In the 1970's, my parents brought our family from China to Boston to start a new life. They decided the best way to do so was to introduce real Chinese food to Boston. Prior to that, the Chinese restaurants in the Boston area were actually adapting Chinese food to American taste. Sure the food was prepared using Chinese cooking techniques but the ingredients were lacking. The spices and seasonings were usually limited to salt, pepper and soy sauce while the recipes used local vegetables. Heck, some Chinese restaurants even went as far as offering french fries on their menu!