Mini Ethnographic Investigation: Food and Celebrations - Essay Example

Mini Ethnographic Investigation: Food and Celebrations enter the enter the Number 10th April, University or College Name of Professor 1. Introduction The methodical learning of the culture, communal and social setup of the operation of life activities is known as Ethnography (Margaret and Schensul, 2010, pp.1-2). It helps in the understanding of human behaviors, their reaction to stimuli, likes and dislikes. The researcher chose the Chinese New Year as the event under investigation and the ethnic group Chinese. Further, investigation and collection of information with the help of observation and interview took place. This helps in analyzing the information found with the knowledge of the researcher. 1.1 Historical Background China has a diverse history when it comes to food or any other tradition. The festivals and food of China displays the large variety of ethnic groups which reside in the country (Chinese Festival Food Recipes for New Year, 2013). The likings and menu of the people of North China will be different from those living in South China. However, the New Year is a special event on which all the family gets together to celebrate the event and to bring good luck. Chinese New Year is an important event in the Chinese history. Chinese people believe that the old year takes with it all the dark things and the New Year brings all the good. Therefore every hour of the New Year is important. People do not sleep over the New Year’s Eve. They try to decorate their houses, make their own personal preparations and prepare special meals. Even the last few years of the old year are given utmost importance. According to Robinson (2012, pp. 23) Chinese people do not work on the New Year’s day as it will bring them hard luck and will make them work throughout the year. Food preparations are given utmost importance on New Year. The ingredients of the food should be fresh and in abundance. Some dishes have to be prepared in the last hours of the old year. The Nian Goa cake prepared on the Chinese New Year should be higher as its height is associated with the amount of benefits of the coming year (Robinson, 2012, pp. 23). Artistic expression is clearly seen in the Chinese dishes. They do not pay attention to the taste alone but also to the cutlery used for dishing out. A lot of variety can be found in Chinese cuisine. They have the ability to cook anything to the best of flavours. Symbolism in Chinese cuisine is an important factor as is symbolism in other parts of life of the Chinese people. each month of the Chinese New Year is named after animals. It characterizes the personality of the people born in those months. Robinson (2012, pp. 25) states that the kitchen god is said to be watching over the behavior of people for the preparation and variety of food. Every Chinese person therefore includes variety and fresh food with the best appearance. The happier the kitchen god will be the more blessed will the coming year get. 1.2 Type of Research There are different types of researches; they may be qualitative or quantitative. As the nature of this investigation, the researcher carried out the research in written form. 1.3 Research Tool The researcher carried out an experimental case study by choosing a different ethnic group and festival. Research was done on the chosen topic by using the interviewee as a tool for the research. Researcher’s eyes and ears were the primary tool of research in this ethnographic investigation. 1.4 Data Collection Data collection is done by research, observation and interview. This is the initial and primary step in the ethnographic investigation. Research provides researcher the background knowledge in terms of understanding the ethnic group and the festival. This adds in the information regarding the cultural, domestic and geographical position of ethnic group under discussion. The researcher used interview, books available in the library and on the World Wide Web as the tools for data collection for the topic. 1.5 Target Audience The target audience for this investigation can be divided into two types. The direct target audiences are the people who want to understand and discover the cooking and eating practices of the Chinese people. The indirect audiences are the people who want to know in general about the ethnographic group i.e. Chinese in this investigation; and their festival. 1.6 Statement of Research To explore the symbolism, variety and artistic expression of the Chinese Food on Chinese New Year. 1.7 Objective of Research To gather information about the variety of food in Chinese cuisine on the Chinese New Year. To attract people towards the artistic flavors in Chinese dishes. To develop understanding of cultural value of food festival on Chinese New Year. To understand why Chinese food has a high reputation worldwide To unleash the variety of tastes offered in Chinese cuisine. To understand the importance and use of symbolism in food prepared on Chinese New Year. 1.8 Research Question Why Chinese food prepared on Chinese New Year has so much importance? How food can be associated with symbolism in China? Why is the variety of food important on the Chinese New Year? How does the artistic expression of flavors and serving dishes impact the Chinese cuisine? 