Response to “Our National Eating Disorder”

        In Pollan’s article, “Our National Eating Disorder”, he diagnosed the symptoms of the national eating disorder, and he also used some examples to prove his viewpoint.

        In his mind, there are mainly two reasons that make great effect to the national eating disorder. The first one comes from the government. He wrote that, “A scientific study, a new government guideline, a lone crackpot with a medical degree can alter this nation’s diet overnight.” (1) Pollan thought government’s decision made great effect to the national eating disorder. He also used an example to prove that the government did something to affect people’s eating habits in his article, “Once the federal nutritional guidelines tried to asked people who preferred beef not to eat red meat any more.” However, as with the development of the scientific, some wrong orders such as this one would be abolished. Mostly, government guidelines depend on the scientific result. Another reason is the taste. Indeed, the tradition of the food will retain nearly the same between generations because of their cultures. However, the taste will cause people to make different decisions about what they would like to eat.

        The most interesting part in this article is a story between the author and his mother. “When his mother was a child, the menu was always full of food from Eastern European Jewish delicates. However, when the author was young, he ate food from different counties.” Through this story, the author tried to tell us an idea that “In America, each generation has been free to reinvent its cuisine, very often more than once.”(3) Although it is just a story about the change of the food, it also shows how do the varieties of the food become more and more between generations. Another interesting part is that, “some nutrient that Americans have been happily chomping for years is suddenly found to be lethal.” This sounds funny, but it is really harmful. If one day, you are told the food you eat everyday is lethal, it is hard to imagine how do your face look like.

        For myself, actually I do not have a lot of limitations to choose food because I think I am too young to eat different kinds of food. But I still need to make sure weather the food is healthy enough before I decide to eat it. If the food is so fatty, it is possible not become the first choice for me.

Works Cited

Michael Pollan, “Our National Eating Disorder.” October 17,2004

Disadvantages of Traditional Chinese Food Culture Development in the U.S

        Once you come to Denver, you can see so many Chinese restaurants there. These restaurants can be divided into two types, American version of Chinese cuisine such as Panda Express and traditional Chinese food restaurant such as Star Kitchen. To most American people, Panda Express is very popular. You can see this restaurant in nearly all the shopping malls here. However, only a few American customers would like to choose to eat in a traditional Chinese food restaurant such as Star Kitchen. This is because the cultural differences as well as the characteristics of traditional Chinese food culture may cause some limitations to attract American customers.

        Cultural differences cause the fact that traditional Chinese restaurant cannot become popular in America. Firstly, most Americans cannot use chopsticks. Traditional Chinese dishes contain a lot of fishes and chicken, this kind of dish always with so many bones. In Lam Pin Foo’s article, “From Fork to Chopstick”, he wrote that “Chopsticks are light, flexible and extremely versatile to suit different varieties of Chinese food”. I agree with his idea. American people use fork and knives, so food with bones is very difficult for them to eat. Especially for fish, they may hurt themselves. Using chopsticks could be an efficient way to solve this problem, but what a pity that most American customers cannot use chopsticks. Secondly, American customers may have problems in understanding the menu. No matter how perfect the menu is when translated into English, most American customers still could not understand the name of the dish, such as “Sichuan style”. So it is possibly for American customers to order the taste of food that they do not like. Thirdly, the decoration of the Chinese restaurant makes no attraction to most American customers. Chinese restaurants have their own special decorations. There are Chinese paintings and calligraphies hanging on the walls. They are the reflections of Chinese culture, but American customers could not understand so they may feel these staffs are very strange, especially for the paintings. These paintings are in traditional Chinese painting styles; American customers may not be able to appreciate them. These cultural differences create great difficulties for traditional Chinese restaurants to attract American customers.

        However, the characteristics of traditional Chinese food also make limitations in attracting American customers.

