What are the advantages and disadvantages of the eating habits of westerners and China people?

On the differences between Chinese and western food cultures

Due to the influence of regional characteristics, climate and environment, customs and habits, catering products will be different in raw materials, tastes, cooking methods, eating habits and so on. It is precisely because of these differences that catering products have strong regional characteristics. The differences between Chinese and western cultures have created the differences between Chinese and western food cultures, which come from different ways of thinking and philosophy of life. People in China pay attention to "harmony between man and nature", while westerners pay attention to "people-oriented".

Here, we briefly talk about the differences between Chinese and western food cultures from the following three aspects.

First of all, two different dietary concepts

Compared with China's "taste" diet, the West is a rational concept of diet. No matter the color, fragrance, taste, shape and nutrition of food, how many calories, vitamins, protein and so on should be taken in a day. Even if it tastes the same, you must eat it-it is nutritious. This concept of diet is compatible with the whole western philosophy system. Metaphysics is the main feature of western philosophy. The research object of western philosophy is the cause of things, and the cause of things is often metaphysical. The two are interrelated and form metaphysical philosophy. This philosophy has brought vitality to western culture and made it develop by leaps and bounds in natural science, psychology and methodology. But in other aspects, this philosophical proposition has great obstacles, such as food culture. At the banquet, you can pay attention to the collocation of tableware, materials, services and raw materials in shape and color. But no matter how luxurious and high-end, from L.A. to new york, steak has only one flavor, and there is no art at all. As a dish, chicken is chicken and steak is steak. Even if there is a match, it is done in the disk. A plate of "French lamb chops" with mashed potatoes, leaning against the lamb chops, and boiled green beans and some tomatoes on the other side. The colors are in sharp contrast, but the raw materials are irrelevant, the taste is harmonious, each has its own flavor and is simple and clear.

China people attach great importance to "eating". The proverb "Food is the sky for the people" shows that we regard eating as important as the sky. Because our nation has been in a state of low productivity for thousands of years, people are always hungry, so we have a unique food-oriented diet culture. I think this is probably due to the need of survival. If a culture takes eating as the first thing, then there will be two phenomena: on the one hand, it will exert its functions to the extreme, not only to maintain survival, but also to preserve health, which is the cultural basis of "medicine is better than food"; On the other hand, excessive attention to food will make people admire the pursuit of food.

In China's cooking, the pursuit of delicacy is almost to the extreme, so that China people make a living by opening restaurants overseas, which has become the foundation for us to settle down in the world! Unfortunately, when we regard the pursuit of delicacy as the first demand, we ignore the most fundamental nutritional value of food. Many of our traditional foods have to be fried in hot oil and cooked with low fire for a long time. As a result, the nutrients in the dishes are destroyed and many nutrients are lost during processing. So when it comes to nutrition, it actually touches the biggest weakness of China's food culture. There is a folk proverb: "Food is the first priority for the people, and taste is the first priority for food". It is this pursuit of food that makes us ignore the true meaning of eating.

When people in China taste dishes, they often say that this dish is delicious and that dish is not. However, if you want to further ask what is "delicious", why "delicious" and where "delicious" is, I am afraid it is not easy to make it clear. This shows that China people's pursuit of delicious food is an indescribable "artistic conception", which is still difficult to cover with what people usually call "color, fragrance, taste, shape and utensils".

The key to the unique charm of China's diet lies in its taste. The production of food lies in harmony, so that the original flavor of food, the cooked taste after heating, the taste of ingredients and auxiliary materials, and the harmonious taste of seasonings are intertwined and coordinated with each other, so that they complement each other, penetrate each other and blend with each other. You have me and I have you. The harmonious beauty of China's cooking is the essence of China's cooking art, and the variety of dishes is an external thing, while the taste is an internal thing. It is the most important embodiment of China's aesthetic diet view that he pays attention to the interior without deliberately modifying the appearance, and pays attention to the taste of dishes without revealing the shape and color of dishes excessively.

