Food in Chinese Culture - Case Study Example

Chinese Culture: Why Do People Eat Foods They Do in the Way They Do? Table of Contents I. Introduction .......................................................................................... 3 II. Climatic and Geographical Overview of Chinese Culture ................. 3 III. Agriculture and Trading Traditions that Influences the Chinese Food Customs ..................................................................................... 4 IV. Living Conditions, Fuel and Cooking Equipment that Influences their Cooking and Eating Habits ......................................... 4 V. Social Factors that Develops an Impact on Chinese Diet, Cooking, and Eating Habits .................................................................. 5 VI. Significant Feast and Festivals within the Chinese Culture ................ 6 VII. Conclusion ............................................................................................ 7 References .................................................................................................... 8 - 9 Introduction Over the years, Chinese culture and traditions develop a significant impact over the Chinese Cuisine. Considering that Chinese families practice a very close family ties, foods are highly treasured because it brings harmony and closeness among their family members and friends. For this reason, it is important for them to prepare fresh foods with good texture, flavour, taste, colour, and aroma all the time. (Levi & Maria, 2006) For the purpose of this study, the impact of factors such as climate, geographical differences, agriculture and trading traditions, their living condition, available fuel and cooking equipments, as well as the social factors on the Chinese cuisines, eating habits and food customs will be elaborated. Significant feast and festivals within the Chinese culture will also be explored. Climatic and Geographical Overview of Chinese Culture Geographic location in China significantly contributes to the way food is cooked and prepared. (Lin & Chan, 2000; Denton & Kaixuan, 1995) Each province in China has their own way of cooking Chinese cuisine. For this reason, China enjoys a wide variety of cuisine such as the Beijing cuisine, Hunan or Hubai cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, etc. (Roberts, 1999) Among the Chinese cuisines, the most famous is the Szechwan for serving hot and spicy dishes and Cantonese cuisine which is very much inspired by tea and snack also known as dimsum (Klein, 1999) and cooking sweetness dishes like the famous sweet and sour pork. Basically, China is divided into Northern and Southern style of cooking because of its geographic and climatic differences. (Chinatown Connection, 2007; Denton & Kaixuan, 1995) Considering that the weather in Northern China is generally cold and damp, people tend to eat more oily, hot and spicy foods to overcome the cold environmental temperature. Contrary to the residence of Northern China, people in the Southern China prefers not to eat spicy food because of a much warmer climate. Therefore, they tend to consume foods like winter melon, water crest, soybean, watermelon, etc. Agriculture and Trading Traditions that Influences the Chinese Food Customs The available natural resources, agricultural crops and the kind of animals grown in each province in China are highly correlated to the type of foods serve in each geographic region. (Denton & Kaixuan, 1995; Asia Recipe, n.d.) Since China has already opened its door to open trading, Chinese people are also starting to develop a new taste over food that is inspired by other countries. Living Conditions, Fuel and Cooking Equipment that Influences their Cooking and Eating Habits Prior to the time when China has decided to open its door to open trading, the living condition in the country is very simple because of its practice of communism. Chinese men and women in general have more time spent on cooking their own meal rather than buying food in a commercial restaurant. Since many of Chinese professionals are busy with their career, the practice of cooking their own food at home is slowly decreasing. Some of them would simply purchase their food from the food store. Most of the Chinese dishes use simple cooking equipments such as roasting, boiling, and shallow frying. (Chinese Food Recipes, 2007) Considering that most Chinese are diagnosed with lactose intolerance, most of them consume milk substitute from soymilk or tofu. (Liu et al., 2004) Since the weather in China is cold, they normally serve hot red bean soup, sweet white lotus’ seed soup or steam papaya soup as desserts. (Lin & Chan, 2000) Most of the original Chinese cuisines are steamed cook primarily for the reason of better health. The only reason why some Chinese dishes are served fried in the Western countries is due to marketing strategy of promoting these foods based on the Western way of cooking food. Social Factors that Develops an Impact on Chinese Diet, Cooking, and Eating Habits A simple ‘chopsticks’ signifies the simplicity and wisdom of Chinese ancient people. The exact date when Chinese people invented chopsticks remains unclear. Some says it began as early