Food-in America
/kloc-there is a McDonald's restaurant in the west of 0/7 street, which runs north and south. Every day at noon, the staff in suits and ties who rushed out of the West Annex rushed into the restaurant and stood at a hamburger and a cup of coffee for a few minutes before lunch ended.
Behind me in the photo is the West Annex Building of the White House, facing north and south. (1June 992)
Beckham and I-the translator and tour guide driver who accompanied us-leaned against the window of McDonald's restaurant and ate hamburgers. All the members of the group visited the White House, and we both waited while eating. This scene was my normal state in Washington in the early and middle 1990s. Beckham and I often look at the lunches of these white-collar workers and think: Are American hamburgers full of coffee? Will you hold out until dinner? Not hungry? Chinese leaders at all levels in the regiment also questioned what kind of stomach this American is.
I stood behind me on the sidewalk outside the North Gate of the White House.
The Pentagon of the US Department of Defense, not far from the Potomac River in the southwest of the White House, is free to visit, that is, you can see the Admiral and the Air Force Admiral at work because their office doors are open!
I took a photo with American soldiers at the Pentagon.
(1992 1 1 month)
I remember the guide who received the tour told everyone that about 25,000 people work here every day, and the Pentagon needs to make 25,000 hamburgers for lunch to meet the people who work here. I can't remember how many restaurants there are in the Pentagon. But let me make sure that this is how Americans eat lunch at work.
Visit the Pentagon 1992.
It is said that the nutrition and calorie intake of hamburger coffee are enough to maintain the human body!
I'm surprised to think how many dishes and soups are fried for lunch and dinner in our country, compared with working lunches in the United States!
During the ten-year visit to the United States from the 1990s to the early 20th century, although Chinese restaurants in the United States were basically eaten, American fast food McDonald's, KFC, Burger King, pizza shop, fried chicken shop, American western food, Mexican food and Arabic food were also tasted. I really think that different styles and different eating habits reflect the food culture of various countries. The United States has the cultures and diets of all nationalities in the world, and many cities can taste the delicious food of various countries.
This is our delegation eating hamburgers at the airport (June 1992).
Speaking of Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, we can say that there are many Chinese restaurants in the United States. First of all, as long as there are cities in Chinatown, there must be Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. In recent years, China restaurants have spread all over the country, and many China restaurants will find that there is no Chinatown. Chinese food is still very popular in America.
In fact, Chinese restaurants in the United States are also very divided, with American Chinese food and Chinese Chinese food.
I remember reading a book "Tell You a Real America" in the early 1990s and I liked it very much. I often went to America at that time, and I felt the same way! The author Chen Yanni is an overseas student from China who is visiting the United States. She deeply studied and analyzed China people's life in the United States, visited and inquired about real life, libraries, federal databases and information databases, analyzed the current situation of China people and overseas students with a large number of first-hand materials, and described China restaurants in great detail. From the first generation of China entrepreneurs to the overseas students who worked in Chinese restaurants in 1990s, the development and present situation of restaurants are analyzed in detail!
Author Chen Yanni said in the book: Usually when you enter a China restaurant, there is a small plate of fried pasta snacks on the table, so it must be an American China restaurant, and most of these China restaurants are buffets. The cuisine of American Chinese restaurants is characterized by putting Chili and soy sauce in everything, which tastes salty. And this taste is particularly popular with Americans, and the business is particularly hot!
Judging from the taste of China people, I'm flattered! Except salty, it is spicy. I ate a lot in America. Chinese food is good enough for China people who travel to the United States!
Of course, there are many real Chinese restaurants, such as authentic Sichuan restaurant, Shandong restaurant, Guangdong restaurant, Huaiyang restaurant, Shanxi restaurant and Hunan restaurant. And there are more Chinese restaurants in general.
I have tasted authentic Sichuan cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine and Cantonese cuisine in new york, L.A., San Francisco and Washington's Chinatown, but when I sit down in a Chinese restaurant, I will have a bowl of hot soup first. It is said that the first generation of Chinese who opened Chinese restaurants in those years were all overseas Chinese in Guangdong, which brought the way of eating Cantonese food, so this custom has been circulated in Chinese restaurants in the United States for more than 100 years.
Generally, Chinese restaurants with authentic Cantonese cuisine and Sichuan cuisine are more expensive. In the 1990 s, I only took a group to dinner occasionally.
1992 -2003 I believe that tie group meals are basically group meals. According to the number of people, each person reserves a table. At that time, our daily food expenses were generally around 20 yuan, so the average lunch and dinner was 7-8 dollars, usually 6-8 dishes, which was basically enough to eat. Of course, the taste and taste of dishes are good and bad. After every fruit meal, it's over. At this time, the waiter brought the bill tray. There was a plate of fruit on the tray, one of which was very small and fragile, with a small English note on it. The content is basically greetings. Good luck. If you don't know English, please ask a tour guide to translate, smile and be humorous, which will bring you happiness in a foreign country.
It is relaxing to know that the leaders of these enterprises and governments at all levels who are visiting the United States with me are busy at home and abroad. Everyone in each unit and company basically doesn't know each other, so life is also a kind of freedom!
This is (1994 65438+February 6th) when we were in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, the American Edison Company invited us to eat Chinese food. (The first on the right is Mr. White, director of the international department of American Edison Company, the second on the right is Yan, deputy director of Shaanxi Rural Power Administration, and the first on the left is the author.)
