Differences Between China and America in Cooking Culture.doc

中美饮食文化差异differences between china and america in cooking culturecontentsabstract1i. introduction2ii. the origin of cooking culture.42.1 history of chinese cooking.42.2 history of american cooking.5iii. comparisons both in china and america in cooking culture.83.1 nutrition and flavor.83.2 norm and arbitrary.93.3 mechanisms and interesting.10iv. reasons for differences114.1 culture background. 114.1.1 chinese cooking culture.114.1.2 american cooking culture.124.2 historical reasons for the bad reputation of american food.13v.conclusion .13references.15differences between china and america in cooking culture摘 要：众所周知，每个国家都有它自己的风俗习惯，每一种风俗习惯反映一种文化，文化本身并不能去交流，而人类可以通过交际这个媒介去达到这一目的，相反文化又决定着人们的交际方式，从而使众多差异趋于大众化，文化差异千姿百态。饮食文化作为文化的一个分支也有它的特点，不同的文化背景在某一方面决定了饮食文化的发展方向。饮食文化是一门艺术，尤其在中国，它不仅仅是为了满足人们的生理需求，同时也是为了满足人们的精神需求，饮食反映了一种社会面貌，了解更多的饮食文化差异是人们了解别国文化的一个有效途径。本文主要从四个方面对中美饮食文化差异进行对比分析，介绍了不同文化背景对饮食文化的影响，从而避免产生误解，更好的了解异国之文化。关键词：中国 美国 饮食文化 差异abstract: it is well-known that every country has its custom and each custom reflects its culture, while custom itself can not communicate, but individuals can, on the contrary, culture determines the way of communication of people, in the modern society, the china-western culture difference istruly a popular topic. people want to know more about other countrys culture and custom and usually pay attention to the cultural phenomena that are close to their daily life. food and cuisine are both popular topics. cuisine isa culture, at least in china it is a culture. nowadays, cuisine has the function of both satisfying hunger, and the need of psychological happiness . so people regard cuisine as an art. and many other things related to cuisine or cooking also reflect the true appearance of the society. knowing more about the food culture is an easy way to help people to know other culture well. this thesis is mainly based on the comparisons of the different cooking culturein china and america ,and also introduces some different cultural backgrounds that bring about the differences. through these comparative analyses people can go further to another culture environment and avoidmisunderstandings. in a word , i mainly talk about some aspects of their cooking culture, from comparing with that of two countries, to discuss how culture influences human beings through the comparative analyses between china- america cooking culture.key words: china america cooking culture differences differences between china and america in cooking culturei. introduction:there are a vast variety of customs in the world. different nations have different cultures. each custom represents a culture. people have been cultivated with different cultures since they were born. so cultural diversity is a major issue，because of different cultural backgrounds that bring about the differences in cooking culture. to fully understand the impact cultures play in nutrition, one must study both food and culture. cultures themselves can not communicate; but individuals can. everyone has a unique style of communication, but cultures determine a general style for their members.chinese food reflects the eating culture and tradition of the chinese nation. and it is renowned for its originality and uniqueness. as we know that cuisine is an art, especially in china, and art equal to any other, traditional chinese cuisine developed along with other chinese cultural traditions. it has philosophical principles in its basis; the theory of yin and yang, basic elements whose interaction moves the world, influenced all aspects of chinese life. all the food products could be labeled as “yin” or “yang”, and the dish should be based on the harmonious relation between the “yin” and the “yang” products - the famous example being the sweet and sour taste. as a harmonious mixture of different yin and yang food products, the dish itself becomes “yin” or “yang”; the meal is carefully planned and the principle of harmony between the dishes is strictly followed. thus, cold dish would follow the hot one, neutral taste would follow the hot one, colors being carefully planned as to obey the harmonious relationship between the two principles. we chinese simply choose chopsticks as their tableware rather than knife and fork since chinese people, under cultivation of confucianism, consider knife and fork bearing sort of violence, like cold weapons. however, chopsticks reflect gentleness and benevolence, the main moral teaching of confucianism. for more than three thousand years chinese people have been using chopsticks. bearing in mind that the food was prepared and planned with the consideration to the principles of yin and yang, it is presumed that only chefs considered philosophers and artists were familiar with them and were the only ones that could chop the food. knife in the hands of the ignorant to these principles would kill and destroy the food - even today chinese food is chopped and served in small pieces, influenced by the philosophical as well as the practical reasons. and cuisine reflects simplicity :a very old chinese legend says: a good man from hangzhou that spent his entire life doing beneficial things to others died and went to heavens, greeted there by judge of rewards. you are a good man, said the judge. i shall make you rich and powerful and grant you another life. what would you like?” “ there is nothing i need apart from the hangzhou west lake fish, bamboo shoots and my simple life i had - said the man. i dont need the power and money.“ unfortunately, said the judge, what you are asking from me, the simple and peaceful life is more than we can provide. i can only give you power and money. this story is often told by chinese to explain that what kept chinese cuisine through history maintained its value due to its simplicity - simple food that goes hand in hand with simple and modest life.