In China, the pursuit of beauty in diet obviously overwhelms rationality, and this view of diet is also consistent with China's traditional philosophy. As a representative of oriental philosophy, China's philosophy is macroscopic, intuitive, fuzzy and unpredictable. The method of making Chinese food is to reconcile the tripod and finally reconcile a beautiful taste. This emphasizes the sense of proportion, that is, overall cooperation. It contains rich dialectics of China's philosophy. Everything is based on the beauty and harmony of food. The variety in the range determines the richness and diversity of Chinese food, determines the characteristics of Chinese food, and even determines the characteristics of every chef.

Second, the differences between Chinese and Western dieters

Westerners believe that dishes are to satisfy hunger, so they specialize in "hard dishes" such as large pieces of meat and whole chicken. China's food is "delicious", so China's cooking also shows great arbitrariness in the use of materials: what many westerners regard as discarded is an excellent raw material in China, and what foreign chefs can't handle can be turned into magic as soon as it reaches the hands of China chefs. It shows that China's diet has a wide range of randomness in materials.

According to the survey of western botanists, people in China eat more than 600 kinds of vegetables, six times more than those in the west. In fact, in Chinese cuisine, vegetarian dishes are ordinary foods, and meat dishes only enter the ordinary diet structure when the living standard is high, so there has been a saying of "vegetable food" since ancient times, and vegetable food plays a dominant role in the ordinary diet structure. China people's plant cooking is closely related to the advocacy of Buddhists. They regard animals as "creatures" and plants as "inanimate", so they advocate vegetarianism.

When introducing the dietary characteristics of their own countries, westerners think that they pay more attention to the reasonable collocation of nutrition than China. There are developed food industries, such as canned food and fast food, which are time-saving and nutritious, so people in their country are generally stronger than people in China: tall, with long legs, wide shoulders and muscular; China people, on the other hand, are thin, with narrow shoulders and short legs and light yellow color. According to the obvious differences between Chinese and western food objects, some people call China a plant word, while westerners call it an animal word.

Third, different ways of eating.

There are great differences between Chinese and western food styles, and this difference also has an impact on national character. In China, any banquet, no matter for what purpose, will only have one form, that is, everyone will sit together and enjoy a seat. Banquets should use round tables to create a United, polite and interesting atmosphere in form. Food is placed in the center of a table, which is not only the object of appreciation and tasting, but also the medium of emotional communication. People toast each other, offer food to each other and exhort each other, which embodies the virtue of mutual respect and courtesy between people in the face of beautiful things. Although from the perspective of hygiene, this kind of diet has obvious shortcomings, but it conforms to the universal mentality of "happy reunion" of our nation, embodies the influence of the category of "harmony" in China's classical philosophy on later generations' thoughts, and is conducive to collective emotional exchange, so it is difficult to reform so far.

Although food and wine are very important at western-style banquets, they are actually used as foil. The core of the banquet is friendship, which is realized by talking to the guests next door. If the sociality of banquets is compared to dancing, it can be said that Chinese banquets are like group dances, while western banquets are like ballroom dancing for men and women. It can be seen that the purpose of friendship between Chinese banquet and western banquet is obvious, but Chinese banquet is more about the friendship of the whole banquet, while western banquet is more about the friendship between neighboring guests. The more obvious difference from China's diet is the buffet which is popular in the west. This method is: all the food is displayed one by one, and everyone needs what they want, so they can move freely without being fixed in their seats. This way facilitates the emotional communication between individuals, without putting all the words on the table, and also reflects the respect of westerners for individuality and self. But each eats his own food, does not interfere with each other, and lacks some China people's mood of chatting and having fun.

So in the final analysis, it is the difference between sensibility and rationality. However, this difference seems to be blurred with the development of science. More and more people in China are not only concerned about the color, smell and taste of vegetables, but also about their hygiene and nutrition. Especially after SARS. Also, because people are getting busier and busier at work, they think Chinese food is too much trouble to cook, so it's better to have a hamburger or something. In this way, the difference in diet is not obvious.

Differences in structural nutrition

Eating habits of China people.

China people's traditional eating habits are mainly plant-based foods. The staple food is whole grains, the supplementary food is vegetables, plus a small amount of meat. The main reason for the formation of this custom is that agricultural production is the main type of economic production in the Central Plains. But in different classes, the proportion of food distribution is different. So in ancient times, people in power were called "meat eaters".

