. While limited to the Coasts, the Chinese Americans were productive originators that this is a way to make a living. They started just feeding Chinese transplants but changed American Cuisine by adapting to American palettes. This is the basis of the argument, the food that built America... And they might've missed that while focusing on hamburgers.

Not saying they were the originators but they were there at the beginning and helped spread the idea of eating out in America and Chinese food in America is a very American invention.