Wednesday, April 21, 2010
There is a popular Chinese saying that goes, "people regard food as their prime want." When I was growing up in China, I found this to be true; Chinese people hold their food in high-regard and appreciate everything they eat. When I came to the U.S., I was struck by how differently Americans associate with food. This led me to believe that the investigation of a culture can start with its food.
Here, “international” fast food is a different quite a stretch. You know that sweet and sour chicken from your favorite Chinese take-out place? I hate to admit it, but that is a distant cousin of real Chinese cuisine. The egg drop soup that are a feature in Chinese buffets in the U.S. do not actually appear in our daily menu, as they are of comparatively low nutritional value. It's also interesting to note that fortune cookies don’t exist in China. The origin is unknown, but it's believed to be brought into North America by immigrants to serve as "Chinese dessert" to cater to American eating habits.
If I hadn't studied abroad, I would never have known how Chinese food is tweaked in foreign countries. Now I see that because of the widespread influence of globalization, different cultural elements interpenetrate among countries — it’s not even a surprise to see a Chinese restaurant in Paris.
In my small hometown of Macau, I saw what I thought was a miniature replica of world cuisine. This wasn’t exactly accurate; many of the offerings were not traditional, but, instead, had been adapted to fit the tastes of the Chinese.
The same concept is widespread in America. Here, the two distinctive flavors in food are saltiness and sweetness. In an ordinary meal, there is usually a salad appetizer, some kind of meat for the main course and finally a sweet dessert to wrap it all up.
Whereas this entire American meal is based around sweet and salty, Chinese meals make use of all of the tastes: sweet, sour, bitter and spice. Rice is the most important staple food in China, thus everyone at the round table has a bowl of rice and share several dishes. Before or after meals, we have hot soup instead of salad and dessert.
Flavor is not really the main point of traditional Chinese soup; rather, it is its function. For example, in summer we make soup that helps relieve heat in the body. In winter, we make dishes that keep us warm.
I do not mean to solely criticize the authenticity of Chinese food in America — tweaking food to fit the desires of different cultures exists everywhere.
Looking to some other examples, the Japanese do not put cream cheese in sushi, but somehow it tastes decent with raw fish and other ingredients. Also, traditional sushi isn't served as roll all the time but a piece of raw fish meat on top of a handful size of sticky rice.
Actually, as long as it tastes good, crossover doesn't really matter. Just remember not to naively believe what you eat means what it is.
— Ho is a junior from Macau, China, in journalism.
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