Thoughts on food

2004-07-27 shamu 已有 23 条评论

When I came back to the US from my one-month visit home, the first thing my Chinese friends asked me was always “how did you like the food”? Looking into their envious eyes, I knew my answer would probably upset them:” I only enjoyed the food for the first ten days of my trip.”
That was my honest answer, and often was greeted by the what-are-you-talking-about disbelief for the next ten seconds or so, until I broke it with the following:
“Yeah, my stomach was so overwhelmed that after ten days it just took whatever was offered and could not really tell the difference.”
My mind fast rewinded to those days in Chengdu and Beijing. Even days right before I came back. Yes, like every Chinese about to go back, I visited the food forums and downloaded the Beijing food map, Chengdu gourmet directory, etc. I’ve asked my Chinese friends here what they had last time they went back. I started to make plans for my little food tour. I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days before my trip, thinking of all the food that are waiting for me, those I grew up with, those I have read about for so many times online and those I haven’t heard about. What a joy to see, and eat, all the foods I’d been dreaming and reading about!!
It was true. For the first ten days, at least.
Then I started to realize how important the atmosphere can be in an dining experience. It’s one thing to eat the food you grew up with in the environment you grew up with–like the 卤煮火烧 I had in a small no-name restaurant in Xisi—don’t take me wrong, it WAS delicious. Yet when the food you want to enjoy is always served in a noisy, steamy, crammed setting, it takes away the joy so much that the taste simply does not matter any more. I tried to blame myself for such snobbishness and force myself to forget the environment and concentrate on just the food.
That did not work. Like foreplay to sex, the atmosphere is indispensable to enjoying good food. Yet unlike the foreplay, I found it out the hard way.

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作者 Be the first 于大约 20 年前发表.

Agree with you. Never really think Chinese food is especially delicious. Those expensive and famous dishes are either just because of the rare raw materials, or simply becasue of the tedious preparing processes.
As you claimed, the dining environment, hygiene condition, and especially, the eating habits of most Chinese males, more often than not ruined those otherwise perfectly good meals.
As you can see around yourself, Chinese food is just about the cheapest meal you can get anywhere around the world. It does tell one thing or two.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

I didn’t say I hate Chinese food–in fact I still think it’s the best food in the world. I just wished the restaurants paid more attention to other details.
As to the affordability of Chinese food, it’s all due to competition–those Fujian people ruined the game. If you know what I’m talking about.
作者 dulele 于大约 20 年前发表.

different person has different taste.
do you like little eat?^_^some ordinary towns or 偏僻的streets may have great food.
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

This is China, still a developing country. That’s the reason many people go to developed countries to study, work or live.
When you get something, you will lose something. You just can not get everything, only can pick what you think is more important to you.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

Dulele:
I like 小吃。 I went to 隆福寺小吃店 every time back except this time. In Chengdu, I had some great “small eats” in the hotel. Too bad I didn’t have much time to tour the streets of Chengdu.
Wendy:
I agree. I was just expressing my wish. Of course, you can get both taste and atmosphere in one restaurant, with enough money. And I have been to a few places like that this time.
BTW, where are you? What’s your preference if you can’t both?
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

Yes, we can “get both taste and atmosphere in one restaurant, with enough money.” But how about the street and people?
I am in mainland China. If I were single and could not have both, I would prefer to stay where I could find a nice job. If I were married and could not have both, I would consider my another half’s preference.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

During my short stay, I couldn’t get enough of the hustle and bustle of Chinese cities. They are so lively compared to the small town I live in the US.
So I guess that’s what I miss most about China, not the food.
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

Working in China, living in a quiet town of US.–Even American want to have this kind of life, I believe.:)
作者 jfs 于大约 20 年前发表.

I am an American living in China. I think all of us have a fondness for the food we grew up with. Fancy restaurants in China are like the fancy restaurants all over the world, the food is not necessarily better, but they put up this atmosphere and other such things, so you pay for all this fluff in addition to the food. I do enjoy Chinese food, but I think sometimes when friends tell me about the differences in taste between this dish and that dish, the differences are in their minds only (just like wine tasters find nuances that I believe are purely imaginary. My biggest disappointment is when I return to the US and friends, with good meaning, invite you to go with them to a Chinese restaurant. It is just not the same and it is difficult to put on a good face. I had an American Chinese friend tell me he had the secret to overcoming the disappointment to American Chinese food, he went to McDonalds for two weeks straight after arriving in America, then after that The Chinese food really tasted great.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

Wendy:
I don’t work in China–I work and live here in this small, lifeless midwest town. It’s such a big contrast to the ever modernizing Chinese cities. I need time to adjust to the quiet life here.
jfs:
Good point. I wonder what your favorite childhood food is. Macaroni and cheese?
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

Shamu,
You misunderstood me. You said “They are so lively compared to the small town I live in the US. So I guess that’s what I miss most about China, not the food.”
So I said “Working in China, living in a quiet town of US.” –It’s perfect life.:)
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

jfs,
Haha, a foreign visitor also told me that after had so many “real” Chinese food here, he thought he couldn’t go back China town of his city for quite a time.
作者 HY 于大约 20 年前发表.

