A country's history is long and short, its territory is large and small, its strength is strong and weak, its population is large and small, and its ethnic composition, religious belief, political nature and economic structure are also different, so the food culture of different countries is also different.

Chinese food culture

Influenced by the philosophy of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, Confucian ethics and traditional Chinese medicine nutrition theory, as well as cultural and artistic achievements, food aesthetic fashion and national personality characteristics in China's traditional cultural education, China's cooking skills were created in history, and a profound China food culture was formed.

From the perspective of evolution, China's food culture has lasted for more than 1.7 million years, divided into four stages: raw food, cooked food, natural cooking and scientific cooking. There are more than 60,000 kinds of traditional dishes and more than 20,000 kinds of industrial food, with colorful banquets and various flavor genres, and it has won the reputation of "cooking kingdom".

In terms of connotation, China catering culture involves the development and utilization of food sources, the use and innovation of tableware, the production and consumption of food, the service and reception of catering, the operation and management of catering and food industry, the relationship between catering and national security, catering and literature and art, and catering and life realm.

From the perspective of extension, China's food culture can be classified from the perspectives of times and technology, region and economy, nationality and religion, food and tableware, consumption and level, folk customs and functions, showing different cultural tastes and reflecting different use values.

Specifically, China's food culture highlights four attributes, namely, the theory of nourishing and tonifying deficiency (vegetarian diet, paying attention to medicinal diet and nourishing), the theory of harmonious realm of five flavors (with distinctive flavor and delicious taste, and the reputation of "tongue food"), the cooking method of changing the strange into the right (kitchen rules-based, flexible) and the cheerful and pleasant eating concept (gentle entertainment).

From the perspective of influence, China's food culture directly affects Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and other countries, and is the axis of the oriental food culture circle; At the same time, it also indirectly affects Europe, America, Africa and Oceania, such as vegetarian culture, tea culture, sauce and vinegar, pasta, medicated diet, ceramic tableware and soybeans in China, which have benefited billions of people all over the world.

In a word, China food culture is a regional culture with a long history, with broad vision, deep levels, many angles and high taste. It is the people of all ethnic groups in China who have created, accumulated and influenced the material wealth and spiritual wealth of neighboring countries and the world in the aspects of food source development, tableware development, food preparation, nutrition and health care, food aesthetics and so on in the production and life practice of more than 6,543,800 years.

China's cooking embodies the Chinese nation's food culture tradition, and it has many unique characteristics compared with other countries' cooking.

(1) Various flavors. Due to the differences in climate, products and customs, the vast Chinese nation has formed many different cuisines in China's diet since ancient times. As far as local division is concerned, there are four major cuisines: Bashu, Qilu, Huaiyang and Guangdong and Fujian.

(2) The four seasons are different. Throughout the year, it is the main feature of China cooking to match the diet according to the season. Our country has always followed the seasonal seasoning and side dishes, which are mellow in winter and cool in summer. Stewed in winter and frozen in summer. All kinds of vegetables change in four seasons and are eaten at the right time.

(3) Pay attention to the aesthetic feeling of dishes. Pay attention to the harmony of color, aroma, taste, shape and container of food, and show the beauty of dishes in many ways. Chefs use their ingenious skills and artistic accomplishment to create all kinds of delicious food, which is unique in realizing the unity of color, fragrance, taste and shape, giving people a special enjoyment of a high degree of unity of spirit and material.

(4) pay attention to interest. Since ancient times, China has been paying attention to taste and interest in cooking. It not only has strict requirements on the color, aroma, taste, shape, container, quality and nutrition of snacks, but also has certain elegant requirements on the naming of dishes, the way of tasting, the choice of time, the rhythm of eating and the interspersed entertainment. Creative and full of fun.

(5) combination of food and medicine. China's cooking technology is closely related to medical treatment. China has always attached great importance to "homology of medicine and food" and "homology of medicine and food", and used the medicinal value of food raw materials to cook various delicious dishes to achieve the purpose of preventing and treating certain diseases. The homology of medicine and food means the homology of medicine and food. In Huangdi Neijing Tai Su, it is written: "Eating on an empty stomach is food, and patients take medicine", which embodies the idea of "medicine and food are homologous".