        Chinese food always needs a long time to cook, and customers would like to eat in the restaurant rather than take the food away. In the first weekend of this quarter, I went to a Chinese restaurant called China Taipei. When I came into the restaurant, a waitress led me to a table, asked what kind of drink did I prefer to drink, and she also brought the menu to me. After having ordered from the menu, I waited about 15 minutes for my dishes. The reason for such a long waiting is in a Chinese restaurant, they would just prepare raw materials of the food. The Cook in the restaurant would not begin to cook the food until they got the information about what customers have ordered. Chinese food is always delicate and tasty, because so many complex steps are made in order to cook a good dish. This makes customers wait longer than restaurants of other countries. I have ordered Beef, Sichuan Style and Salt & Pepper Fish Fillets; the best time to eat them is when they are hot. Most of the Chinese dishes have this characteristic, except for cold dishes. Otherwise, Chinese people like to order soup in their meal. In order to eat food when they are hot, and have soup during meal, these factors determine that taking Chinese food away is not a good choice. Chinese food also contains a lot of fatty dishes. If you have ordered this kind of food, once it is cold, you have to find a microwave because the oil will become solidified. However, if you choose to eat in Panda Express, you do not to worry about that. The food has already been cooked and after you order, the waitress just needs to put the food in a box so that you can take it away. It is very convenient and only cost a very short time. This is because Panda Express is an American version of Chinese cuisine. In Nancy Tracy’s article “Panda Express: The Restaurant Franchise’s Top 5 Secrets to Success”, she wrote that, “Cherng (The Chairman of Panda Express) had the vision to take a limited array of his full-service restaurant lunch dishes and convert them to fast food entrees in a mall setting.” This is the key of the success of Panda Express, Panda Express define itself as a fast food restaurant that most American people would like to eat, Panda Express makes creative changes in the style of the Chinese food in order to make it easy to take away, its convenience makes it become very popular in the U.S.

        Chinese restaurants are very lively and noisy. In the article “The Cultural Politics of Eating in Shenzhen”, O’donnell wrote, “In contrast, ordering from a menu is an everyday manifestation of the New Shenzhener lifestyle, a practice that has diminished the status of the alfresco restaurants that once defined Shenzhen spirit”. (39) Although New Shenzheners are eating in different restaurants that have better environment, alfresco restaurants that once defined the spirit of Shenzhen are still very important to Old Shenzheners. Choosing to eat in an alfresco restaurant represents most Chinese people’s behaviors and traditional Chinese food culture. It is not hard to imagine how noisy and lively to eat in an alfresco restaurant. Customers ordered what they wanted very loudly, as with their communications with their friends. They talked in a very high voice, and when there was a joke, people could hear the surprising laughing. If a non-Chinese customer has a chance to come to this kind of restaurant, he may feel that the environment of this restaurant is so bad, and the customers there have bad table manners. However, this is a refection of Chinese food culture. Chinese people like and enjoy the noisy and lively atmosphere when having a meal. In traditional Chinese food culture, the meal is very important to Chinese people. When having a meal, it is a period of time to talk with others and rest themselves. During this period of time, Chinese people will behave so differently and relaxed. The livelier the atmosphere, the better meal they will have. To most American customers, when they decide to have meal in a restaurant rather than take away, they may prefer to eat in a quiet restaurant. The lively and noisy atmosphere becomes a limitation for traditional Chinese restaurant in attracting American customers.  

        Chinese customers do not like to leave directly when have finished their meal. I went to Star Kitchen for morning tea with my friends on a weekend. By the time we arrived there, so many customers had already finished their eating. However, they did not leave directly. They asked for a pot of tea and kept sitting on the chairs in this restaurant. They talked with their friends in a low and common voice. People who do not understand Chinese food culture would be puzzled. They would not understand why these customers who had finished their meals did not prefer to leave directly. Actually it is also a reflection of traditional Chinese food culture. Chinese people value friendship a lot; it is not easy to have friends get together to have a meal. Having a meal together is a way for them to strength their friendships. After the meal, they would like to order a pot of tea, and keep talking with their friends. But the topics will not be jokes any more when they are having their meals. They would like to talk about their families, the difficulties and challenges they are facing and other personal business. Through this way, their problems may be solved, or they can feel better with the help of their friends. The friendship will also be stronger than before. However, to most American customers, they will feel very strange. They do not have the same habit, so they feel not good when they are surrounding by these customers.

