International requests of Chinese specialties
| by Annalisa Viscovi | October 31, 2008
Chinese cooking is one of the greatest methods of cooking. Since ancient time, many factors that have influenced its development. Confucius once said: "Eating is the utmost important thing in life." Cooking Chinese food requires more time and effort, and is considered a very sophisticated art. As a result, many travellers who have visited China consider Chinese cuisine one of the best.
A meal in Chinese culture is typically seen as consisting of two general components:
main food - a carbohydrate source or starch, typically rice (predominant in southern parts of China),noodles, or buns (predominant in northern parts of China), and
accompanying dishes - of vegetables, fish, meat, or other items.
This cultural conceptualization is in some ways in contrast to Western meals where meat or animal protein is often considered the main dish. Chopsticks are the primary eating utensil in Chinese culture for solid foods, while spoons are used for drinking soups. Food is usually prepared in bite-sized pieces (except fish, crabs and so on), ready for direct picking up and eating. Traditionally, Chinese culture considered using knives and forks at the table "barbaric" due to fact that these implements are regarded as weapons. It was also considered ungracious have guests work at cutting their own food (Last requests for food from China at Agrelma).
As China is a geographically huge country, it is diverse in climate, ethnicity and subcultures. Not surprisingly therefore, there are many distinctive styles of cuisine. Traditionally there are eight main families of China dishes, namely
* Hui (Anhui)
* Yue (Cantonese)
* Min (Fujian)
* Xiang (Hunan)
* Yang (Jiangsu)
* Lu (Shandong)
* Chuan (Szechuan)
* Zhe (Zhejiang)
Today there are mainly four main styles of food in China, namely the Beijing Style, the Shanghai Style, the Sichuan/Szechuan Style and the Cantonese Style. The Cantonese style is the most popular style in overseas restaurants. When you are travelling in China, you would find it extremely hard to resist the Peking duck, the Shanghai pork bun, or the Cantonese dim sum.
In Chinese the word for alcohol "jiu" is used to mean all types of alcoholic beverages, from 'pijiu' (beer) to liquors (just called 'jiu') to grape wine ('putao jiu'). The same character is used in Japanese and Korean, for that matter. This lumping together of all intoxicating beverages gives us great insight into the traditional use for alcohol, intoxication. Even in modern China alcoholic beverages are generally classed by the general population by how much intoxication it delivers for the money. From this point of view table wine is at the bottom rung of the consumer preference list, with brandy being much higher.
To Know more visit Agrelma
A meal in Chinese culture is typically seen as consisting of two general components:
main food - a carbohydrate source or starch, typically rice (predominant in southern parts of China),noodles, or buns (predominant in northern parts of China), and
accompanying dishes - of vegetables, fish, meat, or other items.
This cultural conceptualization is in some ways in contrast to Western meals where meat or animal protein is often considered the main dish. Chopsticks are the primary eating utensil in Chinese culture for solid foods, while spoons are used for drinking soups. Food is usually prepared in bite-sized pieces (except fish, crabs and so on), ready for direct picking up and eating. Traditionally, Chinese culture considered using knives and forks at the table "barbaric" due to fact that these implements are regarded as weapons. It was also considered ungracious have guests work at cutting their own food (Last requests for food from China at Agrelma).
As China is a geographically huge country, it is diverse in climate, ethnicity and subcultures. Not surprisingly therefore, there are many distinctive styles of cuisine. Traditionally there are eight main families of China dishes, namely
* Hui (Anhui)
* Yue (Cantonese)
* Min (Fujian)
* Xiang (Hunan)
* Yang (Jiangsu)
* Lu (Shandong)
* Chuan (Szechuan)
* Zhe (Zhejiang)
Today there are mainly four main styles of food in China, namely the Beijing Style, the Shanghai Style, the Sichuan/Szechuan Style and the Cantonese Style. The Cantonese style is the most popular style in overseas restaurants. When you are travelling in China, you would find it extremely hard to resist the Peking duck, the Shanghai pork bun, or the Cantonese dim sum.
In Chinese the word for alcohol "jiu" is used to mean all types of alcoholic beverages, from 'pijiu' (beer) to liquors (just called 'jiu') to grape wine ('putao jiu'). The same character is used in Japanese and Korean, for that matter. This lumping together of all intoxicating beverages gives us great insight into the traditional use for alcohol, intoxication. Even in modern China alcoholic beverages are generally classed by the general population by how much intoxication it delivers for the money. From this point of view table wine is at the bottom rung of the consumer preference list, with brandy being much higher.
To Know more visit Agrelma
Article Source: http://www.articleset.com

You are welcome to publish or reprint this article free of charge, provided:
- you include the entire article, unchanged, including the "About The Author" box
- all hyperlinks remain active, including the bottom ArticleSet.com link (does not apply to print publications)
- you agree not to hold the authors nor ArticleSet.com liable for any loss profits, expenses, or any other damages resulting from the use or misuse of articles published on this website