1.9 Significance of Investigation Food and investigation over its variety is a common thing nowadays. People want to know about what others eat and how do they come up with different recipes. China has a very rich cultural and historic value of food. They are known for celebrations and feast preparations around the globe. The Chinese cuisine has a prominence amongst different cuisines in the world. 1.10 Limitations The research is supposed to be conducted within the limited time period of time. The word limit is there and the researcher is not supposed to exceed the word limit of 1000 - 1200 words. 2. Ethnographic Investigation Robinson (2012) states that every month in the Chinese calendar is named after an animal like dog and dragon etc. this naming of months on the animal names symbolizes certain qualities among the people born in those months. This tells us the extreme impact of symbolism over the mind of the Chinese people. The Chinese gods perform different duties like some bring fortune other prosperity. Kitchen god is said to be looking over the way people prepare their food during Chinese New Year therefore it is important to make them in abundance and that they should taste and appear good. 2.1 Ethnographic Group The researcher chose Chinese food as the ethnic group to focus on. 2.2 Cultural Event The cultural event investigated is Chinese New Year 2.3 Research Interview For undertaking the research, the researcher had to interview a Chinese person. The Chinese person was made comfortable by inviting him at friend’s apartment. He was asked about the Chinese Food and the Chinese New Year. The interviewee refused to let the researcher record the interview therefore the researcher had to take notes of it. 2.4 Interview Questions The questions included a lot of formal and informal questions. Some of the questions are mentioned below; What is the most important event in China? Do you celebrate Chinese New Year? What are the special foods you prepare on the New Year? Can’t you skip preparing one of the items of the menu you just told me? This kind of cooking to perfection must require a lot of time? Chinese people pay extra attention to presentation of dishes? Why is it important for the food to taste good and look good? If so much attention is given to taste and appearance then the use of certain ingredients can be skipped by the cook? When do you start preparing meals? The ingredients used in the Chinese menu on New Year are chosen randomly? What is the specialty of the ingredients chosen on the New Year? Why are the Chinese restaurants always red in color scheme? 2.5 Interesting Findings based on data (Interview) This section includes information gathered by the interview. The most important event in China is the Chinese New Year, it makes the worries of the past year end. The New Year is welcomed by preparation of special foods. The more importance given to the preparation of food ensures more good luck for the whole family. The special foods prepared on this event differ to where you live in China but the inevitable ones are; Fish Dumpling also Yuanxiao dumplings Moon Cake Laba Porridge Chongyang Cake Zongzi  Spring roll The more items in the New Year’s menu, the more luck you get therefore skipping any one of the menu items is not appreciated by the Chinese people. The division of the preparation of these dishes is done by making some of them at the last hours of the old year and preparing some for the New Year’s initial hours. The festival is accompanied by variety of dishes throughout the day. The appearance, taste and ingredients all have special importance. The ingredients cannot be skipped in order to save time. Each ingredient in the dish has special significance and symbolizes luck, fortune and money etc. the preparation of New Year’s dishes starts by the end of the year as collecting all the ingredients in time is important. The ingredients should be fresh and in abundance to ensure great taste, appearance and fortune. Red color symbolizes happiness that is why it is used in Chinese special events and restaurants. 2.6 Observation and Information Chinese cuisine is one of the top three cuisines in the world. China has a splendid variety of food and flavours making it one of the best cuisines. The food prepared by the Chinese has an artistic expression. The menu of the New Year includes dishes with symbolic meanings (What to Eat in China, Food and Drink, Dishes, 2013). They do not eat for the sake of eating but pay attention to details of flavours, appearance of dishes and meanings of the ingredients used in preparation of dishes. An ingredient like lettuce symbolizes prosperity, maize symbolizes growth, lychee symbolizes family knots and peach symbolizes immortality. The researcher has observed the use of symbolism in every aspect of Chinese dining. The researcher notices that red color is used in abundance at the Chinese restaurants. When the interviewee was asked for the reason of it he also unveiled the fact that red symbolizes happiness. This shows the amount of symbolism used in Chinese cuisine. Cleaning of the house starts before a month of the Chinese New Year. After the cleaning of house they are decorated. People prepare specially for New Year by getting new