Catering products due to regional characteristics, climate and environment, customs and other factors, there will be in raw materials, flavors, cooking methods, eating habits of different degrees of difference. It is because of these differences, food and beverage products have a strong regional nature. Differences between Chinese and Western cultures create differences between Chinese and Western food culture, and this difference comes from the different ways of thinking and philosophies of the world. The Chinese focus on the "unity of mankind", while the Westerners focus on the "people-oriented".

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, 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 too much to 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 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. It is clear that Chinese food in the material aspect of the arbitrariness of the wide range.

According to Western botanical scholars, Chinese people eat more than 600 kinds of vegetables, six times more than the West. In fact, in the Chinese cuisine, vegetarian food is the usual food, meat only on holidays or a higher standard of living, only into the usual diet structure, so since ancient times, there is a "vegetable food", vegetable food in the usual dietary structure of the dominant position. The Chinese people's preference for plant-based cuisine is inextricably linked to the advocacy of the Buddhists. They regarded animals as "living beings" and plants as "spiritless" and therefore advocated vegetarianism.

Westerners in the introduction of their own country's dietary characteristics, feel that more than China to pay more attention to the rational mix of nutrition, there is a more developed food industry, such as canned food, fast food, etc., although the taste of the same, but to save time, and nutritional good, so their country's people are generally more robust than the Chinese: tall, long legs, broad shoulders, developed muscles; while the Chinese people appear to be a thin body, shoulders, legs, narrow, yellow and weak. The Chinese, on the other hand, appear to be thin, narrow-shouldered, short-legged, yellow-colored and weak. Some people based on the obvious difference between Chinese and Western food objects this characteristic, the Chinese people called the plant character, Westerners called animal character.

Three, the different ways of eating

The way of eating in China and the West is very different, and this difference also has an impact on the national character. In China, any banquet, no matter what the purpose, will only have one form, that is, everyone sits around the group, **** enjoy a seat. The fact that the feast is to be served at a round table creates an atmosphere of unity, politeness, and **** interest in the form. Delicious food in the center of a table, it is a table of people to appreciate, taste the object, but also a table of people's feelings exchange medium. People toast each other, let each other dishes, persuade dishes, in front of the beautiful things, reflecting the mutual respect between people, the virtue of courtesy. Although from the point of view of health, this way of eating has obvious shortcomings, but it is in line with our nation's "reunion" of the general mentality, reflecting the classical Chinese philosophy of "and" the scope of the influence of the thought of future generations, to facilitate the collective exchange of emotions, and therefore It has been difficult to reform it so far.

Western-style banquets, food and wine, although very important, but in fact that is as a side show. The core of the banquet is fellowship, through the neighboring guests to talk to each other, to achieve the purpose of fellowship. If we compare the fellowship of a banquet with a dance, then it can be said that a Chinese banquet is like a group dance, while a Western banquet is like a social dance for men and women. It can be seen that both Chinese and Western banquets have an obvious purpose of fellowship, except that Chinese banquets reflect more on the fellowship of the whole table, while Western banquets reflect more on the fellowship between neighboring guests. A more obvious difference from the Chinese way of eating is the popular Western buffet. This method is: all the food is displayed one by one, we all take what you need, do not have to be fixed in the seat to eat, walk around freely, this way to facilitate the emotional exchange between individuals, do not have to put all the words on the table, but also shows the Westerners on the individuality, respect for the self. But each eat each, do not disturb each other, lack of some Chinese chat happy **** happy mood.

So it boils down to a difference between sensibility and rationality. But that difference seems to be blurring with the development of science. More and more Chinese people are paying less attention to the color, aroma and taste of the food and more to its hygiene and nutrition. Especially after the SARS outbreak. Also, people are getting busier and busier with their work, and find Chinese food too much trouble to cook, rather than a hamburger. In this way, the difference in diet is not so clear.