        In traditional Chinese food culture, there are so many traditional foods. Each traditional food may represent a special meaning to Chinese people. To myself, the dumpling is a very good example. Chinese people prefer to eat dumplings when family members are getting together. In this way, dumplings represent a meaning of reunion to all the Chinese people. Besides that, dumplings are also an emotional connection with my parents and me. On the last day before I came to study in the U.S, my parents cooked dumplings for me. I could never forget the taste of the dumplings on that day. So when I eat dumplings now, I do not only miss my family members, but also could feel the deep love from my parents. I am sure to other Chinese people, there must be a special traditional Chinese food that represents a different and personal meaning to them. When they have a chance to eat in a traditional Chinese restaurant, the traditional Chinese food there will remind them of some precious memories. It is difficult to describe this feeling; only people who have stories about traditional Chinese food are able to feel it. To most American customers, they sometimes choose to eat in traditional Chinese restaurants because they are curious about it. They can just taste the food; they do not receive other feelings in the restaurant. This lack of emotion may be a limitation for Chinese restaurants in attracting American customers.

        Traditional Chinese food culture is very complex; it is impossible to make a summary about what traditional Chinese food culture is. Because of the cultural differences, traditional Chinese restaurants have already lost some opportunities to attract American customers. Otherwise, the characteristics of traditional Chinese food also become limitations to attract American customers. However, the American version of Chinese cuisine is very popular here. This style of restaurant makes changes so that it could better adapt to American customers here. However, we could not deny the importance and the value of traditional Chinese food culture. It is just because the cultural difference and the characteristics of traditional Chinese food culture become the limitations to its spread in the U.S.

Works Cited

Nancy Tracy. “Panda Express: The Restaurant Franchise’s Top 5 Secrets to Success”. Aug 27, 2008. April 25, 2012. http://voices.yahoo.com/panda-express-restaurant-franchises-top-5-secrets-1830994.html?cat=3

Mary Ann O’donnell, “The Cultural Politics of Eating in Shenzhen.” Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, Vol. 10, No.2 (Spring 2010), pp 31-39

Lam Pin Foo, “From Fork To Chopsticks”. February 12, 2009. April 25, 2012. http://lampinfoo.com/2009/02/12/from-fork-to-chopstick/

The first draft of ee 1

                                Research about traditional Chinese Food Culture       

       Chinese restaurants are very popular in Denver. There are two types of Chinese restaurant, American version of Chinese cuisine such as Panda Express and traditional Chinese food restaurant such as Star Kitchen. To American people, Panda Express is very popular; you can see this restaurant in nearly all the shopping malls. However, only a few American customers would like to choose eat in a traditional Chinese food restaurant such as Star Kitchen. This is because the characteristics of Chinese food culture cause some limitations to attract American customers.

        Chinese food always need to long time to cook, and customers would like to eat in the restaurant rather than take the food away. In the first weekend of this quarter, I went to a Chinese restaurant called China Taipei. When I came into the restaurant, a waitress served me a table, asked what kind of drink did I prefer to drink, and she also brought the menu to me. After having ordered the menu, I waited about 15 minutes for my dishes. This is because in a Chinese restaurant, they would just prepare raw materials of the food. Cook in the restaurant would not begin to cook the food until they get the information about what customers have ordered about. Chinese food is always delicate and tasty, because so many complex steps are made to in order to cook a good dish. This causes customers need to wait longer than in other restaurants. I have ordered Beef, Sichuan Style and Salt & Pepper Fish Fillets; the best time to taste them is when they are just hot. Most of the Chinese dishes have this characteristic, except for cold dishes. Otherwise, Chinese people like to have soup in their meal. These factors lead the fact that customers would not like to take the food away because the effect of the taste, and it is not convenience to take away food like soup. Chinese food also contains a lot of fatty dishes. If you have ordered this kind of dish, once it is cold, you have to find a microwave because the oil will become solidification. But if you choose to eat in Panda Express, you do not to worry about that. The food has been cooked and after you order, the waitress just needs to put the food in a box so that you can take it away. It is very convenience and cost a very short time. This is because Panda Express is like a kind of fast food. In Nancy Tracy’s article “Panda Express: The Restaurant Franchise’s Top 5 Secrets to Success”, she wrote that, “Cherng (The Chairman of Panda Express) had the vision to take a limited array of his full-service restaurant lunch dishes and convert them to fast food entrees in a mall setting.” This is the key of the success of Panda Express, and its convenience makes popular in the U.S.