“there is no american food. when we begin to list american foods, either we talk about regional things like lobster or shrimp creole, or we talk about spaghetti and pizza and hot dogs. one could argue its what makes us great. the fact that we dont have a cuisine is a measure of our democracy and of our ethnic heterogeneity.”( sidney mintz, anthropologist), for many of us living in china, it is difficult to imagine going for a few meals without rice and an assortment of chinese dishes. although we sometimes go out to sample foods from other countries, for the majority of the time we feast on chinese cuisine. after all, can anyone live for long without those pearl-colored grains of rice, spicy ma po dou fu, peking duck, steamed fish, chilled pickles, etc.? well, americans can. no one can deny that chinese and american foods are very different. many americans cannot conjecture an accurate depiction of a chinese dinner table, as they are mostly used to extremely americanized versions of fried rice and chowmein. to be fair, many chinese people cant imagine what americans can possibly eat meal after meal either. beyond mcdonalds, kentucky fried chicken, and pizza hut, what else is there? as one friend surfing chinakids rightfully asked, do americans only eat bread and water? the answer to that question is no. it is often difficult, however, to pinpoint what exactly is “american food” because american food has grown to absorb different foods from all types of countries. since there are so many ethnic minorities in america, every culture has contributed a bit of their local food to american cuisine. for example, americans like to eat japanese sushi, italian spaghetti and lasagna, chinese chowmein, indian curry, mexican tacos, etc. - well, at least, american versions of them (chinese food in america, for instance, is so different from the real thing that it is almost unrecognizable to native chinese). in addition to adopting foods from different countries into their diet, americans also regularly eat food can be counted as more “traditionally american”. this list includes hamburgers, hotdogs, salads, chicken patties, roasted turkeys, pies, fried chicken, pizza, fried fish, steaks, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, spaghetti, baked beans, buffalo wings (actually these are spicy chicken wings), french fries, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, steamed vegetables, etc. in the u.s., beef, chicken, and pork are the most widely consumed types of meat. most americans only eat the body meat of the animal, and would not touch other body parts such as the liver, kidney, brain, heart, stomach, ear, foot, etc. many american foods are either fried, grilled or covered in cheese. americans also eat a large amount of snack foods and junk foods, such as soda, chips, popcorn, and ice-cream for this reason, unfortunately, obesity is a growing problem in america.the act of eating is merely a necessity to survive. yet, it is more than that. as in any civilization worldwide, food culture also plays an important role for the american way of life. all nations significantly express their cultural identity through the food they prepare and the way they enjoy it. this includes traditions handed down from the historic past as well as typical ingredients of the area, merged to form a unique cooking style: it reflects a hidden but powerful entity we would like to call the soul of a region or country. people are proud of their heritage, they like to show it, share it with each other, and preserve their traditions. naturally, food belongs in this category as well. but it still grows more interesting. when people reside in a certain area long enough, generation after generation, they are interconnected with invisible links they share the same background, the same feelings, sometimes even the same views of life. we are certain that vital parts of culture can be found in the food people eat, showing outsiders who they are and where they come from. one could say that their eating habits define them in a way similar to the way a haircut expresses an individuals personality.ii. the origin of cooking culture2.1 history of chinese cookingwith a population of 1.2 billion, there are many mouths to feed in china. the regions vast history and geography can be felt throughout the many facets of chinese cuisine. the peppers, garlic, ginger and onions now considered classic components of chinese cooking were originally delivered to the region by buddhist missionaries two thousand years ago. china is a country where the preparation and appreciation of food has been developed to the highest level. the art of chinese cooking has been developed and refined over many centuries. emperor fuxi taught people to fish, hunt, grow crops and to cook twenty centuries before christ. however, cooking could not be considered an art until the chou dynasty (1122249 b.c.).the two dominant philosophies of the chinese culture are confucianism and taoism. each influenced the course of chinese history and the development of the culinary arts. confucianism concerned itself with the art of cooking and placed great emphasis on the enjoyment of life. to the chinese, food and friends are inseparable. a gathering without food is considered incomplete and improper. confucius loved and respected the art of cooking. he established culinary standards and proper table etiquette. most of these are still considered to be the standards even today. the tradition of cutting foods into bite size pieces during preparation is unique to the chinese culture. the use of knives at a chinese dinner is considered poor taste.” confucius taught that good cooking depends on the blending of various ingredients and condiments rather than the taste of the individual elements. he believed that in order to become a good cook one must first