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.
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.
I almost went blind reading it, but I gather that knives and forks are considered weapons and not appropriate eating untensils. (Howeverm I think I could hurt someone with a chopstick.) But I like the idea of bite-size pieces as I think westerns often put too much in their mouths at one time....especially some men!
ReplyDeleteInteresting!
ReplyDeleteGood blog on the food!
ReplyDeleteBarbaric? I think watching me try to stab pieces of food and get them into my mouth before they fall off is way more unappealing lol!
ReplyDeleteGood Blog!
ReplyDelete