The Comparison and Contrast Between China and American’s Dietetic Culture

The Comparison and Contrast between China and American’s Dietetic Culture

Diet, is the primary prerequisite for human survival and the material basis of improving a person’s physical fitness, but also social development. At the early barbarism period, humans and other animals drink and eat only in their instincts. However, when human beings began to use fire to cook raw food materials, human beings began to get into a real civilization. Especially cooking with the pottery, food products had become a wisdom and skill of human creation. Humanity's diet would have a major difference from animal’s diet, it has a cultural property.

Therefore, the history of the human diet becomes to a history of human being adaptation the nature, conquer and transform the nature in order to achieve their own survival and development, and the process of history become to the human food culture gradually.

Culturally, the diet in China has a long history as the culture of five thousand years. There is an old saying in China society that says, “the people regard diet as their god, and they also cherish what given by god.” this shows the diet culture has a large proportion of the whole Chinese culture.

When the Chinese are facing the food culture that comes from a foreign country, we have to make a decision that whether the food can be selected or not. On one hand, Chinese should not be addicted in the enjoyment of gustation, then leading to excessive intake of high-calorie foods, make a negative effect on their bodies. On the other hand, we should not reject the food that is imported from other countries.

With the influence of the worldwide range WTO and globalization, all around the world are getting a closer contact. Chinese food culture and Western food culture keep on producing collision and fusion. Indeed, the fusion of two different cultures will take a long time, it should be understood in a proper attitude, be respected and be accepted by other cultures.

First of all, the main raw material of food is different. Dietetic culture in China is mainly originate in the agriculture. This is the reason why Chinese people use crops as the primary food, and the meat as the second need of food. Not only the technology of agriculture is at a high level, but also the land of China is larger. There are a huge number of crops rely on the soil. On the contrary, the cultured husbandry does not occupy a big part of people’s table.

Move our sight to the other side of the earth. The dietetic culture of American is mainly originate from the animal husbandry. The culture of animal husbandry determined the dietetic structured in American is partial to meat and dairy. The climate in the mid or east of American is unfit for the plant of crop, so they use meat as the primary food, naturally, the crops becomes their second need of food.

In American-style meal table, meat is always the representation of it without any doubt. As we all know, America is an emigrant country from Europe. Since the ancient Europe, the European stress the flavor and the peculiarity of different part of an animal. Therefore, no matter how to cook the meat, they all hope that they can fully release all kinds of meat’s flavor. Also, the cheese is the essential food of an American-style food, especially in Wisconsin.

The second thing is the kitchenware. In China, there are tons of methods to cook. However, the kitchenware never changes even thousands years past. Ever since our forefathers made their steps into the Iron Age, the shape of cookware has never changed. In order to mix all the seasoning with materials, the bottom of the kitchenware always be built in a circle. This shape of the pot makes chef easier to stir the food in the pot.

In America, the methods of cooking are also numerous. Such as bake, decoct, or deep-fry. So their mainly kitchenware are skillet, oven, etc. Most of them eat meat instead of vegetables. That’s also the reason why forks and knives are the mainly dinnerware in western countries, include America.

The last one is the viewpoint of cooking. Americans emphasize science and nutrition in their diet, so the whole process of cooking is acted strictly in accordance