西方饮食文化

西方饮食文化 An Brief Introduction to Western Food Culture Abstract Food culture refers to the technical, scientific and artistic aspect in the process of the food production and food consumption, the development and utilization of food ingredients in specific social groups, as well as the diet-based customs, traditions, ideology and philosophy, in a word, the sum of all the food things of a combination of the way, process, function of food production and consumption. This paper will talk about the western food culture briefly to help eastern people know something about western food culture. Key words western food culture,host, dining manner, table manner Western food culture is different from us Chinese. It has a lot of distinct features. There are four parts in there which are cooking skills, culinary art and culture, culinary science and comprehensive culinary. It has distinct diet science, and the western people pay more attention to the nutrition of the food. Italian food is the ancestor of western food, and then French food is the king of it, and American food is the new nouveau riche. 1Western dining manners 1.1 The place of utensils The western people not only focus on be full, but pay more attention to the dining atmosphere. In order to be more proper when we eat western-style food, let us learn something about table manner. One distinct feature is that there are so many tableware: folks, glasses, silver, plates. For the tableware is placed based on the order of the dishes, we should put the soup plate in the very front of our seats. Bread plates are to the left of the main plate, beverage glasses are to the right. Salad fork, knife and soup spoon are further from the main plate than the main course knife, fork and spoon. Dessert utensils are either placed above the main plate or served with dessert. 1.2 Table manners First of all, we should know some common sense about the seat order. The host will sit at the head of the table, and the hostess sits opposite. Then the most and second important guests sit on either side of the hostess. The most important guest’s wife will sit at the right of the host, and the second will sit at the left. But if it’s not a form meal, it does not matter men and women sit apart one by one. In formal meals, the napkins are made of cloth, and they are folded very beautiful. In such situation, if you use them to clear your mouth or nose is really mannerless. At more formal occasions, all diners will wait to place their napkins on their laps until the host or hostess places his or her napkin on his or her lap. When eating barbecue or some other messy foods such as cracked crab, a 'bib' napkin may be provided for and used by adults. Usually these foods are also eaten by hand, and wet wipes or paper napkins should be used to clean the hands. When using paper napkins, never ball them up or allow stains to show. When you actually begin to eat, chew with your mouth closed. Do not talk at an excessively loud volume. Refrain from coughing, sneezing or blowing nose at the table. Never tilt back your chair while at the table, or at any other time. Do not make unbecoming noises while eating. Do not play with food or table utensils. Do not single out or chastise someone who has shown poor table manners. Do not put your elbows on the table or slouch. When you want to leave, always ask the host or hostess to be excused before leaving. Do not stare at anyone while he or she is eating. Never talk on your phone at the table. If urgent, ask host or hostess to be excused, and go outside and apologize when returned. Do not eat food with your fingers unless you are eating foods customarily eaten with fingers, such as bread, french fries, chicken wings, pizza, etc. The fork may be used either in the American (use the fork in your left hand while cutting; switch to right hand to pick up and eat a piece) or the Continental (fork remains in the left hand) fashion -- either is now acceptable. The fork is used to convey any solid food to the mouth. The knife blade should be placed on the edge of your plate when not in use. The blade should always face inward. When you have finished eating soup, the spoon should be placed to the side of the saucer, not left in the bowl. Use your silverware from the outside moving inward toward the main plate. (Salad fork, knife and soup spoon are further from the main plate than the main course knife, fork and spoon. Dessert utensils are either placed above the main plate or served with dessert.) A prayer or blessing may be customary in some families, and as guests, you should join in even if they are not religious or do not follow the same religion. Most prayers are made by the host before the meal is eaten. Instead or in addition, a toast may be offered. 