Hot food and cooked food are the main features of China people's eating habits. This is related to the early civilization and the development of cooking technology in China. The ancients in China thought: "People who live in water have grass glands, that is, sandalwood." Hot food and cooked food can "remove fishy smell, dryness and sandalwood" (The End of Lu Chunqiu). China people's diet has always been famous for its extensive recipes and exquisite cooking skills.

According to historical records, in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Liang Wudi chef Xiao Yan could make ten styles and dozens of flavors with a melon with amazing cooking skills.

In terms of diet, China people also have their own characteristics, that is, the multi-food system. The origin of food collection system is very early. From the excavation of many underground cultural relics, it can be seen that the ancient cooking room and food gathering place are unified. The cooking room is in the middle of the house, with smoke from the skylight above and fire below. When cooking on the fire, diners gather around the fire. This ancient custom of gathering food continued into later generations. The long-term spread of the food-gathering system is the embodiment of China's emphasis on consanguinity and family concept in his diet.

In terms of tableware, the use of chopsticks is a major feature of China people's eating habits. Chopsticks, called in ancient times, have a long history in China. The Book of Rites says: "No rice, no millet." It can be seen that at least in Shang Dynasty, chopsticks were used for eating. Chopsticks are generally made of bamboo, a pair in hand, can be used freely, simple, economical and convenient. Many Europeans and Americans are surprised by the use of chopsticks by orientals and praise it as an artistic creation. In fact, the origin of chopsticks used in eastern countries mostly comes from China. China's ancestors invented chopsticks, which is indeed a great contribution to human civilization.

Western catering

France, France is a country gradually established in the market after the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Before that, it was a province of ancient Rome called Waigaol. At that time, some elegant famous chefs from Rome came here and laid the foundation of French cuisine. In the16th century, the methods popular in Italy during the European Renaissance, such as stewed beef with a core, fried steak and various sauces, spread to France, enriching French cuisine. Because the French kings of past dynasties advocated food, there were many famous French chefs at that time, and cooking was also very important to me, which laid an important position for French cuisine in western food. But at present, French cuisine tends to be conservative and develops slowly.

Italy, Italy is located in the Apennine Peninsula in southern Europe. Superior geographical conditions make Italy's fertilization and food processing industries very developed. It is famous for noodles, cheese and salami.

In the late 2nd century BC, the dining room of the Roman court had formed a huge team with fine division of labor. The identity of a chef is the same as that of a noble minister, and his cooking methods are improving day by day, and dozens of cooking methods have been invented. Today, Italian food still enjoys a high reputation in the world.

Britain, where agriculture is developed, mainly imports food every year. British people don't respect food as the French do, so English food is relatively simple, and British people often laugh at their poor cooking. However, the breakfast of English food is very rich and popular in western countries. Besides, people in China like to drink tea, and it is customary to drink tea around 3 pm, usually a cup of black tea or coffee with a snack. If a friend is sad, giving him a cup of good tea is the best comfort.

In the United States, because there are many British immigrants in the United States, American cuisine is basically developed on the basis of British cuisine. In addition, due to the short history, less traditional and conservative ideas and unconventional living habits in the United States, Americans have obtained rich local agricultural and pastoral products, and combined with the living habits of other European immigrants and local Indians, they have formed a unique American food culture. "

Russian, Russian cuisine is greatly influenced by French cuisine. Some characteristics of dishes in Austria, Hungary and other countries, combined with their own eating habits, gradually formed a unique Russian cuisine.

Germany, a country gradually established by Germanic tribes after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, was divided in the Middle Ages and was not truly unified until 1870. In life, Germans love sports so they eat a lot. They kept the Germanic tradition of giving priority to meat, and German cuisine is famous for its richness, affordability and simplicity.

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Through the above discussion, we should have a certain understanding of Chinese and western food culture. Therefore, in the face of these foreign food cultures, we can make choices according to our own situation, and we can't blindly pursue the enjoyment of taste, so that eating too many high-calorie foods will have adverse effects on our health, and we can't blindly exclude these new things. Western food is really worth tasting, and it will definitely have a brand-new feeling.