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/
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