        Chinese restaurants are very lively and noisy. In the article “The Cultural Politics of Eating in Shenzhen”, O’donnell wrote “the alfresco restaurants that once defined Shenzhen spirit”. (39) Because so many people who came to Shenzhen earlier and made contribution to the construction to Shenzhen would like to eat in alfresco restaurant so that is could define the spirit of Shenzhen. It is not hard to imagine how noisy and lively at that time. Customers ordered what they wanted very loudly, as with their communication with their friends. They talked very loudly, and when there was a joke, people could hear the surprising. If a non-Chinese customer has a chance to come to this kind of restaurant, he may feel that the environment of this restaurant is so bad, and the customers there have bad table manners. However, this is a refection of Chinese food culture. Chinese people like and enjoy the noisy and lively atmosphere when having a meal. A meal is very important to Chinese people, and they would like to define the time to have a meal as a time to enjoy their lives. It is a period of time to talk with others and rest themselves. So during this period time, they will behave so different and relaxed. The livelier the atmosphere, the better meal they will have.  

        Customers would not like to leave directly when have finished their meal. I went to Star Kitchen for morning tea with my friends on a weekend. By the time we arrived at there, so many customers have already finished their eating. However, they did not leave directly. They asked for a pot of tea and kept sitting on the chairs in this restaurant. They talked with their friends in a low and common voice. People who do not understand Chinese food culture will be puzzled. Actually it is also a reflection of Chinese food culture. Chinese people value friendship a lot; it is not easy to have friends got together to have a meal. A meal is not enough for them to strength their friendships. So after the meal, they would like ask for a pot of tea, and keep talking with their friends. But the topics are a little different from those when they are having their meals. During the meal, they talk more about funny stories. Yet, they would like to talk about their families, the difficulties and challenges they are facing and other personal staffs. Work and family are always talked the most in this period of time. Through this way, their problems may be solved, or they can feel better with the help of their friends. The friendship will also be stronger than before.

        In Chinese food culture, there are so many traditional foods that will be eaten on a specific day, so traditional food also represents a special meaning. Dumpling is a good example of traditional Chinese food. On the first day of Chinese New Year, every family in China will have dumplings in the breakfast. This is a custom that lasts today. Dumplings become necessary to celebrate the happy New Year. Because one that day, family members will get together, so dumpling represent the meaning of getting together. When Chinese people are alone, they would like to eat dumplings to make themselves feel as if they were getting together with their family members. To myself, dumpling is not just a kind of traditional food that means getting together, it is also an emotional connection with my parents and me. On the last day before I came to study in the U.S, my parents cooked dumplings for me. Dumplings on that day were so delicious and special; I could never forget the taste of the dumplings on that day. So when I eat dumplings now, I do not only miss my family members, but also could feel the deep love from my parents. I am sure to other Chinese people, there must be a special traditional food that represents a different meaning to them.

        However, there are some disadvantages that makes Chinese food do not popular in the U.S. Firstly, Americans could not use chopsticks. Chinese dishes contain a lot of fishes and chicken, this kind of dish always with so many bones. In Lam Pin Foo” article, “From Fork to Chopstick”, he wrote that “Chopsticks are light, flexible and extremely versatile to suit different varieties of Chinese food”. I am quite agree with his idea. American people used to use fork and knives, food with bones is very difficult for them to eat. Especially for fish, they may hurt themselves. But chopsticks are much flexible than forks and knives, so Chinese people may meet this kind of problem less than American people. Secondly, American people could not fit the atmosphere of Chinese restaurants. They prefer to eat in a quiet place, but Chinese restaurants are always noisy and lively, the atmosphere leads them to have meal in other restaurants. Thirdly, American people and Chinese people have cultural differences about the dishes’ names. When an American comes to a Chinese restaurant, they may not understand the description such as “Sichuan Style”. So it is probably for him to order the food he does not like. At last, the decoration of the Chinese restaurant makes no attraction to American customers. Chinese restaurants have special decorations. There are Chinese paintings and calligraphies hanging on the walls. They are reflections of Chinese culture, but American customers could not recognize so they may feel they are very strange. Because the paintings will be in Chinese traditional paintings, American customers may not be able to appreciate them. There is also a red stage in the middle of the restaurant, when there is an activity, the stage will take effect. American will also feel strange about that. Otherwise, the taste of Chinese food is totally different from American food, so some American customers may not feel like the taste of Chinese food.

