Diet is a broad term and concept, including culture and behavior related to diet. Diet is a modern culture, and China cuisine enjoys a world reputation. It is an indisputable fact that China's food is delicious and foreigners love it. The following is my paper on the differences between Chinese and western food cultures. Welcome to reading.
By expounding the differences between Chinese and western food cultures, this paper analyzes the differences between Chinese and western food cultures in philosophical systems, values and ways of thinking, so as to promote the integration of Chinese and western cultures and let more people understand the culture behind food through food.
Keywords: Comparison of Chinese and Western Dietary Cultures
When it comes to food culture, people always think of "eating" first. Yes, food is indeed the first need for human survival and development, and it is one of the basic forms of social life. But with the word "culture", diet is not only as simple as "eating", but also includes the whole diet culture, which is the creative behavior and achievement of human beings in diet. All thoughts, consciousness, ideas, philosophy, religion and art related to human diet belong to the category of food culture.
First, the differences between Chinese and Western food culture
The most obvious difference between Chinese and western food cultures is the utensils used. Westerners regard knives and forks as tableware. Obviously, different specifications of knives and forks are used in different ways and occasions and cannot be mixed.
The dining table in China is not as complicated as that in the west. Although it is a simple pair of chopsticks, it plays a very important role in food culture: chopsticks can be our cooking tools or a blender for every household. Chopsticks are undoubtedly needed to beat an egg and make a drink. Compared with such strict norms in the West, chopsticks in China are indeed much more casual.
Influenced by scientific orientation, the whole process of western food cooking must be carried out in strict accordance with scientific norms. The cooking process and method of each dish are almost exactly the same, the seasoning used will be accurate to grams, and the cooking time will be accurate to seconds.
Westerners' choice of food is very standardized. They mainly focus on meat. When cooking, they often eat whole meat or whole birds as their staple food, and don't eat internal organs, thinking that internal organs are discarded materials. The choice of vegetables is also relatively simple. Vegetables are used as decorative AIDS in the diet, so vegetables are mostly decorative tools in the diet of westerners.
Compared with westerners, people in China are much more casual in food selection and cooking methods. Chefs in China can also turn it into a delicious dish. Such dishes abound, such as stir-fried pork loin, rotten pork belly, fried pork liver with leeks and so on. When it comes to cooking methods, it is endless. Different from westerners' "accurate to the gram" and "accurate to the second", China people have always been "arbitrary", emphasizing grasping the results by experience. People in China like vegetarianism, and there are far more kinds of vegetables than in the west, so the ingredients are varied. Take fried pork liver as an example. It can be fried pork liver with green onions, fried pork liver with green peppers or fried pork liver with leeks. Each dish has its own flavor.
Westerners pay attention to the nutritional value of food in food culture, so they advocate eating raw. They think that high-temperature cooking will destroy the nutrition of food itself. Only raw food can retain the natural attributes and original flavor of food to the maximum extent, so the nutritional value they pursue can also be well preserved.
China's food culture pays more attention to the taste of food. "Delicious" is the first meaning of China's food culture. Therefore, China people will use all technical means, cooking methods and seasoning methods to make their food delicious. In China, frying, boiling, stewing, stewing, roasting, steaming, frying, frying, stewing and frying are all very common cooked food cooking techniques.
Second, the cultural roots behind the differences
Philosophical System: Metaphysics and Moderation Principle
The main feature of western philosophy system is metaphysics, that is, looking at the world with an isolated, static and one-sided view, thinking that everything is isolated and will never change; If there is any change, it is only an increase or decrease in quantity and a change in position. The reason for this increase or decrease or change is not inside things, but outside things. Reflected in the food culture, what you see is what you get. No matter the menu or the decoration and setting of food, it is presented to people in the most direct way, pursuing truth, without gorgeous embellishment, only reflecting the original attributes of food, which coincides with the western principle of doing things. Under such a philosophical background, it encourages westerners to take "nutritional value" as the first meaning of diet, regardless of the artistic, creative and clear-cut goals of diet.