be a good matchmaker. the flavors of the ingredients must be blended with harmony. without harmony there is no taste. he also stressed the use of color and texture in preparing the dish. most certainly confucianism helped elevate cooking from a menial task to the status of an art, the art of chinese cooking.taoism was responsible for the development of the hygienic aspects of food and cooking. the principle objectives of this philosophy were peoples wish for longevity. in contrast to supporters of confucianism who were interested in the taste, texture and appearance, taoists were concerned with the life-giving attributes of various foods. over the centuries the chinese have explored the world of plants, roots, herbs, fungus and seeds to find life-giving elements. they discovered that the nutritional value of vegetables could be destroyed by improper cooking and that many items had medicinal value. for example, ginger, a favorite condiment, is also used to soothe an upset stomach and as a cold remedy.2.2 history of american cookingmost of the time, when people hear the term american food they have fast-food in mind: hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and all of the other speedy dishes. partly they seem to be right. one can hardly fail to notice the influence of fast-food in any western society saturated with legions of fast-food temples. nowadays the “fast way of eating” is not only best known for the us - it even has become a symbol for “american-ness.” however, america has created a far more exciting variety of eating culture. all of the different groups of immigrants that arrived in america have also brought their varieties of food, which have shaped what is known as “american” food now. besides english and particularly puritan influences, there were also french, spanish, german, and italian settlers who not only enriched the american way of life with their specific culture but also contributed diverse eating traditions. while the spanish influenced mexican cuisine, the latter developed a great and popular kind of food that spread from the south-west to almost every part of the us. italy introduced an especially great number of dishes that almost every american would call genuinely made in the us. the former slaves brought in african cooking, and different religious groups, such as the quakers and the amish people, tagged part of a food culture with their names. as we can see: not only is there the overstretched clich of these hamburger buns, which are very american in a way, but also a whole diversity of other foods and food varieties to discover.the history of american food begins shortly after christopher columbus set his foot on the island of guanahani, west indies, in 1492. his successors, for instance the spanish conquistadors of the 16th century, entered a continent which he had believed was india. of course it was not india, but nevertheless they had encountered not only americas people but also its food. they found tomatoes, potatoes, chilies, corn, beans, and many other vegetables that have “conquered” the tables of the whole world since then. what is now known as mexican food is a conglomerate of spanish and native american dishes. this gathering of two different cultures consists of old native recipes and new spanish ways of preparing meat, especially cooking and frying with fat. examples of this intermingling of spanish and native cuisine are tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and tortillas. about one hundred years later, in the 17th century, the english established their first permanent settlement at jamestown, virginia in 1607. to keep control over the colonies the english crown founded so-called “joint stock companies” to recruit settlers that were scarce until these companies offered free land for settlers. after this the situation rapidly changed. the new colonies expanded fast and the first tobacco and cotton plantations were established. in order to run these plantations, which were mostly located in the south, the colonists imported the first black slaves. while english settlers were bringing their typically sturdy food with them, they started to blend it with local ingredients, for example turkey, lobster, maple syrup, clams, and almost always corn to provide dishes such as indian pudding, boston brown bread, clam chowder, and maine boiled lobster. the famous story about native americans helping english settlers over the winter by showing them the way to use local fauna and flora resounded in the holiday of thanksgiving and its dinner, which was celebrated for the first time in 1621 and showed how english cuisine was influenced by indians.further in the south people gained advantage from a more moderate climate, which allowed them to use an even greater diversity of vegetables. the food was still english, but appeared more southern in spicing and ways of cooking. african americans introduced barbecue, all kinds of fritters, and many greens. they also brought with them important techniques, e.g. how to smoke meat, fry greens, and make spicy sauces. they played an important role in molding english, african, and native american cooking into what is known as southern cuisine today simply, because they were the servants in southern kitchens. what would an american ball game be without a hot dog? well, germans have introduced a whole lot of ways to make sausages, and the fact that they moved into the midwest was the reason why milwaukee and st. louis are now two of the nations greatest beer brewing centers. another european nation that joined the gourmet-tongues of america is italy. the italians, who arrived in the late 19th century, gave america one of its most important touches in taste. they imported their use of the tomato, of which we think that it is the most italian vegetable at all, used to spice up all of that pasta, pizza, a