First, the difference of dietary concept

Diet is the most basic activity of human beings, but if the problem is raised to the level of why and how to eat, it will be reflected as a kind of consciousness or concept. There are obvious differences between China and the West in dietary concept.

The West is a rational and scientific dietary concept. They emphasize the nutritional value of diet and pay attention to the protein, fat, calories and vitamins contained in food. Instead of pursuing the perfection of color, fragrance, taste and shape of food, even if the taste is the same, they will follow the rational warning and eat it because it is nutritious. Westerners eat nutrition. They rarely or hardly associate diet with spiritual enjoyment, which reflects a strong practical and utilitarian purpose.

Diet is only a means of survival to satisfy their hunger. However, it adopts a more scientific, standardized and reasonable way. Influenced by the receptive way of thinking, western diets are more scientific, especially after the emergence of modern nutritional analysis science, which encourages their inherent rational analysis tendency in diet, causing them to pay more attention to the combination of nutritional ingredients in diet collocation and ration their diets according to the specific conditions of people's bodies. For example, their primary and secondary schools are equipped with nutritionists. This scientific and rational diet concept is worth learning from Chinese food, but at the same time, it makes western food greatly limited in materials. For example, westerners don't eat animal offal and everything they think has no nutritional value. At the same time, it is mechanical and inflexible in cooking skills. Steak is steak, chicken is chicken, and all kinds of vegetables will never be mixed and will not produce many tricks. It depends on the collocation of tableware, environment and raw materials of dishes in shape and color. This mechanical nature of western food is something we have to overcome. In short, western diet regulates people's behavior with absolute rationality, and excludes delicious food that can bring pleasure to people with "science" and "nutrition". Although it can meet physiological needs, it can't make people get spiritual pleasure from it, which is a fly in the ointment. Chinese food, on the other hand, is just the opposite.

China people's diet emphasizes sensibility and artistry, and pursues the taste of food without paying attention to the nutritional components of food. They evaluate the quality of food from the aspects of "color, fragrance, taste, shape and container" and pursue an indescribable artistic conception. Simply put, China people eat taste. "Taste" is the charm of China's diet. At the same time, it also satisfies the craving for delicious food and brings physical and mental pleasure.

China cooking often mixes various raw materials together, which makes them almost lose their true colors, but produces a new and complete delicacy. For example, the famous Fujian dish "Fotiaoqiang" contains chicken, duck, pork knuckle tendon, scallop, abalone, sea cucumber, pork belly, shark's fin and other main ingredients, as well as several auxiliary materials. What I tasted was a delicious food. The personality of the finished product was completely buried, but the whole product was brilliant, which was in line with the China people's golden mean of belittling personality, stressing average and putting the most emphasis on harmony. The sensibility of China's diet made it full of imagination and creativity and inclined to be artistic, which was a free realm beyond the inevitability. Its biggest feature is randomness. The same dish can be handled differently due to different regions, seasons, objects and grades. In the use of raw materials, it can be turned into magic, chicken feet can be turned into "chicken feet", fish heads can be made into "fish heads stewed in casserole", etc. In the production techniques, it is a delicious dish. China diet is only an empirical fuzzy grasp of nutrition science, such as a banquet. Meat is easy to get bored, and it must be neutralized by light and refreshing dishes. There is no rational analysis and logical judgment here, but it is just an experience and a custom. This is also the deficiency of China's diet. China's diet overemphasizes the taste and the spiritual enjoyment of dining, ignoring the rational collocation of nutritional analysis and nutrition, which is one-sided. The western diet pays attention to scientific analysis and nutrition, although it is mechanical, but fundamentally speaking, It is positive for maintaining the healthy development of human body. Therefore, in its development, Chinese food should learn from the "scientific" concept of western food, learn from each other's strong points and make it more perfect. < P > Compared with China diet which pays attention to "taste", the west is a rational diet concept. No matter what the color, fragrance, taste and shape of food are, the nutrition must be guaranteed, and how many calories, vitamins and forms should be taken in a day. You must also eat it-because it is nutritious. This concept of diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy system. Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy. The object of western philosophy is the principle of things, and the principle of things is often metaphysical, which is interrelated with each other, thus forming metaphysical philosophy. This philosophy has brought vitality to western culture and made it develop by leaps and bounds in natural science, psychology and methodology. But in other aspects, This philosophy has greatly hindered, such as food culture. At banquets, we can pay attention to tableware, materials, service and the collocation of raw materials in shape and color. But no matter how luxurious and high-grade, from L.A. to new york, steak has only one taste, and there is no art at all. As a dish, chicken is chicken and steak is steak. Even if there is a match, it is also done in the plate. A plate of "French lamb chops" is served with mashed potatoes, lamb chops on one side, boiled green beans on the other side and a few slices of tomatoes. The colors are sharp, but the ingredients are irrelevant in taste. Simple and clear.