Different from westerners, one of the most striking features of China's traditional philosophy is fuzziness and unpredictability. Unlike western metaphysics, it does not pursue the objectivity and authenticity of things, but emphasizes what you hear is what you see. On the contrary, it emphasizes moderation, overall coordination and a "degree" Reflected in the food culture, China people regard "delicious" as the first meaning of food. In cooking, China people pay attention to the integration of the whole, not as accurate as westerners. They pay attention to coordinating all parts of a dish by experience to form a delicious dish. The experience is vague. The same dish, the same chef, may make a different taste every time. Grasp the whole dish by experience, and pursue the randomness and artistry of cooking technology. This is the traditional philosophy of China people-vague and perfect.
Values: individualism and collectivism
Westerners advocate individualistic values, and personal goals are higher than loyalty to groups. In other words, everyone only needs to be responsible for himself, and does not need to obey any other collective. He can choose his favorite group according to his own preferences and needs, but this choice is not permanent, and he can make new choices at any time because of changes in his own needs. For example, change the church of prayer, change the employer, and so on. Reflected in the food culture, the most remarkable thing is that westerners practice separate meals.
In contrast, China people advocate collectivism. In China culture, people advocate modesty and politeness, and don't like to be competitive. Social atmosphere often forbids individuals who are too prominent. As the saying goes, "people should be above people." In the food culture, this collectivism concept is really influenced by China's traditional thought. People in China like to hold banquets with round tables, which formally embodies the atmosphere of unity, courtesy and enjoyment. Food is placed in the center of the dining table, which is not only the object of appreciation and tasting, but also the medium of exchanging feelings. In such a banquet atmosphere, diet is no longer the main purpose of the banquet, but emotional communication is the center of the banquet. Different from the straightforward way of communication in the West, the purpose of China people's diet depends on the emotional touch, communication and singing of a large group of people.
Mode of thinking: individuality and wholeness
Westerners pay attention to the development of personality and emphasize the maximum display of personality in the collective. They pursue differences, seek differences in everything, think that everyone is unique, and emphasize that everything in the world is an independent individual and has no connection with each other. They believe that individuality and individual independence are one of the driving forces for the development of human society. Therefore, their views and considerations on things often start from personality, and westerners put the development of unique personality under the premise of all behavioral activities. This is undoubtedly reflected in their food culture. Although different dishes and decorations are on the same plate, they are really independent and have outstanding personality. There is no reconciliation. Meat is meat, vegetables are vegetables and potatoes are potatoes. They have distinct personalities and clear tastes, and will not influence each other and mix with each other. In cooking, different ingredients in the same plate are also processed separately and will not be cooked together, which reflects the respect and attention of westerners to individuals and personalities everywhere. ? China people pay attention to the overall development, emphasizing a complete and comprehensive way of thinking and concepts. I don't like too bright personality, which is more obvious in cooking. No matter what kind of ingredients are poured into the pot and cooked with various condiments, even the original ingredients with distinctive personality and unique taste will not look so sharp under such a running-in. Therefore, Chinese food is rich in flavor and distinct in layers. Looking back at every dish, red is not so bright red, and green is not so eye-catching green, but a harmonious beauty after reconciliation.
Lifestyle and rhythm of life
In the west, the repetitive work on the assembly line, the implementation of the piece-rate wage system and the acceleration of the pace of life, people are consciously or unconsciously influenced by the mechanical dichotomy, and games and work are clearly divided, that is, working at work and playing in games. This lifestyle is very monotonous and rigid, and the mechanical working lifestyle gradually affects the demand of westerners for diet, leading to the singleness and simplicity of diet itself.
China people are not. The arbitrariness of China people can be seen here. They don't like the simple and mechanical working and living mode, but admire an empirical working mode or like to add their favorite elements or methods to their work. Just like China's cooking, there is instability, which refers to the instability of working methods and methods and the instability of working results. Just like if a dish wants to be less salty, southerners may choose to dilute the salty taste with sugar. For example, the sweet and sour taste of southerners is to neutralize the salty taste of soy sauce with the sweetness of sugar and the sourness of vinegar; Northerners may add boiled ingredients to this dish, which will dilute the ingredients and change the nature of the dish. It may change from a stir-fry to a delicious soup because of different life experiences and living environments. This unstable and empirical way of change makes the original simple dish become three dishes instead of two, and creativity and artistry emerge spontaneously in it.
Third, the current development of food culture and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures.
However, today's Chinese and western food cultures are not as distinct as before. Chinese food also incorporates western elements, and western food shows Chinese style everywhere. This is a new pattern of food culture. The team of Chinese and western food culture will grow stronger and stronger, and people can also understand the world by understanding food culture.
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