NEW-YORK JEWS AND CHINESE FOOD - THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF AN ETHNICPATTERN

For more than 50 years, the children and grandchildren of Jews who imm igrated from Eastern Europe to New York City have loved Chinese restau rant food and incorporated it into their new culture and identity as N ew York Jews. This practice goes against the general sociological unde rstanding that ethnic groups form their identities out of their ''trad itional'' customs. Using a combination of qualitative methods and anal ytic tools, the researchers provide an analysis of the New York Jewish attachment to Chinese food by focusing on the meanings that Jews proj ected onto the food. The article demonstrates how patterns of ethnic c ultures in general, and of this one in particular, are recursive; that is, socially constructed meanings become the raw materials for new cu ltural creations.