Here is a brief discussion of the differences in food culture between China and the West from the following three aspects.
One, two different dietary concepts
Contrasting with the Chinese diet, which focuses on "taste", the West is a rational dietary concept. Regardless of the color, aroma, taste and shape of the food, nutrition must be guaranteed, and how many calories, vitamins, proteins and so on must be consumed in a day. Even if the taste is uniform, it must be eaten - because there is nutrition. This concept of diet is compatible with the entire philosophical system of the West. Metaphysics is the main characteristic of Western philosophy. The object of study in Western philosophy is the theory of things, and the theory of things is often the theory of metaphysics, and the theory of metaphysics is coherent with each other, and then it is formed into the philosophy of metaphysics. This philosophy has brought vitality to Western culture, which has realized a rapid development in natural science, psychology, and methodology. However, in some other aspects, this philosophical proposition has greatly hindered, such as food culture. In the banquet, you can pay attention to tableware, pay attention to materials, pay attention to service, pay attention to the shape of the raw materials of the dish, the color of the collocation; but no matter how luxurious and high-grade, from Los Angeles to New York, the steak is only a flavor, no art. As a dish, chicken is chicken, steak is steak, even if there is a match, it is also in the plate, a plate of "French lamb chops", one side of the mashed potatoes, leaning on the side of the lamb chops, the other side of the boiled green beans, with a few slices of tomato will become. Contrasting colors, but in terms of taste, the various raw materials are not related to each other, reconcile, each is its own taste, simple and clear.
The Chinese people attach great importance to "eating", and the proverb "food is heaven" shows that we regard eating as important as heaven. Because our nation has been in a low level of productivity for thousands of years, people always have not enough to eat, so there will be a unique food culture that puts food above all else, I think, this is probably out of a survival need. If a culture to eat as the first thing, then there will be two phenomena: on the one hand, the function of eating will be played to the extreme, not only to maintain survival, but also to use it to maintain health, which is the cultural basis of the "medicine is not as good as dietary supplements"; on the other hand, the over-emphasis on eating, will make people promote the pursuit of delicious.
In Chinese cooking, the pursuit of flavor is almost so extreme that when Chinese people go overseas to make a living, they open restaurants as a business, and it has become the foundation of our lives around the world! Unfortunately, while we have made the pursuit of deliciousness our first requirement, we have neglected the most fundamental nutritional value of food. Many of our traditional foods are subjected to hot deep-frying and prolonged cooking over a gentle fire, which destroys the nutrients of the dishes, and many of the nutrients are lost in the processing. Thus, when it comes to nutrition, it actually touches on the biggest weakness of Chinese food culture. There is a folk saying: "Food is the sky, food is flavor first". It is this pursuit of flavor that has caused us to lose sight of the true meaning of eating.
Chinese people in the tasting dishes, often say that this dish "delicious", that dish "is not good"; however, if you want to further ask what is called "delicious", why "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good", "good". Why "delicious", "delicious" where, I'm afraid it is not easy to say clearly. This shows that the Chinese people on the pursuit of food is a kind of unspeakable "mood", that is, the use of what is usually called "color, aroma, taste, shape, ware" to the specificity of this "realm"!
Chinese food has its unique charm, the key lies in its flavor. And the production of delicious, lies in the harmonization, to make the food of the original flavor, after heating the cooked flavor, together with the ingredients and auxiliary flavor and seasoning of the flavor of the blend, intertwined and fusion and coordination together, so that they complement each other, mutual help penetration, water and milk blending, you have me, I have you. Chinese cooking emphasizes the beauty of harmony, which is the essence of Chinese culinary art. The shape and color of the dishes is something external, but the taste is something internal, heavy internal and not deliberately modify the appearance, heavy dishes taste but not overly show the shape and color of the dishes, which is the most important manifestation of the Chinese beauty of the concept of food.
In China, the pursuit of beauty in food clearly overrides reason, and this view of food is also consistent with traditional Chinese philosophical thought. As a representative of Eastern philosophy, Chinese philosophy is notable for its macroscopic, intuitive, fuzzy and inscrutable features. Chinese cuisine is prepared in a way that harmonizes and combines, ultimately to produce a beautiful taste. This preoccupation is about proportion, about the overall fit. It contains a rich Chinese philosophy of dialectic thinking, all the taste of food for the good, harmony for the degree, the degree within the ever-changing decision of the richness of the Chinese cuisine and rich in change, determines the characteristics of the Chinese cuisine cuisine and even the characteristics of each chef.
Second, the difference between Chinese and Western dietary objects
Westerners believe that the dishes are hungry, so eat large pieces of meat, whole chicken and other "hard vegetables. Chinese cuisine is "taste", so Chinese cooking in the material also shows a great deal of arbitrariness: many Westerners regarded as abandoned things, in China are excellent raw materials, foreign chefs can not deal with things, a Chinese chef's hands, can be transformed into a miracle. See the Chinese food in the material of the arbitrariness of the broad.