In China, cooking is an art; in the West, it is a labor.
Keywords: food culture, food concepts, taste, nutrition, food objects, food style, dining etiquette
For Chinese people, we start to taste Chinese food at birth, and thus we are more or less tired of Chinese food. At the same time, we are in the midst of economic globalization, and the entry of western food into China has given us a sense of freshness, and has made us have the opportunity to go into the western fast-food restaurants to taste different western food or western food. Diet different from the desire to eat Western food or Western fast food, to eat Western food, you must understand the difference between Western food and Chinese food, what to eat, how to eat. Secondly, with China's accession to the WTO, China's interactions with Western countries have become more and more frequent, Chinese people to go abroad more and more opportunities to Western countries, when in Rome, it is inevitable to dine with Westerners, in order not to let themselves appear to be ignorant, but also must have to understand the Western way of dining and dining etiquette. Only from this point of view, briefly talk about the differences in food culture between China and the West, and hope that we Chinese people understand the Western food culture a little reference significance.
One, two different dietary concepts
With the focus on "flavor" of the Chinese diet, compared to the West is a rational concept of food. Westerners emphasize scientific diet, pay attention to nutrition, and take nutrition as the highest criterion. Eating is like adding fuel to a biological machine, especially the nutrient content of food, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and various inorganic elements of the content of the right mix, the supply of calories is just right, as well as these nutrients can be fully absorbed by the eaters, with or without other side effects. These issues are the big questions in cooking, while the color, aroma and taste of the dishes, is a secondary requirement. Even in the West's premier dietary power - France, its food culture, although in many ways similar to us, but once in contact with the nutritional problems, the two sides will pull away from the distance.
Because of the over-emphasis on nutrition, there is little art in the Western diet. The scientific composition of various food and drink products is readily apparent. In the banquet, people can pay attention to tableware, pay attention to materials, pay attention to the service, pay attention to the dish of raw materials of the shape, color aspects 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 collocation, it is only carried out in the plate, a plate of "French steak A plate of "French steak", one side put mashed potatoes, leaning on the side of lamb chops, the other side with boiled green beans, add a few slices of tomato will be, contrasting colors, but in the taste of a variety of raw materials do not relate to each other, reconcile, each is the taste of each, simple and clear. China is very concerned about the "five flavors and harmony", that is, in the importance of cooking the natural flavor of raw materials on the basis of the "five flavors and harmony", with the basic laws of yin and yang and five elements to guide this harmony, harmony to be in line with the order of the season, but also pay attention to the seasonal, and the end result of the harmony of the flavor to be beautiful The final result of the harmonization should be delicious and appetizing. Therefore, almost every dish in Chinese cuisine should be prepared with more than two kinds of raw materials and a variety of seasonings. That is, or home cooking, is generally meat and vegetables to mix and cook, such as leeks fried meat, pork fried garlic, bamboo stewed meat, celery fried dried tofu ...... and these raw materials if the Western chef cooking, it is shredded meat with milk sauce plus leeks boiled in white water, or deep-fried pork chops with garlic boiled in water, Chinese diners see so in the West to do, naturally, is the "Crying can not laugh".
It is also based on the importance of nutrition, Westerners eat raw vegetables, not only tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, lettuce, that is, cabbage, onions, green cauliflower (broccoli) are also eaten raw. Thus, their "salad" is like a plate of rabbit feed, making it difficult for us to accept. Modern Chinese people also talk about nutrition and health care, also know that once heated, green vegetables, vitamins will be destroyed, so we advocate the use of high-flame stir-fry. This also reduces the vitamin content, but not completely lost, but the flavor is much more delicious than rabbit feed. Modern Chinese cooking techniques therefore aim for the best balance of nutrition and flavor, which is of course the "middle way". Western cooking, on the other hand, is more concerned with nutrition but neglects flavor, or at least does not make taste enjoyment a priority. They to cold drinks with meals, chilled cold wine and then add ice, and the surface of the tongue all over the gustatory nerves after the chilled, will greatly lose the sensitivity of taste, and gradually can not discern the flavor; that with the blood of the steak and large white fish, large white meat, raw vegetables, boiled beans in white water, boiled potatoes, although there is a "taste" into the "road "All of these reflect the Westerner's neglect of the sense of taste. Their refusal to use MSG is more proof that these people are not aware of the taste of the people, not "know the flavor of the view" of the seat guests also!
In all fairness, the issue of nutrition also touches on the biggest weakness of the Chinese diet. Although we talk about food therapy, food, food, food, and emphasize the importance of diet to health, but our cooking techniques to the pursuit of delicious as the first requirement, resulting in the loss of many nutrients in the processing.
We have always regarded the pursuit of flavor as the primary purpose of eating. There is a popular saying: "Food is the first thing to be eaten, and flavor is the first thing to be tasted". Although people in the praise of food, always love to say "color and flavor are excellent", but that is because we feel the color and flavor of the sensory organs "eyes, nose, mouth" of the upper and lower order. People inside the "color, aroma, taste", never is "taste" word "commander-in-chief".