        Chinese food culture is very complex; it is impossible to make a summary about what Chinese food culture is. But in total, Chinese food is very delicate and fresh, because it will cost cook a long time to cook. The characteristics of Chinese food lead the result that customers would like to have their meal in the restaurant. The lively atmosphere is also a very important part in Chinese food culture, and they do not like to leave the restaurant directly when they finished their meal. They would like to talk with each other with a pot of tea. Obviously, communication is also an important in Chinese food culture. Traditional Chinese food also occupies a very important part in Chinese food culture. Different traditional food owns a different custom, and it may have different meanings to different Chinese people. Chopsticks are also an important part in Chinese food culture, they make people eat some food easily and safe. The decoration of restaurant is also a characteristic of Chinese food culture, the beautiful paining and calligrapher will make people have good mood to enjoy the food. Although Chinese food culture have some disadvantages that make not all the people could enjoy it, and these disadvantages may cause difficult to spread it, we cannot deny the complex and the important of Chinese food culture. Consequently, American vision of Chinese cuisine such as Panda Express is fast and convenience, and customers could use forks. American customers also could not fit the taste of traditional Chinese food, but they may like the taste that Panda Express could provide for them. Indeed, the characteristics do really limit its spread, but American vision of Chinese cuisine is very popular there.

Works Cited

Nancy Tracy. “Panda Express: The Restaurant Franchise’s Top 5 Secrets to Success”. Aug 27, 2008. April 25, 2012. http://voices.yahoo.com/panda-express-restaurant-franchises-top-5-secrets-1830994.html?cat=3

Lam Pin Foo, “From Fork To Chopsticks”. February 12, 2009. April 25, 2012. http://lampinfoo.com/2009/02/12/from-fork-to-chopstick/

Eating at the edge

          In Horwitz’ article, she discussed people’s behavior about eating nowadays, and came up with the conclusion that people were “eating on the edge”. The food was also changing as with people’s behavior. Horwitz used an example of soup to prove his idea. She wrote, "What was once an archetype of the commensal is now widely available in a variety of single-serving packages" (42). Single-serving packages means that the soup is put in a separate package and it is just enough for one people. This reason for the existing of this package is people now would like to eat alone. People’s attitude about food changed a lot. They once ate their food on time, and mostly, they chose to eat their friends. During eating, they would like to communicate with their friends, and share their own experiences. Nevertheless, people nowadays would never done like that. They ate their food in their suitable time, and usually, they preferred to eat their food when facing their computers or televisions. Horwitz also wrote that asynchronous shifted from eating together in mid-1960s to eating alone now (44).  It seemed impossible to them to have food on time with their friends. No more talking with others during their eating time. That sounds very terrible to the author. In this way, the distance between people will become longer and longer. With no more communication, the friendship will become thicker and thicker, and people could not get different information as before. In my mind, this was what the author defined as “eating at the edge”.

           Most of the time, I would like to eat with my friends. Although my friends in DU have different course schedules, luckily, they are often available when having meals. I always eat with them in Centennial Halls and Nelson Halls. During the meal, we talk and laugh together, and we all enjoy this period of time. However, one day I was late for my meal, all my friends have eaten up at their usual time, so I have to eat alone. I really felt strange, it was the most boring meal I have never had before! The strong feeling of loneliness came to me, and I could not even feel the taste of the food I was eating. In that time, I suddenly felt the importance to have the meal with my friends, and to talk and laugh with friends is really wonderful! After that, I begin to try my best to have my meal on time with my friends; I do not want to make myself “eat at the edge” as Horwitz wrote in her article.






                                                              Works Cited
Jamie Horwitz, "Eating at the Edge." Gastronomics: The Journal of Food and Culture, Vol. 0, No. 3 (Summer 2009), pp. 42-47

The observation of Star Kitchen

        I have come to Star Kitchen for morning tea with my friends on Sunday. Morning tea is a special meal that people in south China like to eat; it consists of different kinds of dim sums. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, there were so many customers waiting outside. It cost me about 15 minutes to wait before I finally enjoyed morning tea with my friends. In that day, we had Steamed Beef Meat Ball, Mango Pudding, Shrimp Dumpling and other dim sums. They were all very delicious, my friends and I did really enjoy the morning tea on that day.

