饮食文化英语

The Differences of Cooking Culture

Between China and Western

Abstract

According to the different area, different climate and environment, and different custom, Cooking Culture has the differences of material, taste, cooking, and habits. The different culture influences the Cooking Culture between China and Western. The roots of these differences are the minds and values. Chinese pay attention to “the Theory That Man Is an Integral Part of Nature”, but Western advocates “People first.”

Key words: different cooking value, different food, different environment

摘要

饮食文化由于地域特征、气候环境、风俗习惯不同的影响，会出现在原料、口味、烹调方法、饮食习惯上的不同程度的差异。中西文化之间的差异造就了中西饮食文化的差异，而这种差异来自中西方不同的思维方式和价值观。中国人注重“天人合一”，西方人注重“以人为本”。

关键字：不同的饮食观念不同的饮食对象不同的饮食环境

Ⅰ.Introduction

Bread is the staff of life. Diet is a popular essay in past and today.Different minds and values lead to the difference of diet between Chinese and Western. Chinese food is a broad and profound. We always understand the meaning by dishes. But western food has its own system; it stands for health, nutrition. Since antiquity, the two cultures slowly are integrated. In modern society, many western materials are added into Chinese dishes, such as steak, pizza, onion, cheese, and so on. The same of western, many Chinese elements also blend into their family. More and more foreigners would like to cook Chinese food by themselves, especially the Mongolian food, Hotpot, and Sichuan Dish. As a result of communication, cooking culture attains great-leap-forward development. There are strengths and weaknesses in Chinese food and western food.

China has a long history about 5,000 years. And western also has five or six hundred years. The Chinese cooking culture is famous for its rich, broad, and profound dishes; and western food is known as its manners, nutrition, and health. China has her own special cooking culture. There are many traditional snacks in China; nevertheless, western food is found everywhere. For example, KFC and McDonald’s are the two favorite restaurants in children. And cafes, higher western dinner rooms also have their customers---------white collars.

Ⅱ.Differences

1. Different cooking value,

Chinese pay attention to “taste”. “Taste is the most important to us.”The delicious food is the former goal of eating. As the saying goes, “People regard food as their heave for the common people food is heaven. T aste is the essence of food.”Even we would like to say that food is perfect in color, aroma and taste when we commend it, we still think “Tasty is first.” The key to the tasty is one reason why it attracts so

many people. And how to make delicious food that is cooking. “Five flavor harmonies” is the root of Chinese food. The food natural tasty is mix with condiments. The shape and color are the surface material, but the tasty is the soul of Chinese food. This is the important part of cooking culture in China.

On account of different mind, western notice scientific dinner. It means western has more sights to the nutrition. They seriously notice the proportion of nurture. They like having natural vegetables. Not only they have the same tomato, cucumber, lettuce to us, but also they eat onion, broccoli, and other vegetables without cooking. That’s why they like salad. They also eat beef or fish with blood. They refuse to use aginomoto. In western society, they lose their weight not only by going on hunger strike, but also to absorb low heat food. If they eat enough heat food, they hardly have more heat food. Because of health, they pay more attention to the microelements, such vitamin, calcium, zinc etc.

2. Different food

The materials of Chinese food are various. Some materials which westerns regard as garbage but we think they are good ones.

According to botanists researching, Chinese have 600 kinds of vegetables. We actually have vegetarian diet except festivals. But westerners eat more meat in their daily lives. This phenomenon leads to westerners are much stronger than Chinese. Recent years, especially from 1990s, more and more youngsters would like to eat junk food. We always see they eat unhealthy food in the street. Due to students having to be at school so late that they only will have dinner with junk food or fast food. And different education system, westerners have an enough time to have dinner.

3. Different environment

Center the western diet way has very greatly differently; this kind of difference is also influential to the national disposition. In China, any banquet, no matter is any goal, all only can have one kind of form, and is everybody sits in a circle all round, shares. The banquet must use the round table; this formally has created one kind of unity, politeness, altogether the interest atmosphere. The delicacy delicacies put on table of people's centers, it not only is the object which table of people appreciates, tastes, also is a table of people sentiments exchange inter medium. The people mutually propose a toast, mutually offer food to a guest, urge the vegetable, in front of the happy thing, has manifested the moral excellence which between the people mutually respects, gives precedence out of courtesy. Although looked from the hygienic angle, this diet way has the obvious deficiency, but it conforms to our nationality "the happy ending" the universal point of view, had reflected in the Chinese classical philosophy "and" this category to the descendant thought influence, is advantageous for the collective emotion exchange, thus until now with difficulty reforms.

Western-style banquets, food and liquor although count for much, but in fact that takes the set-off. The banquet core lies in the friendship, through with the adjacent seat visitor's between conversation, achieves the friendship the goal. If the dancer sembles the banquet friendship compared to, then may say, the Chinese type banquet is just like is a group dance, but the western-style banquet is just like is men's and women's social dancing. Thus it can be seen, the Chinese type banquet and the western-style banquet friendship goal very is all obvious, only Chinese type banquet more terrains now complete meal friendship, but the western-style banquet manifests much between the neighboring guest's friendship. Is the western popular buffet is more obvious which with the Chinese diet way difference. This law is: Will possess food 11 to exhibit, everybody will not need to fix on the seat eats, takes a walk the freedom, this way will be advantageous for between individual emotion exchange, will not will certainly all speeches to suspend on the tabletop, also has displayed the

western person to the individuality, to the self- respect. But respectively eats each, mutually did not harass, lacks some Chinese to chat the happy altogether happy affective tone.

Ⅲ. Reasons analyzing

1. The roots of cooking culture in China and western

The traditional culture in China has influenced today. The situation of China is limited by geography in early China. China is located in the southeast of Asia. The southeast of China is surrounded by Pacific Ocean. And the northwest is surrounded by deserts, grasslands, mountains. The Y ellow River------ is the cradle of Chinese culture. The soil is rich, but the climate is bad. There are two features in Chinese culture------kindheartedness and pursuing suitability. Pursuing suitability is shown off practical technology. For example, the agriculture and medicine are developed in ancient China. Kindheartedness is the centre in Confucius. It is very important to traditional culture.

Western Culture-----in broad sense, it is the system of western culture compared with Chinese culture; in narrow sense, it means to European culture. It derives from the Aegean Sea which is in northeast of Mediterranean. According to the natural source being shortage, people have to explore the nature hardly. For this reason, exploring and exploit natural resource for serve human become a main trend in Europe. In the exploring process, western pay more attention to develop ration mind. At the same time, people recognize themselves step by step. Another feature in western culture is people first. Everyone has his own life.

2. The differences influence cooking culture

Cooking value is form in cook and having food. It is influenced by natural science and humanities. Different minds affect culture spirit to appear different cooking culture. Chinese cooking culture is “Five flavor harmonies”; but western cooking culture notice characters. In terms of cooking culture, it produces by different minds and social values.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

The final analyses are between perceptual and rational differences. But this difference as if the fuzziness which changes along with the science development. More and more many Chinese by no longer only pay great attention to the vegetable the color, the fragrance, the taste, but paid great attention to its health and the nutrition. In has experienced after in particular the non- standard. Also, the people because of the more and more busy work, thought the Chinese meal starts too troubles, was inferior to Hamburg facilitates and so on. Then the difference not too was also distinct in the diet