1.3 The way to eat western food It is very different to eat western food from Chinese. When eat bread, you may want to eat them piece by piece, and before eating, you will put the mutter on the bread first. When comes to sandwiches, you can cut it off if it is too big, and use the fork if needs to dip in the sauce, or eat sandwiches just holding by hands. Eating meat is just like eating big bread. Cut it into little pieces. One piece just for one bite, and one piece have been finished, then cut another piece. Do not cut it into pieces at one time. When there are bones in the meat, do not use bare hands to scrape meat from bones. Use the fork to fix the meat, and use knife to cut the meat through the bones, and eat the meat piece by piece. When the bones are not big, use the fork send them to mouth, split them to the fork, and put the bones on the plate. Salad is also a regular food in the western menu, it is necessary to know how to eat it. If the salad comes alone, just use the salad fork is OK. When it comes with the main course, for example, vegetable salad, then the main fork will be used, not the salad fork. When drinking soup, do not suck it with your mouth open, neither lick or smack your lips. Even if the soup is hot, you cannot blow it to cold with your mouth. When the soup is almost finished, turn over the soup plate with your left hand and finish it with your soup spoon. Eating pasta is also different from eating noodles in China. Do not use chopsticks, but use the fork to roll the pasta. Rolling four or five strip of it is just OK. It is also OK to use spoon and fork to eat the slippery noodles. Do not use your mouth directly, or you may make the juice everywhere. In lots of western countries, the fruit is served as the desert or serve with it. It is always served as salad or fruit plate with lots kinds of fruit. The key to eat the fruit is how to remove the pit. You cannot bite it as a whole. If there are forks and knives, use the knife cut the fruit into four pieces, and remove the peel and pit, then eat them with the fork. If there are not forks or knives, use your fingers to remove the pit and put it on the plate. It is really rude just spitting the pit on the plate. 2 The way to deal with five special circumstances The first is that what to do as when the host is doing thanksgiving prayer. Some people will do thanksgiving prayer by sitting or standing before eating, and the guests should do the same as them to show respect. Do not eat or drink anything before the prayer is finished. The second special situation is that when you got something stuck in your mouth. If your tooth are stuck with leaves, do not use the toothpick just at the dining-table, for it will make other people feel disgusting. You can drink some water or do to the bathroom to deal with it. Occasionally, you may eat some food you do not like, and you don’t have to suffer it. But also do not make other people feel awful. Pick up the napkin to cover your mouth, and spit it out. Then ask the host or waiter to give you another one. If that something is a worm, it is the time to show your courage and good manner. So do not scream in order to avoid scaring others. You can just tell the waiter or host to change it. We know that it is unwelcome if we eat onion or garlic for its smell.There are some solution to clear the smell. Use some mouthwash, chew some chewing gum, use some lemon slice to clean the inside of your mouth and tongue, and chew some tea or coffee bean. Spilling the drink or water in the host home is always make people feel awkward. What if this happens to you? Do not get panic, you can ask the host to clean it. If the blot is too big to clean at that moment, just ask the host to give a napkin or something to cover it and apologize to everyone. If you or your family broke something, you should gather the pieces and fix it by yourself. Then give it back when it is convenient for the host. It is ungraceful to bend down to pick up the forks or knives on the ground. It also will affect other people around and make your hands dirty. So you can ask the waiter to help you deal with it. The last but not least is that how to say goodbye to the host decently. There are some common sense to take leave at cocktail party after the dinner. If the cocktail party is not on weekends, you should say goodbye between 11 p.m. to 12 p.m. If it is on weekends, you can stay a little longer. And it is not polite too take leave very early or stay very late. You should express your thanks to the hostess face to face before you leave. During your acknowledgment, just say something you need to say and get away. Do not talk too much to let the host does his own things. If you have to leave for some urgent reasons, do not attract others’ attention to make them left. In addition, it is really necessary to write a letter, send an email, or make a phone call to express your thanks to the host after an informal dinner or other cocktail party. If you will meet again soon, make a face to face thanks is also polite. Summary and Comment This paper just make a brief introduction about western food culture, and it is not perfect. According to our knowledge about it, we know that their food culture is very different from that in China. Although they pay less attention to the good looking and delicious taste about the food, their food are more healthy and full of nutrition. We should learn from them that focus on the good looking and tastes as well as the balance of nutrition. Bibliography: [1]Carole Counihan. Food and Culture: A Reader. [J]. Buy & Book Reviews. 1997. [2]Li Weibing. The Food Culture of the Western Countries. [J]. China Business. 2001. [3]贾玉新，跨文化交际学，[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社.1997. [4]张亚红.中西方饮食文化差异以及餐桌礼仪的对比,[J]. 边疆经济与文 化.2009