haircuts, clothes, clearing debts, distributing gifts and flowers (Robinson, 2012). The Chinese New Year foods have special significance over the Chinese cuisine. Chinese New Year food is made with artistic expression by giving it a beautiful appearance and presentation. Innumerable varieties of foods are prepared on this event along with symbolism in every item on the menu. Chinese combine food and symbols giving their foods symbolic representations with luck, fortune, money and health etc (Food Symbolism, 2013). Special foods are prepared on this auspicious event. All the family eats together to bring good luck to the family. Chinese Fish, Dumplings, Special Spring Rolls and Nian Gao are prepared specially on this event (Chinese Food/Chinese Cuisine, 2013). Chinese fish is prepared especially on this day in order to “save” plenty for the family. This can be characterized with saving money or other valuables. Dumplings are another important part of the Chinese New Year food menu. It is popular in the northern part of China. It is filled with mince of pork or fish, beef and finely chopped vegetables and wrapped in dough. The dumplings are eaten at the last hour of the old year (Chinese New Year Food, 2013). There is a saying about eating dumplings on New Year that it will bring in prosperity and treasures (Chinese New Year Food, 2013). Spring rolls prepared on the Chinese New Year are filled with the finest beef or vegetable filling. The overall taste of it can be sweet or sour. Saying about the spring rolls in Chinese is; 黄金万两 (hwung-jin wan-lyang/) meaning tons of gold (Chinese New Year Food, 2013). Golden yellow colour of the spring rolls makes the symbolism of gold more powerful. The rice cake or Nian Gao are prepared with the help of sticky rice, nuts, lotus leaves, dates and sugar. They are prepared as inevitable part of the menu on the Chinese New Year. According to Chinese New Year Food (2013), Nian Gao means getting superior year by year. 3. Conclusion Chinese New Year is a special event for the Chinese people. They make special arrangements for this day. The decoration of house and self is accompanied with enormous feast. Food is of utmost importance in human life but Chinese people give it even more importance. Artistic expression in food is a great factor to distinguish Chinese cuisine. The presentation of Chinese dishes by garnishing and color balance is important in this context. Red is used extensively in their food setting as it symbolizes happiness and joy. Another color golden is seen in most of the dragons made in Chinese restaurants which symbolizes prosperity and money. Variety in Chinese cuisine can be guessed by the number of items prepared on the Chinese New Year. The Chinese people prepare variety of dishes. They do not skip any dish in order to save time. The appearance of the dish is always kept nice. However, the detail to ingredients and their use is indeed astonishing. The Chinese people try to use fresh and plenty of ingredients in order to bring the best of taste in their dishes. The more dishes made on this event makes people more assured of additional prosperity coming in the New Year. The items in the menu of Chinese New Year and their analysis make the researcher conclude that symbolism is inevitable part of the Chinese cuisine. Chinese fish symbolism to “save”, dumplings bringing ‘prosperity and treasures’, spring rolls heaps of ‘gold’, Nian Gao bringing ‘superiority’ are great examples in this context. The researcher concludes that symbolism, variety and artistic expression are an important and inevitable part of the Chinese Cuisine. Furthermore, the Chinese New Year is a significant event in the Chinese history for understanding and evaluating the importance of Chinese food. 4. References Chinese Festival Food Recipes for New Year, 2013. Chinese Festival Food Recipes for New Year, Mid-Autumn Day. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.travelChinaguide.com/tour/food/chinese-cooking/festival-food.htm. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Robinson, F., 2012. Celebrating Chinese New Year (Celebrating Holidays). Edition. Enslow Elementary. Chinese Food/Chinese Cuisine, 2013. Chinese Food/Chinese Cuisine, Chinese Food Culture - China Highlights. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.Chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Chinese New Year Food, 2013. Chinese New Year Food, Food Eaten on Chinese New Year. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.Chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-food/chinese-new-year-food.htm. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Margaret D., L., Schensul, J., J., 2010. Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research: An Introduction (Ethnographers Toolkit, Second Edition). Second Edition Edition. AltaMira Press. What to Eat in China, Food and Drink, Dishes. 2013. What to Eat in China, Food and Drink, Dishes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.travelChinaguide.com/essential/what.htm. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Food Symbolism , 2013. Food Symbolism - Chinese Customs during Chinese New Year Celebrations. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Chinese_Customs/food_symbolism.htm. [Accessed 10 April 2013]. Read More