Unit Three

Chinese Food

Background information

Chinese cuisine has a number of different schools with their local flavors, but the most influential and typical known by the public are the “Eight Cuisines”: Shandong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine, and Anhui Cuisine. The essential factor that establish the form of the different varieties are complex and include history, cooking features, geography, climate, resources and life styles.

Cantonese food features a wide range of ingredients. Its cuisine lays emphasis on deep frying, stewing and especially on the color of the dishes. Sichuan dishes are distinguished for being “spicy and hot”. Their uniquely hot, pungent flavor is created by a mixture of spices and condiments, including red pepper, garlic and ginger. Zhejiang cuisine consists of hundreds of small delicacies from its main cities, the chief techniques of cooking being frying, stir-fry, braising, and steaming thus rendering the dishes both salubrious and savory.

Kenneth Lo

Kenneth Lo (1913-1995), born Lo Hsiao Chien in Fuzhou, China, was an ambassador of Chinese cuisine to the West. He wrote more than 30 books on chinese cooking, influential in America and Europe. His books include New Chinese Vegetarian Cooking (1987) and Encyclopedia of Chinese Cooking (1990). His success came with his book Chinese Food, which came out in the early 1970’s, at a time of growing interest in Chinese cooking in Britain and the Untied States.

He founded the Chinese Gourmet Club in 1976 and Ken Lo’s Kitchen, Europe’s first Chinese cooking school, in 1980, both in London. In 1980, he, his wife and some partners founded a London restaurant, which turned out to be one of the best Chinese restaurants in the country.

Kenneth Lo is irreplaceable in diffusing Chinese cuisine culture and plays an important role in Chinese-foreign catering culture communication history.

Discussion Qs:

-What do you know about the difference between Chinese and western eating habits?

-Do you like brunch? How many meals a day do you think

should be eaten? Do you usually eat at home or at a

restaurant?

1. I'm freezing my buns off today! I wish I'd brought my coat to school!

I forgot my coat today. I am very cold. The buns are freezing.

2. These idioms are a piece of cake to learn!

The idioms are eating cake. These idioms are difficult to learn. These idioms are easy to learn.

3.  Wife:   Honey, guess what? We have a bun in the oven! Iheard from the doctor today.      Husband: Oh, that's great! I'm so happy!

They are going to have buns for dinner. They are going to have a baby. The wife is baking some buns for the doctor.

4.  Susan: Hi! What are you talking about?       Mary: Oh, we are talking about Hollywood beefcake. Who do you like?      Susan: I think Arnold Schwartzenegger is beefcake!

Arnold is very handsome. Arnold lives in Hollywood. I am hungry.

5. I saw a very cheesy movie last night. You wouldn't believe how bad it was!

The movie was excellent.

The movie was expensive. The movie was poorly made.

6. I just bought the newest cheesecake poster of Pamela Lee to hang in my dorm room.

I bought a poster of a pretty girl.

I love to eat cheesecake. Pamela Lee likes to eat cheesecake.

7. When I went skating yesterday, I fell on my buns four times! Ouch!

I fell on my buttocks. I fell on my bread. I fell on my friend.

Text Structure: Para1-4: The author discusses the contrast between

the Chinese attitude and the Western attitude toward food.

Para 5-6: The part explains how Chinese food has

become an international food. Para 7-9: The writer discusses the nature of Chinese

food in this part.

Rhetorical features: eg:Many people in the West are gourmets

and others are gluttons. alliteration: repetition of the first sound or letter of a

succession of words, which helps to convey a sort of melodious quality.

Qs Para 1-4 How is food different from music, a lecture,

a conversation? (never be integrated into one’s body or spiritual

and moral fibre, one may not attend to them whole-heartedly/ Yet food is different. It requires our serious treatment. )

How does the author make his idea clear? (comparison contrast raising two questions)

Why is it a difficult question for a westerner?

