American food culture, American food

The influence of American special cultural background on cooking dishes

To understand American food culture, we should first talk about some American history, geography and customs. There are two main factors in the formation and development of a country's national food culture, one is the local geographical factor, and the other is the pluralistic humanistic factor. For the United States, multiple human factors are more critical than local geographical factors. In Europe and Italy, due to the terrain, soil, climate and other reasons, there are differences between southern cuisine and northern cuisine, but there is little difference, mainly because people in this country are all of the same language and species, and there is little difference in human factors. France, Spain, Britain and Germany all have some different regional dishes, but there are not many differences between them. But the situation in Switzerland alone is different. The northern part of Switzerland is Germany, the southern part is Italy and the western part is France, each of which has its own unique cooking dishes, so it is more difficult to define what real Swiss cuisine is. In China and Asia, there are Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine, Hebei cuisine and Liaoning cuisine, Beijing cuisine and Shandong cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine, Hangzhou cuisine and Shanghai cuisine. Although their styles and tastes are different, there is little difference, because geographical factors and human factors are similar. However, Guangdong Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Shandong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine are quite different from each other. Han, Manchu, Mongolian, Hui, Tibetan, Miao and other ethnic groups have different cuisines because of different nationalities, different living areas, which is due to the dual influence of humanistic factors and geographical factors. But China people are all descendants of the Chinese people, belonging to the same clan. The situation in the United States is quite special, with a vast territory and abundant resources and a short history. People from 100 countries and different races immigrated to the United States, with a total population of over 300 million. Among them, there are about 43 million Spanish-speaking residents, about 36 million blacks, and more than10 million immigrants from Asia. Such a large number of foreign immigrants have settled in the United States, making the United States a melting pot of the world's races. Therefore, the formation of American gourmet dishes also comes from this "melting pot".

The foods that Americans contact most in daily life, such as hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza, Zhajiang Noodles, tacos, sandwiches, hot dogs, French fries, etc., were all introduced from western European countries in the early days, while steak, lamb chops, pork chops and fish chops were not the earliest foods invented in the United States. So many people think that these foods can't be regarded as American food with strict eyes and strict standards. So what is real American food?

This confusion was not realized until I traveled to Shenzhen in the autumn of 2003. After I arrived in Shenzhen from Guangzhou, Shunde and Zhongshan, I asked the hotel attendants and friends who came to receive me questions. They wanted to eat delicious Shenzhen food, but they looked at me in surprise and said, "What Shenzhen food is there? I have never heard of it. " Later, I learned that Shenzhen is the most populous city in China, and most people living in Shenzhen, including taxi drivers, come from all over China. It is said that there are people from 56 nationalities and 32 provinces and cities in China. I didn't ask if this statement was exaggerated, but during our stay in Shenzhen, we did eat very satisfactory fast food and pastry snacks, very cheap Guangdong tea and seafood, very authentic Northeast stews and jiaozi, and very spicy and authentic Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine, which made me, a Jilin native who was born in Chongqing and lived in San Francisco, feel full and addicted. Not only did I feel refreshed, my taste buds on my tongue seemed to be flexible, but my stomach seemed to be more flexible. Go back to the hotel at night and lie in bed. I have seen and heard the advertisements of "Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine, Hong Kong-style Sichuan cuisine, Shanghai-style Sichuan cuisine, Shanghai-style Shanghai cuisine, new Beijing flavor, mysterious cuisine …" on TV, but I have never seen or heard the advertisements of "authentic Shenzhen cuisine", which deeply touched me and inspired me. In terms of food, Shenzhen is very similar to the epitome of the United States, but I live in Shenzhen. The dishes from all over China will not change much subjectively and objectively in Shenzhen, but it will be different in the United States. People living in the United States are not of the same language and species, and the flavor dishes spread to the United States from all over the world have also changed over time. Influenced by early immigrants (English Puritans and American pioneers), American traditional cuisine, like the traditional Yankees, is characterized by being "rough", eating fresh raw materials, not relying on additives and seasonings, keeping the original flavor of the food, not procrastinating in the cooking process, not complicated work such as roasting, frying and frying, and not paying attention to slow stew (except for a few local dishes). The main structure of American food is 1234 system, just like a triangle. The most important thing is beef, followed by chicken and fish, followed by pigs, sheep and shrimp, followed by bread, potatoes, corn and vegetables.

