Some of you have known more or less about Chinese food culture. Because of the species richness, Chinese food culture plays an important role in the world. Due to the large national territorial areas, climate and product mix, there are different kinds of food cultures in different provinces. Every dish has its own favor and none of them share the same taste. Take some of the distinctive dishes, Sichuan, Guangdong and Fujian, for example. First, Sichuang dishes are famous for its peppery taste. They focus on hot, peppery and savor food by using pepper, capsicum and shallot as the main materials. What’s more, they are famous for the hot pot, filling with different ingredients. Second come Guangdong dishes. They pay more attention to the cooking skills. They keep the original favor of the food with proper sweetness and salt. Also, they prefer the food with tender and slide taste, which means the food is filled with sweet smelling and delicious favor. All of these make Guangdong food “a best taste only in Guangdong”. Third, Fujian dishes are good at using seafood as their main original materials. Relying on frying and decocting, they mix the seafood with elaborate oil. Besides, they decorate the food to personalize their beautiful appearance. They are also famous for the distinctive “pickled” favor. Sometimes, they steam the food, which is charming and healthier, comparing with the fried.
Although Chinese food can be found all over the world, the food actually made in China is the most traditional, because of the exquisite techniques and customs on food. We have a couple of ideas on cooking, like we can cook a fish in more than ten ways. Also, we prefer to fresh materials rather than instant food. For example, we go to the vegetable market to buy fresh fish rather than just getting the stored ones from the supermarket. Different from western countries, we have all kinds of cooking techniques and skills, such as boiling, steaming, frying, decocting, baking and so on. In terms of the Chinese eating culture, if you invite some guests for a meal, you will probably pay the bill to show your hospitality. if you don’t do it, others will be upset. Besides, people in China seldom give tips to waiter, which is totally different from western countries, where tips are a major income. Last but not least, Chinese people are willing to put some food into other people’s plate and make some sound during the meal to show their enthusiastic.
In terms of the cooker, there are enormous differences between Chinese and western people. Chinese people like chopsticks and spoon while western people prefer fork and knife. Chinese people usually have three meals a day, but western people have afternoon tea with some coffee, cake, biscuit and dessert.
To sum up, China has a long history so that Chinese food culture is kind of mysterious. There are more interesting things relating to food need to be discovered. Let’s find more in the future!