China people attach great importance to "eating". The proverb "Food is the most important thing for the people" shows that we regard eating as important as the sky. Because our nation has been at a low level of productivity for thousands of years, people are always hungry, so there will be a unique food culture that values eating above everything else. I think this is probably due to a survival need. If a culture regards eating as the first thing, On the other hand, paying too much attention to food will make people admire the pursuit of delicacy.

In China's cooking, the pursuit of delicacy has almost reached the extreme, so that China people make a living overseas by opening restaurants, which has become the foundation for us to settle down all over the world! Unfortunately, when we take the pursuit of delicacy as the first requirement, we ignore the most fundamental nutritional value of food. Many of our traditional foods have to be fried in hot oil and stewed with slow fire for a long time, which destroys the nutritional components of the dishes and loses many of them in the processing process. Therefore, when it comes to nutrition, it actually touches the biggest weakness of China's food culture. There is a folk saying: "Food is the most important thing for the people. Taste comes first ".It is this pursuit of delicacy that makes us ignore the real meaning of eating.

When people in China taste dishes, they often say that this dish is delicious and that dish is not delicious. However, if we want to ask what is delicious, why and where it is, it may not be easy to make it clear. This shows that China people are pursuing an indescribable "artistic conception" of food, that is, it is still difficult to cover this "realm" by using what people usually call "color, fragrance, taste, shape and container". The key lies in its taste. The production of delicious food lies in harmony. The original taste of food, the cooked taste after heating, the taste of ingredients and auxiliary materials, and the harmonious taste of seasonings should be intertwined and coordinated, so that they can complement each other, help each other penetrate and blend together. You have me and I have you. The harmonious beauty of China cooking is the essence of China cooking art. The shape and color of dishes are external. It is the most important manifestation of China's aesthetic diet view that it pays attention to the interior without deliberately modifying the appearance, and to the taste of dishes without excessively revealing the shape and color of dishes.

In China, the pursuit of beauty in diet obviously outweighs rationality, which is also consistent with China's traditional philosophy. As a representative of oriental philosophy, China's philosophy is characterized by macro, intuitive, vague and unpredictable. The method of making Chinese food is harmony. In the end, it is necessary to reconcile a beautiful taste. This emphasis is on moderation, that is, the overall coordination. It contains the rich dialectical thought of China's philosophy. Everything is based on the beauty and harmony of the taste of the food, and the variety within the range determines the richness and variety of Chinese food, and determines the characteristics of Chinese cuisine and even the characteristics of every chef.

Second, the difference between Chinese and Western food content

The food content is the question of what to eat. The differences on this issue are rooted in the cultural backgrounds of different ethnic groups. Westerners eat more meat dishes and pay more attention to the intake of protein and fat. In their diet structure, they also use animal dishes, mainly beef, chicken, pork, mutton and fish, which are related to the nomadic and maritime cultures in the West. Navigation and nomadic people take fishing, hunting and breeding as their main activities, supplemented by planting. This determines that the main source of their diet is animals. Not only diet, but also many other aspects of life need to be taken from animals. Influenced by agricultural civilization, China people, in their traditional diet structure, the staple food is grains, supplemented by vegetables and a small amount of meat, and plant dishes are dominant, which we usually call "vegetarian dishes" and usually only add meat dishes during the New Year's Festival. This eating habit is deeply influenced by Buddhist culture. Buddhism believes that animals are "living things", and living things can't be killed, let alone eaten. The idea of "forbidding killing and releasing" advocated by Buddhism is in line with the Confucian view of "benevolence and benevolence". In addition, Taoism also avoids eating fish and meat, which has promoted the development of vegetable cultivation and cooking technology in China. Especially the development of bean products technology.

