Americanization is the process by which immigrants of the United States of America become assimilated into American society. These immigrants often share American values, beliefs, and customs, and sometimes create uniquely American forms of their own ethnic backgrounds. For example, this phenomenon occurred when Chinese immigrants created “chop suey,” an American-Chinese meal consisting of meat (most often chicken, beef, or pork) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables, such as cabbage and celery, bound in a starch-thickened sauce. It is typically served with rice, but becomes the Chinese-American form of “chow mein” when stir-fried noodles are added. Although New York City immigrants have the possibility of experiencing Americanization, the Yemeni community has retained most of its culture, as evidenced by the authenticity of the Yemen Cafe. The dishes available at the restaurant are kept with the traditional flavors that people would find in Yemen. The owner started the restaurant with the vision of keeping all of the ingredients true to the food served back home. A majority of the customers are Yemeni and come to the restaurant because they can expect to find ethnic meals.
This desire for authentic food by the Yemeni community can be seen by the differences in the order choices by local Yemeni customers and American customers. The Yemeni customers prefer to order traditional dishes, such as saltah and aseed, which are foods that are very specific to Yemen. Saltah is a dish that contains either chicken or lamb, cooked in a stew of various root vegetables and spices. Aseed is an arab-style dumpling, usually served with some type of sauce or gravy, which is eaten with the hands in a communal style. The American customers usually order meat and rice dishes with which they are more familiar and shy away from the traditional foods.
 The flavorful Saltah, a meat stew topped with a fenugreek froth, has tasteful Turkish influences. |
 Traditional aseed, one of the first dishes served at Yemen Cafe. Photo Credit: Sheba Yemeni Food |
 As per Yemeni tradition, meals are often eaten family-style. Multiple dishes are shared amongst a group of people. |
The only signs of “Americanization” seem to be that the restaurant owners purchase spices from a local Costco, as it may be rather difficult and expensive to import spices directly from Yemen. Another sign of Americanization is that the menu is, of course, in both Arabic and English.
Sources:
Hadal, Katherine Abu.”Yemeni Aseeda, Aseed, عصيدة. Sheba Yemeni Food & Recipes. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. http://www.shebayemenifood.com/content/yemeni-aseeda-aseed-عصيدة.