as the 11th Century B.C.E. while others say it was between the 21st – 16th century BC or during Xia Dynasty. (Travel China Guide, 2007; Compestine, 2001) Over the years, Chinese people avoid hitting chopsticks on the side of a bowl or plate believing that it is not good to beg food; avoid pointing out the index finger while using the chopsticks to avoid being misunderstood of accusing other people; and inserting the chopsticks vertically into a bowl of food is also not allowed because it symbolizes the offering of food to the dead people. Today, chopsticks are also given to newly wed couples as a sign of good luck or “have sons soon.” In special occassions like birthdays, returning home from a long journey or weddings, noodles are commonly serve as an indication of “long life.” These long noodles are usually prepared with red-dyed hard boiled eggs as a sign of good luck. Red-dyed hard boild eggs are also prepared when a father announces the news of a new born baby. (Travel China Guide, 2007b) These eggs are given to relatives and friends in even number announcing that the baby is a boy; and odd number indicating that the baby is a girl. It is also a part of the Chinese customs to serve Chinese dates, peanuts, longan and chestnuts as a way of wishing the couple to have baby soon. When a family member is about to travel to far away places, it is part of the Chinese tradition to serve dumplings as a sign of farewell. Other foods that are commonly served during special occassions include shark fin soup or bird’s nest (bird’s saliva) soup because of its high costs. Significant Feast and Festivals within the Chinese Culture When celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival, Chinese people eat pyramid shaped dumplings made from glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves since these people will not be able to watch over the boat race once the boat reaches a certain distance from the shore. (Travel China Guide, 2007b; Chan, 2004) Other important Chinese feast and Festivals within the Chinese culture includes the Chinese New Year’s Eve wherein people serve fish as a sign of prosperity and wealth; moon festival wherein moon cakes are distributed to relatives and friends as part of the celebration (Russell, 1997); and the Hungry Ghost Festival where they serve some food offerings to their dead relatives and family members (Vethanayagam, 2002; Teiser, 1996). As part of the practice in celebrating the Hungry Ghost Festival, Chinese people insert chopsticks vertically on the food they offer to the dead love ones. Conclusion Chinese cuisine is very much influenced by factors related to geography, climate, available agriculture and trading practices, living conditions and types of cooking equipments as well as some social factors and beliefs. Considering that China has opened its door to open trading, there is a higher chance that the current food practices and eating habits of Chinese people would slowly change in the near future. *** End *** References: Asia Recipe. (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2007, from Chinese Food History: An Anthropological Study. In Chang K.C. (Eds) Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives: http://asiarecipe.com/chihistory.html Chan, A. (2004). Awakening the Dragon: The Dragon Boat Festival. Tundra Books. Chinatown Connection. (2007). Retrieved October 19, 2007, from Chinese Cooking: http://www.chinatownconnection.com/chinese_style_cooking.htm Chinese Food Recipes. (2007, April 8). Retrieved October 20, 2007, from Chinese Cooking Methods: http://www.chinesefood-recipes.com/chinese_cooking_methods/chinese_cooking_method.php Compestine, Y. (2001). The Story of Chopsticks. Holoday House. Denton, L., & Kaixuan, X. (1995). Food Selection and Consumption in Chinese Markets: An Overview. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing , 7(1):55 - 77. Klein, J. (1999). Managing Culinary Diversity in Urban China: On the Reception of Sichuanese Cuisine in the Recent Guanzhou Press. Anthropology Matters Journal . Levi, & Maria. (2006). Chinese Food Culture and History. Levi and Marias Cooking Journal , 5(1):1 - 5. Lin, K., & Chan, N. (2000, November). Chinese Food Cultural Profile. Retrieved October 19, 2007, from ethnomed.org: http://ethnomed.org/cultures/chinese/chinese_food.html Liu, Z., Li, W., Sun, J., Liu, C., Zeng, Q., Huang, J. et al. (June 2004). Intake of Soy Foods and Soy Isoflavones by Rural Adult Women in China . Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition , 13(2). Roberts, J. (1999). A Concise History of China. Harvard University Press. Russell, C. (1997). Moon Festival. Boyds Mills Press. Teiser, S. (1996). The Ghost Festival in Medieval China (New Ed.). Princeton Universtiy Press. Travel China Guide. (2007, September 28). Retrieved October 19, 2007, from Chopsticks: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/chopsticks.htm Travel China Guide. (2007b, September 28). Retrieved October 19, 2007, from Food Culture: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine.htm Vethanayagam, A. (2002). The Hungry Ghost Festival. Retrieved October 20, 2007, from essortment: http://ncnc.essortment.com/hungryghostfes_rjkb.htm Read More