Chinatown!

I wrote about Chinatown a few weeks ago, but didn’t get into much depth about a place that’s such an amazing cultural experience. I’ve never been to an American Chinatown before, so the first time I went I was overwhelmed by all the hustle-bustle. Now that I’ve been a few times, I think the best time to go is in the mornings, around 10 o’clock or so. That way you can swing by a Chinese bakery while everything’s fresh. My personal favorite thing to get is a few eggrolls for breakfast. Although most Chinese restaurants in the US are Chinese-owned and operated, the eggrolls never seem to taste as fresh or flavorful as when they’re made at the bakeries.

If you’re like me and like eating food, Chinatown has a wealth of culinary diversity just waiting to be discovered. Even though foreign menus can be quite intimidating, don’t be afraid to ask your server for help! I have to confess, when I first checked out Chinatown I was a bit worried that I, an English speaking white person, would get the cold shoulder, and I couldn’t be happier to be wrong.  Nine times out of ten, employees of restaurants and markets are very willing to help out, offer suggestions and answer questions. Occasionally the language barrier can get pretty stiff, but in the end you’ll find out all you really need to know.

This might be blasphemy, but my favorite food in Chinatown is actually Vietnamese. There’s a wonderful deli on Spadina called Banh Mi that sells Vietnamese subs for as little as $3.00.

This is great, because it allows you to sample all the wonderful varieties. My favorite one so far is the lemongrass sausage, followed closely by the rosemary and garlic sausage. There are other great Vietnamese places to get a hearty meal, just look at this pho I had a while ago:

More interesting than the food, however, is just walking around and looking at the community. For instance, it’s fascinating walking around the outdoor produce shops. As early as 9AM they’re quite crowded with Chinese Canadians stocking up on food for the week, much of which I don’t even recognize. When immigrants come to the United States, there is often discussion of “Americanization,” essentially replacing customs from one’s homeland with mainstream American culture. In Toronto this surely happens, but in my eyes to a much lesser extent. From my work I know several first and second generation Chinese-Canadians who are quite in tune with other aspects of Canadian culture. Yet here there’s a tendency to retain more of one’s culture than I’ve seen in Cincinnati. For example, my father is an immigrant from Greece who still likes Greek food (often that’s the only thing he likes) but at the same time he’s given up other aspects of Greek culture, like going to an Orthodox Church or reading Greek books and newspapers. Of course, the latter’s changed a bit thanks to the Internet, but you get the point.

The reason so many Torontonians retain so many cultural customs is probably simply because Toronto has the communities to reinforce culture. When immigrants leave their homeland for Toronto, the presence of a Chinatown or Greek Town makes them less likely to feel ostracized simply by living as they’ve always lived.