Chinese Food Culture Essay Example
Chinese food culture
Though there are many different schools, branches, regional variants, etc., of Chinese cooking, together they constitute what one might reasonably term "Chinese Cooking", where "Chinese Cooking" is distinct from, say, "Italian Cooking". A nation's cooking culture reflects its food traditions, from the food-preparation and eating habits of the countryside to the food-preparation and eating habits of the city, notwithstanding the increasing introduction of foreign fare that is not only served in "foreign" restaurants in the city, but which today is also found in the freezer section of most supermarkets even in the countryside.
In spite of these globalization tendencies, a large swath of any country's population will continue to enjoy their country's cuisine, partly because it is familiar and they like it (they have grown up with it), and partly because it is based on food staples that are cheaper to obtain (the very existence of a large market for a given food item means that its production permits what economists call an 'economy of scale'). "Chinese Cooking" will live on in New York City, in London, in Paris and in Sydney, even should the people of China - perhaps inspired by the scaled-down versions of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc. - ever discard it in favor of an amalgamation of various foreign cooking traditions.
What makes Chinese cooking "Chinese Cooking", you may ask? Well, while some of the following features may apply to just about any national cooking tradition, they all come together in "Chinese Cooking" (note that the description below does not delve into the particular "How-To" techniques of "Chinese Cooking", but rather, looks at the phenomenon of "Chinese Cooking" from a more generalized perspective).
"Chinese Cooking" is characterized by:
Distinct Regional Flavors - Since China is a very large and a very ancient country, with varying ethnic and cultural traditions,
Though there are many different schools, branches, regional variants, etc., of Chinese cooking, together they constitute what one might reasonably term "Chinese Cooking", where "Chinese Cooking" is distinct from, say, "Italian Cooking". A nation's cooking culture reflects its food traditions, from the food-preparation and eating habits of the countryside to the food-preparation and eating habits of the city, notwithstanding the increasing introduction of foreign fare that is not only served in "foreign" restaurants in the city, but which today is also found in the freezer section of most supermarkets even in the countryside.
In spite of these globalization tendencies, a large swath of any country's population will continue to enjoy their country's cuisine, partly because it is familiar and they like it (they have grown up with it), and partly because it is based on food staples that are cheaper to obtain (the very existence of a large market for a given food item means that its production permits what economists call an 'economy of scale'). "Chinese Cooking" will live on in New York City, in London, in Paris and in Sydney, even should the people of China - perhaps inspired by the scaled-down versions of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc. - ever discard it in favor of an amalgamation of various foreign cooking traditions.
What makes Chinese cooking "Chinese Cooking", you may ask? Well, while some of the following features may apply to just about any national cooking tradition, they all come together in "Chinese Cooking" (note that the description below does not delve into the particular "How-To" techniques of "Chinese Cooking", but rather, looks at the phenomenon of "Chinese Cooking" from a more generalized perspective).
"Chinese Cooking" is characterized by:
Distinct Regional Flavors - Since China is a very large and a very ancient country, with varying ethnic and cultural traditions,