(food is no more than something that satisfies their hunger. They could hardly see its moral effect. )

What’s the Chinese attitude towards food? (the first happiness in life) What does “to eat with a capital E” mean? (to be entertained socially so

the environment and the position are deemed as the crucial factors to consider. But for Chinese, eating is the sole purpose)

Para 5-6 Why does the author mention “from Hong Kong t

o Honolulu to Hoboken to Huddersfield”? (located in different areas; randomly chosen just

to show the ubiquity of Chinese food. ) What has helped the spread of Chinese food to t

he rest of the world? (people from Hong Kong opened restaurants; th

en , western people became interested in the pursuit of sensual pleasure, break the old western habits; third, sensual concept is an inherent element of Chinese food. )

Para7-9 (nature of Chinese food)

- How does the writer explain that the traditional high-quality Chinese meal is a serious matter?

- - (figures to show how complicated and time-

consuming it is to prepare the Chinese meal. Lists several methods to show cooking is no easy task. )

- Why is a Chinese meal compared to a religious ceremony?

- (just like a religious ceremony that follows significant ritual procedure, a Chinese meal proceeds with carefully planned dishes, where the harmonies and contrasts of elements not only whet one’s appetite but also manifest the Chinese view on life. )

What else must be pleased besides the palate? Why?

(The eye, too. The philosophy that underlies Chinese food and everything else is Taoism, which signifies the proper human conduct and the ultimate harmony of the universe. In the enjoyment of food, the eye, as well as the palate, is the essential element to please. If the eye fails to be pleased, these essential elements are no longer in harmony. )

Language Points: Para1-4 attend to : to take care of , look after, deal

with eg: His company helps employees ~ the

ir elderly relatives. indifferent: without interest or concern eg: She was utterly ~ to his irritation. He is ~ to praise or blame, about s

uccess or failure.

-profoundly: extremely eg: He could hardly calm down after that ~ di

sturbing experience. -derive from: to come from a source or origin eg: The word “deduct ” ~s from Latin.

- ecstasy: sudden intense feeling or excitement- eg: He is in an ~ of joy. - smother: to cover closely or thickly eg: The cook ~ed a steak with mushrooms.

Para 5-6

-marked: striking; conspicuous eg: John worked really hard. He showed ~

improvement in all the tests. There is a ~ increase in economy. -assert: to declare strongly eg: He ~ed boldly that he was innocent of

the crime. It is nonsense to ~ that smoking does

not affect people’s health.

-ubiquitous: seeming to be everywhere eg: His ~ influence was felt by the whole family. Earth’s ~ atmosphere is essential for life. -bedeck: to decorate; to hang ornaments or decoration

s on eg: He led us into a room ~ed with tinsel. -infamous: deserving of or causing an evil reputation eg: He is ~ for saying that cheating is the way the g

ame is played.

sensual: pertaining to, inclined to, or preoccupied with the gratification of the senses or appetites; carnal; fleshly.

adj. 沉湎于声色口腹之乐的；肉欲的；与官能享受有关的 感官上的

Chop suey:

-crucial: of highest, greatest, or most critical importance

eg: The behavior of the oceans is a ~ aspect of global warming.

- Part and parcel: an essential part that must not be ignored

- eg: Unemployment is ~ of the bigger problem- a sagging economy.

-

-average: typical, common, ordinary eg: People of ~ intelligence can read novels a

ppreciatively. - inherent: existing as a natural and permanent qu

ality- eg: The drug has certain ~ side effects. - - phenomenal: very remarkable, amazing- eg: He enjoyed ~ success as a race car driver.

- She has ~ memory.

fastidiously: with excessive care or delicacy.

eg: He stared ~ at the dirty table. He ~ copied every word of his notes onto cle

an paper. chore: a hard or unpleasant task; a smal

l job that someone has to do regularly eg: It is a real ~ to stand in line to buy food ever

y day.

contrive: to make or invent something in a skillful way

eg: In 1862, a technique was ~ to take a series of photographs showing stages of movement.

alter: to change eg: Her schedule has ~ed dramatically.

conform to : to act in accordance with; to comply with

eg: Her clothes are ~ed to fashion

Palate: the sense of taste eg: We’ll have a dinner to delight the palat

e. Elusive: hard to express or define eg: He tried to recall the ~ thought he had

had months before. Piquant: having a pleasantly sharp or stron

g taste eg: With the ~ tomato sauce, the dish tast

es much better.