However, with the improvement of living standard and the popularization of nutrition concept, the proportion of meat and milk food is increasing in China's dining table. Similarly, in the diet structure of westerners, vegetables are obviously increasing, and the diet structure of China and the West has gradually merged. The difference in diet content between China and the West is also manifested in the fact that westerners like to eat cold food and cold dishes, from cold dishes to salads to cold drinks. Cold dishes are indispensable on the dining table. People in China like hot food. Except for a few small dishes in front of the main course, the main course is hot. In China's view, when hot dishes are cold, they lose a lot of flavor. As the saying goes, "three fresh dishes are hot" means this.

Westerners think that dishes are to satisfy hunger, so they specialize in eating large pieces of meat and whole chicken. Therefore, China's cooking also shows great arbitrariness in the use of materials: what many westerners regard as discarded things are excellent raw materials in China, and what foreign chefs can't handle can be turned into magic when they reach the hands of chefs in China, which shows that China's diet is extensive in the use of materials.

According to a survey by western botanists, China people eat more than 611 kinds of vegetables, which is six times more than that in the west. In fact, in China, people eat more than 611 kinds. Vegetarian food is an ordinary food, and meat food only enters the ordinary diet structure during holidays or when the living standard is high. Therefore, it has been called "vegetable food" since ancient times, and vegetable food is dominant in the ordinary diet structure. China people take plants as the main food, which is inextricably linked with the advocacy of Buddhists. They regard animals as "living things" and plants as "inanimate", so they advocate vegetarianism. < P I think that China pays more attention to the rational collocation of nutrition. There are developed food industries, such as canned food and fast food. Although they have the same taste, they save time and have good nutrition. Therefore, people in their country are generally stronger than people in China: tall, long legs, broad shoulders and developed muscles; People in China, on the other hand, are thin, narrow-shouldered, short-legged, and yellow-skinned. According to the obvious difference between Chinese and western food objects, some people call China people plant characters, while westerners call them animal characters.

Third, the difference in eating styles

The problem of how to eat is that there are obvious differences between China and the West. In China, whether it is a family meal or a formal banquet, it is a dinner party. * * * Enjoy a seat. People toast each other and persuade dishes, so as to show the virtue of mutual respect and comity and the atmosphere of harmony and reunion. Especially in various festivals, it is an important tradition of China's food culture, which is based on the concept of clan patriarchal clan system. At first, it is common in families and clans. And then extended to outside the family. China people often use this way of dining to educate and express various "rituals" to reflect the relationship between the old and the young, the respect for the low, the closeness of the relatives and the exchange of feelings. Because this way of sitting around drinking caters to the traditional family concept and objectively plays a role in maintaining family stability and promoting the unity and harmony of family members, it has been handed down for a long time. It is indeed a family pleasure to get together for a banquet. But at the same time, this dining method also has its disadvantages, mainly unscientific, unhygienic and wasteful. Now, people have gradually realized this disadvantage and started to reform. For example, China's state banquet has implemented a separate dining system, but it has yet to be popularized in the whole society.

Westerners are used to eating separately. At western banquets, although they also sit around, However, each person's food is a single dish. The most typical form of the western dining system is buffet. Diners each take a set of tableware and take what they need from the prepared food. They don't have to fix their seats, so they can walk freely. This way of eating can not only fully satisfy their personal preferences for food, but also facilitate social interaction and the exchange of emotions and information between individuals, without making all the activities public at the dinner table. Therefore, at western-style banquets, Food is only a means and foil, but not the whole purpose. The core of the banquet lies in friendship. This way of dining fully embodies the respect of westerners for individuality and self, and emphasizes individual independence and autonomy. In this respect, it is completely different from China's unified cultural model. Especially since the Renaissance, western society has vigorously advocated the spirit of equality, freedom, human rights and individual liberation, which has greatly publicized people's individuality and freedom consciousness. It creates a cultural environment that emphasizes the free development of personality. More importantly, this way of eating is civilized, hygienic and in line with the scientific spirit. The western way of eating 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 will sit around and enjoy a seat. The banquet will use a round table. This creates an atmosphere of unity, courtesy and interest in form. Delicious food is placed in the center of a table, which is not only the object of appreciation and taste of a table, but also the medium of emotional communication of a table. People toast each other, give each other food and persuade them to give food, which embodies the virtue of mutual respect and courtesy among people in the face of beautiful things. Although from the perspective of hygiene, this way of eating is obvious.