​内容来源: 分享美国 地址链接： http://go.usa.gov/xDa5T

从快餐店到比萨送餐，外卖食品的历史可以是丰富的教材，因为美国人的饮食内容和方式常常能反映出当时的社会变化。

美食史学家和《味道像鸡》(Tastes Like Chicken)一书的作者埃默林·鲁德(Emelyn Rude)说：“人们可以通过饮食学到很多东西。每个人都要吃饭，这是一个餐盘中汇聚着农业、科学、健康、营养和文化的独特情景之一。”

以比萨饼为例。美国人最初对意大利移民所喜爱的食品持怀疑态度，因为其中一些原料对他们很陌生。

将时间快进到第二次世界大战(World War II)之后。当时，从欧洲返回的美国士兵极力夸赞他们在意大利吃到的东西。1940年代，在发明出一种能够让比萨饼保温的盒子后，这种圆平的、铺着奶酪的烤饼就日益成为美国人生活中无处不有的食品。如今，在任何一天，8个美国人中就有一个人吃比萨饼。

外卖食品也可以让我们了解到美国历史上某些黑暗时期。

从1880年代到1960年代中期，美国南方州实行将黑人与白人合法隔离的吉姆·克劳(Jim Crow)法。如果非裔美国人想在某个没有为有色人种设置专区的餐馆用餐，他们就得绕到餐馆后面，看看是否可以从餐馆购餐带走。

1849年，在加州淘金热(California Gold Rush)时期，有商业头脑的中国餐馆业主在淘金者聚集地附近开餐馆。鲁德说，陶宝的人并没有赚到什么钱，但给他们提供餐饮的人赚到了钱。据信，美国最早提供送餐服务的餐馆是旧金山的一家中国餐馆，它的服务适于1920年代。

电视和汽车的影响

​电视的问世使餐饮业的一切大大改变。到1950年代，电视已经进入美国数百万家庭。

几乎在一夜之间，人们变得更热衷呆在家里看电视，而不是去外面吃饭。餐饮业在经历了销售额急剧下降之后清醒过来：现在到了不改变就无法生存的时候了。

鲁德说：“各家都开始打造外卖菜单和送餐服务，以便人们不必离家——让他们可以一举两得：边吃餐馆菜肴，边看电视。”

此后，随着汽车的普及，快餐成为又一个潮流。鲁德说：“汽车真的彻底改变了每个人吃饭的方式，因为我们可以很方便地买饭，我们可以非常便宜地买到饭。所以，的确，我们要把快餐归功于汽车。”

如今，在任何一天，大约6%的美国人在吃外卖餐。有史以来，美国普通人的餐馆消费第一次超过了在商店采购食品的消费。

互联网时代让比较不出名的餐馆得到更多的曝光机会，给它们带来了原本可能不会光临的食客。但是，人们饮食的内容并没有太大改变。通过应用程序或者互联网点购的最流行食品是——你猜对了——比萨饼。

What takeout food reveals about U.S. history

From fast-food restaurants to pizza delivery, the history of takeout food can tell us plenty, because how and what Americans eat often reflect the changes taking place in society at any particular time.

“You can learn a lot from food,” says Emelyn Rude, a food historian and author of the bookTastes Like Chicken. “Everyone eats, and it’s one of those unique ways in which agriculture, science, health, nutrition and culture all come together in one single plate.”

Take pizza, for example. Americans were initially suspicious of dishes favored by Italian immigrants, in part because some of the ingredients were foreign to them.

Fast forward to after World War II, when American soldiers returned from Europe raving about the Italian food they’d eaten there. Once a box was invented in the 1940s to keep pizza hot, the flat, round cheesy pie was on its way to becoming a staple in the U.S. diet. Today, 1 in 8 Americans eats pizza on any given day.

Takeout food also can teach about darker periods in U.S. history.

Jim Crow laws, enacted by Southern states from the 1880s to the mid 1960s, legalized the segregation of blacks and whites. If African Americans wanted to eat at a particular restaurant that didn’t designate a section for people of color, they’d go around back and see if the restaurants would give them food to go.

In 1849, during the California Gold Rush, enterprising Chinese food entrepreneurs set up near where prospectors were searching for gold. As Rude says, the fortune hunters didn’t make any money, but the people who fed them did. One of the first American restaurants to offer food delivery is believed to be a Chinese eatery in San Francisco that began offering the service in the 1920s.

TV and cars make impact

https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/AP_4907070140.jpg

Everything changed for restaurants when television was invented and, by the 1950s, had infiltrated millions of U.S. homes.

Almost overnight, people became more interested in staying home and watching TV, rather than going out to eat. When restaurants experienced a dramatic drop in sales, they knew it was time to adapt or die.

“They all started developing these take-home menus and delivery,” Rude says, “just so people wouldn’t have to leave their homes. They could do both: eat restaurant food and watch television.”

Then, once everyone had cars, fast food became the next big thing. “The car really revolutionized how everyone eats because we could get food conveniently, we could get it super cheaply,” Rude says. “And so, yes, we owe fast food to cars.”

Today, roughly 6 percent of Americans eat takeout food on any given day. For the first time in U.S. history, restaurant spending is higher than grocery spending for the average American.

The internet age has given more obscure restaurants increased exposure and access to potential patrons who might not have found them otherwise, but the actual food consumed hasn’t changed much. The most popular food ordered via apps or the internet is — you guessed it — pizza.

​