        Star Kitchen is a traditional Chinese restaurant in Denver; it mainly provides morning tea and seafood.  Morning tea is available between 10:30 am to 2:00 pm. After that, customers could order by menu for seafood and other Chinese dishes. As a familiar of this restaurant, in my opinion, morning tea is more attractive than seafood.

        The decoration of this restaurant is in traditional Chinese ways. There is a red stage in the middle of the restaurant. When there is a birthday party, wedding and other activities like this, the stage will take effects. In the corner of this restaurant, there are tanks with seafood. If customers want to order seafood, they can go to these tanks directly and choose the seafood they like. Otherwise, there are also some Chinese paintings and calligraphies hanging on the wall.

        Customers in this restaurant are mainly Chinese, however, some non-Chinese customers will also choose to eat morning tea there. When you are having morning tea in this restaurant, you can hear people using English, Chinese and Cantonese to ask the food they want, and talking with their friends. Customers use chopsticks when they are having their dim sums. Even people who do not come from China are learning to use chopsticks. In my mind, this shows their respect to Chinese food culture, because chopsticks do represent an important part in Chinese food culture. Chinese people would like to talk and laugh loudly during morning tea, so it makes the restaurant very lively and noisy. Although some non-Chinese customers may consider the environment of this restaurant is very bad, actually, this is also a reflection of Chinese food culture. Unlike people from other countries who regard the behavior is the most important when having a meal, Chinese people mainly focus on the atmosphere. The more lively the atmosphere, the happier they feel. After having eaten up morning tea, Chinese customers may not choose to leave directly. Most of the time, they would like to order a pot of tea, and talking with their friends. On the contrary, non-Chinese customers would like to leave directly, the reason may be that they know a little about Chinese tea culture, and they may not get accustomed to the taste of Chinese tea.

        To different customers, they have different reasons for coming to this restaurant. Chinese customers could enjoy the taste of their familiar food as Star Kitchen could provide very authentic dim sums. As everyone knows that it is very hard for Chinese people to enjoy the taste of American food because it is totally different from the food in China. Another attraction this restaurant could provide for Chinese customers is that they can order the menu in Chinese. Sometimes, Chinese people may make mistakes in order the food in an American restaurant because they are not able to understand the menu. Otherwise, Chinese customers could feel as if they were at home because by the time they enjoy their morning tea, there are also so many other Chinese customers eating in this restaurant. Most of the non-Chinese customers come to this restaurant may just for an ethnic food experience. But we cannot ignore a fact that the delicious taste of Chinese food may also attract some non-Chinese customers.

        In China, morning tea is popular mainly in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong. The dim sums there are very delicious. Nicholas Lander once wrote an experience of a wine merchant, “While he was enjoying Chinese food in Hong Kong, nothing he had so far eaten had touched the heights of the very best Japanese food in Tokyo. Fortunately, the possibility of a diplomatic incident was averted by the arrival of several waitresses with the first wave of dim sum.” Hong Kong and cities in Guangdong Province develop very quickly so people there are under great pressure coming from their work and life. It is necessary for them to have a period time and a way to rest, and then morning tea becomes very popular in these parts of China.

        Wherever Chinese people are having morning tea, mostly, they will come to the restaurant with their friends and their relatives to rest themselves. Sometimes they will also choose to have morning tea with their business partners; deals may probably be made during their morning tea.

        To most of Chinese people who choose to have morning tea in Star Kitchen, this restaurant is not only a good place for them to enjoy the delicious morning tea, but also a wonderful place to rest themselves and communicating with their friends. Star Kitchen does well in attracting both Chinese customers and non-Chinese customers. The menu in this restaurant has two visions- Chinese and English, and the waitresses are able to speak English, Chinese and Cantonese. In my mind, Star Kitchen is really a good Chinese restaurant in Denver.

  

Works Cited

Nicholas Lander. “Hong Kong dim sum.” FT.com 23 Mar. 2012: ABI/INFORM  Global, ProQuest. Web. 16 Apr. 2012.