Originally Posted by
Cloudship
I think most of have noticed that a vast majority of the "Chinese" restaurants all have very similar, if not identical, menus, and very similar, if not identical - dishes. Yet we are also told that almost none of these are authentic in any way, and few of the cooks in these restaurants are formally trained in any way.
So is there some master "Chinese Restaurant" cookbook? If these are all non-authentic dishes, how do the cooks know to prepare them in the same way? Absent some kind of master class all potential Chinese cooks must go through, there must be some way they share these recipes.
I think it is clear now from follow up posts to this thread (and for
YVR Cockroach for keeping it alive) that a) "Chinese" restaurants in the U.S. got their start from a rather narrow base of entrepreneurs who hailed from a small region of Canton, b) the menus are similar not only for that reason but for the need to adapt to available ingredients as well as local tastes and c) there's a conspiracy in terms of the number of printers of Chinese restaurant menus. And, oh, Sysco and pre-made sauces and ingredients have impacted the commonality of dishes as well.
So no "master Chinese Restaurant" cookbook.
That being said, with the influx of immigrants from all parts of China as well as the Chinese diaspora across Asia, Australia, Europe and all points in between, there's a whole bunch more menus in the Chinese restaurant lexicon that are being served up primarily in large U.S. urban cores but also slowly spreading across the whole country. And who knows, maybe even a few more Chinese menu printer shops (and self printing) will come into vogue.
David