Americans are very humorous! Talking and laughing at the dinner table! (The authors from the second and third left are the directors of Harbin Rural Power Administration, Heilongjiang Province)
What impressed me deeply was Rosemie's Chinatown, 10, north of expressway and around Gary, where Chinese restaurants abound, almost all of which are run by Chinese. You can choose anything you want, including all kinds of snacks from all over the world. We used to eat Huaiyang cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, Shanxi pasta, Zhejiang snack porridge shop, soup packets in Meilong town, and sea cucumbers with scallions in Shandong cuisine.
In March this year (2020), we came here for dinner before leaving Los Angeles for home. I'm still eating my favorite "Xiaoluzi porridge shop". Revisiting the old place has not changed much, the taste is still so delicious, the variety is still so many, the service is still so enthusiastic, and it feels the same as in the 1990 s! I just feel that the house and the road are old, and it has been seven years since I last came to America (20 12). Overall, the overall appearance has not changed.
It is said that the Chinatown here was founded by people from Taiwan Province Province in the late 1970s, and its business is also very developed. There are many shops in China, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, department stores, hotels, karaoke shops and so on! Better than other Chinese communities in Los Angeles, such as Roland Heights, Monterey Park and downtown Chinatown! The convenience of China people living here is simply a small China society. Needless to say, English and Chinese are common here.
In addition to Chinatown in the city center, there are two other places not far from here, one is Monterey Park and the other is Roland Heights Mountain. However, these two places are not as popular as here, where businesses and shops are prosperous, and Chinese from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and Chinese mainland gather. But in recent years, when the American economy was in a downturn, it was slightly worse than in the past.
In addition, there are many noodle restaurants in Chinatown, and they are all Jiangsu and Zhejiang flavors. They are very delicious.
When it comes to pasta, it is necessary to talk about the unique flavor of Vietnamese rice noodles, which I like to eat and are deeply loved by everyone. It's the same shape as noodles, except that the waiter brought a big bowl. Looking at the bright red raw beef flakes covered on it, diners who taste it for the first time will be confused. When you turn beef with chopsticks in noodle soup, it will be cooked immediately. Some ingredients are mint leaves, lemons, peppers, bean sprouts and Vietnamese sweet Chili sauce. This kind of stirring tastes really delicious!
Eating Vietnamese rice noodles has almost become a must-see item for us to go to Los Angeles. Everyone responded very well!
Vietnamese rice noodles have taken root in the United States and can be seen and eaten in almost every city. During our three months in the United States, we also enjoyed them many times, whether in Las Vegas, Nevada or Houston, Arizona.
1in the winter of 992, I led a delegation from China Coal City to visit the United States. The reception company is in the Oakland Bay Area near San Francisco. I remember that the western restaurant is located on the edge of the bay with pleasant scenery.
In the middle is the author, on the left is Beckham, and on the right is Mr. Paul.
Banquet an American western food and an Italian meal. The etiquette and procedures of western food also let everyone experience American western food culture. The lowest experience is the feeling of eating western food in the United States, and many people try it for the first time. Hot soup, aperitif before meals, cold salad, hot dishes, various barbecues, special dishes, red wine and fruits, snacks after meals, etc.
The boss of China Company invited me to eat Chinese food. (San Francisco Bay Area 1992 65438+ February)
Once I ate an Italian pizza on the street near Tongniu on Wall Street in New York, which was also a small fast food restaurant. When I came in, I found that there were only a few dining tables, probably takeout shops, with bright and clean windows. The huge pizza oven is facing us. After ordering, the clerk opened the oven door for a few minutes and pulled out the big tray. The delicious pizza came out. I looked at the pizza carefully. No wonder it smells so good. Sausage, shrimp, pine nuts, walnuts, pecans and vegetables on the pizza are mixed with thick cream and pressed on the soft top. I had a big meal with Beckham who accompanied me. It tastes great! I told him to come next time.
I remember 1995 receiving Ms. Xu Chun, the head of the San Francisco Cooperation Company, and saying to me: Today, I will take you to have an authentic American breakfast. I remember eating at Burger King Restaurant. The name of that breakfast seems to be: gruansland has two American sausages, two pieces of brown bread, two pieces of fried bacon, a spoonful of scrambled eggs like tofu and honey, a glass of orange juice and so on. Several other fruits!
The picture shows our typical American breakfast.
I feel that I can skip lunch for this breakfast! It is different from our fried dough sticks, soybean milk, flower rolls, steamed bread, pickles and eggs, but judging from this breakfast, it seems that this breakfast is more nutritious and the American diet is not very simple.
I don't know if Americans usually eat simply. Maybe they are just like us. Dinner will be more abundant when I get home, and my family will have dinner together on weekends!
In a word, I realize that the differences between Chinese and western food are related to culture, tradition, habits and even values.
This time I traveled in America this year, I learned more about American food.
In a big bar near Toyota Center, the home of Houston Rockets, our daughter ordered big hamburgers and Budweiser beer with different tastes and contents. This is the first time to eat such a big hamburger. Beef patties are a little different from fried bacon cheese with vegetables. They are bulky and the bread is burnt. It's better than ordinary fast food hamburgers.
This is eating hamburgers in a restaurant near Toyota Center in Houston.
It happened to be my birthday in Houston. I don't know how my American friends know about it. On my birthday, my friend's daughter specially invited me and my wife to an American vegetarian restaurant in the form of a buffet. There are seven of us.
(To be continued)