At the end of the 20th century, with the development of American civilization and economic prosperity, coupled with the development of information and transportation, Americans' demand for food gradually increased. Especially since 1965, the United States has relaxed its immigration policy, and people from all levels and industries have poured in from all over the world. These huge new immigrants have had a great impact on the social and cultural structure of the United States. The cooking styles and dishes brought by new immigrants are like a single spark, which makes a variety of foods appear on the tables of American families and restaurants.

There is no doubt that Americans all admit that European cuisine is the ancestor of American cuisine. American cuisine takes European cuisine as its "root", and then through its own cultivation and germination, it grows branches and leaves, gradually prospers, establishes its own main body, and even spreads to all parts of the world. The western United States is rich in Pacific seafood and all kinds of seafood, the freshest and most diverse fruits and vegetables in the United States, the famous California cuisine and the fusion cuisine with Asian cuisine characteristics. Texan cuisine with Mexican characteristics in the south, Louisiana cuisine with French, Spanish and African characteristics, Florida cuisine in tropical islands of Cuba and Brazil, Chicago cuisine and Pennsylvania cuisine with German, Dutch and Nordic characteristics in the central and western regions, New England cuisine and new york cuisine with British, French and Irish characteristics in the east, Hawaiian cuisine in Oceania, Portugal and eastern Japanese islands ... In short, you are welcome to come to the United States to taste it yourself, and there is no guarantee. In the past 25 years, the high-tech industry has made rapid progress. Americans, especially the younger generation, not only increase their economic income, but also increase their work pressure, so they pay more attention to leisure and food. Especially for dinner, I am willing to spend money to enjoy relaxing food and choose mellow grapes and wine to match it. Due to the strong market demand, all kinds of restaurants, whether general fast food restaurants, moderate family restaurants or high-end restaurants, have mushroomed all over the United States, and the American catering industry has shown a booming trend.

Personally, I think that the American catering industry can make great achievements quickly and occupy a decisive position in the United States and even the world. There are two main pillars of success, one is to attach importance to research and development, and the other is to stress efficiency. American enterprises are willing to invest a lot of money to hire scholars and experts, not only to improve the varieties of raw materials such as cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, aquatic products and agricultural products. At the same time, we should use objective standards to make appropriate and ingenious changes to the best-selling food dishes in the world to meet the needs of the region, such as brand culture and happy and fashionable packaging, and plan to launch products with good quality and low price, diverse varieties and diverse tastes. On the other hand, Americans attach great importance to efficiency, especially businessmen. They strictly demand that quality improvement and marketing be closely tied together, adopt scientific methods to standardize product quality and management methods, and promote them to all places with precise marketing means, thus forming a regional chain, a national chain, and even a global franchise chain-like super enterprise. Each franchise store has a detailed management manual, and every employee in the whole store has a clear division of labor and responsibilities. Chefs must also follow the rules in the manual to cook food and dishes. In addition to paying attention to quality and exquisiteness, they should also know how to control costs and pursue profits in order to enhance the vitality of enterprises. This kind of operation mode combined with humanized management is worth learning. American cuisine is one of the most dynamic cuisines in the world today. There are more than 1000 culinary colleges in the United States, ranging from two-year to four-year community colleges and universities. It is the country with the highest level of culinary education, the largest scale, the most comprehensive and the most popular in the world, and has trained many outstanding culinary talents. Zhen Wenda, Cai and Si Wanchun, Chinese living in the United States, are outstanding in the mainstream cooking field in the United States. Senior chefs in the United States have injected new ideas into dozens of national cuisines around the world, combined the innate advantages of national food culture with the reality of daily life in the United States, and created many fusion cuisines that are adapted to local conditions and complement each other, so that the cuisines of all countries in the world can blend harmoniously, hand in hand and heart in heart, and push the culinary art to a new height. The American cooking stock market will never end, and American cooking songs will be staged one episode after another. Food from another country can not only be an interesting enjoyment of American taste changes, but also become a major pillar of American mainstream diet. In America, cooking always changes, but in the end, American food will be served.