Mu,
Nice to see your blog!
I came back from China not longer ago and had a slightly different experience on food. I loved every meal or snack on the street I had. I stayed on the high end for the meals my mother allowed me to have outside. The prices are sometimes a bit high even in dollar terms. But, hey I only come back every two years or so. I still miss the lunch a very good friend treated me in Shanghai just before he sent me to the airport. Mmm… Fooooood…
作者 JFS 于大约 20 年前发表.

I just had a dinner today at a nice restaurant and one of our comrades is a government offical who travels to Europe and America quite often. He told us that there are a number of Chinese restaurents in LA and NY and a few other places that have excellent Chinese food, even better than what we were eating, but that in most places the Chinese food was not Chinese at all. Macaroni and Cheese, my parents were kind to me and I did not know that existed at all untill late in life. My favorite food was watermelon, not a particularly American food but it is what I most enjoyed. I recall reading somewhere that Julius Gaius Caeser was not particular interested in food and even ate a bowl of moldy fruit and made not comment about it. I sometimes feel that way also; wait, cheese. Yes, I miss cheese and one has a difficult time getting it here in China. Oh, and rice pudding, yes, I also miss that. When I was a young lad, my friend, a well educated Chinese fellow, was making disparaging remarks about rice pudding and I looked at him and laughingly said, “what is this, because you (Chinese, that is) had rice all these millenis and never developed rice pudding you are now jealous.” “Rice pudding is a great pudding” and I do like rice pudding.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

Wendy,
In fact, as jfs suggested, there are some excellent food in LA and NYC–some of our best chefs emmigrated to the US. That’s why when I go to LA, I always feel I’m half way home, like many Chinese students in the US. Even Houston has some of the best Peking Ducks I’ve ever had, including Beijing. If you ever visit Houston, try Peking Duck at 全聚德　or 都一处。It’s ironic but true.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

JFS:
Watermelon and rice pudding? No kidding! I don’t know if I can find another American that will give me the same answer.
That said, I don’t like to judge people’s taste on food. For one thing, people can hardly agree on the rules. For example, “juicy” is probably the most frequently used word to describe perfectly cooked meat here in the US, but that hardly enters the vocabulary of Chinese cooking.
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

Haha, I believe “there are some excellent food in LA and NYC”, because I heard that there are so many fashionable persons there. If I have chance to visit Houston or any other America city, I would like not go to Chinese restaurant. I have so many chances for that in my rest of life. So I would like to try some different things.
作者 JFS 于大约 20 年前发表.

Wendy:
You are quite right. I am always amazed at the Americans who come over here and immediately want to go out and eat at a Western restaurant. I have to chuckle to myself (because either they are clients or my bosses), why travel half way around the world and eat at a restaurant which you can find everywhere in American, and the food will probably be better. In Japan eat Japanese, in Korea, eat Korean, in Italy, eat Italian, in Great Britain, well, in England you can eat someone’s food.
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

Wendy:
Certainly. But you may want to try some ethnic food while in LA or NYC. Like Chinese food, they are as authentic as the food back in their own countries.
JFS:
Maybe for them, unlike you, food is not part of the fun of travelling. Rather, by eating food from home gives them a good feeling of not being far from home. It’s something I wouldn’t do but can understand.
Maybe we can start a forum or something on this. The comments are breaking into the twenties!
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

HY:
Sorry I missed commenting on your comment. It’s interesting to see the subtle difference in ordering food between us.
BTW, where did you have the memorable lunch in Shanghai? I want to try it out next time!
作者 Wendy 于大约 20 年前发表.

jfs & Shamu,
I feel that if you go to somewhere just for short time, try as much local food as possible. If you are going to stay there for a long time, take what you really like.
作者 qs 于大约 20 年前发表.

haha ,about food ? i love the topic!
u could see something about the food ,the restarant,the bar and so on here:
http://paowang.com/cgi-bin/bestbook/bestbook.cgi?user=qsct&view=column&password=&offset=156
read them if u like
作者 Shamu 于大约 20 年前发表.

qs:
I read it, but there’s nothing about food–it’s all about the setup and atmosphere. Very XiaoZi.

shamu

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