The so called Western food culture refers to the sum of material and spiritual wealth created and accumulated by Westerners in the long-term production and consumption of food.Characteristics of western food culture.The west has a long history, in the process of its development to create a unique food culture, enjoy a high reputation in the world, its main characteristics are roughly five aspects.
1. Systematic diet books.
Food classics, also known as cooking classics, mainly refers to the special record and discussion of food cooking works.
Due to the high social status and certain cultural accomplishment of Western chefs, while Westerners pay attention to analytical thinking and logical thinking, the author of Western food classics is equal to that of chefs and other professionals, and the content is equal to the summary and description of technology and specific experience as well as the analysis and discussion of scientific and general theories, which is systematic and rich.
It mainly includes four categories, namely cooking technology, cooking culture and art, cooking science and comprehensive. Among them, cooking technology and technical practice, technical theory and many other books; The category of culinary culture and art includes many classics such as culinary history, culinary aesthetics and philosophy, and culinary art. The category of cooking science includes many classics of cooking nutrition, cooking chemistry, cooking hygiene, food microbiology and so on. The more extensive and influential of the comprehensive category are the encyclopedic cookbooks and some narrative works.
2. Unique diet science.
The main research object of dietetic science is the technical practice of food processing and cooking, which reveals the knowledge system and social activities of the objective law of the development of dietetic cooking.
The content of western diet science is very rich, but its core is mainly the unique diet thought and science and technology and management.
In terms of food thought, Western philosophy pays attention to the separation and opposition between entity and void, forming the characteristics of the separation of heaven and man, the emphasis on form structure, and the emphasis on clarity in the cultural spirit and thinking mode, so that Westerners have their own unique ideas on food science, namely, the ecological view of the separation of heaven and man, the reasonable and balanced nutrition view, and the distinctive food view. It is emphasized that people’s dietary choice should only be suitable for the needs of people as independent bodies, and the types and quantities of food should be balanced and properly matched according to the needs of various nutrients of each part of the human body. Besides, the unique delicious taste of various raw materials should be highlighted through the cooking and processing of food raw materials, and the physiological needs should be satisfied.
In terms of food science, technology and management, the most significant and commendable feature is the standardization and industrialization of western cuisine. It places great emphasis on the systematic, precise and rational process of food processing and production, in strict accordance with a series of standards, the use of advanced machinery to process, produce food of stable quality, and carry out effective large-scale management. It is precisely because of the standardization of food production, stable product quality, extensive use of machines to achieve industrial production, coupled with large-scale management, Western cuisine has had earth-shaking changes and development.
3. The chequered history of food.
The history of Western food is very unique. In western countries, the long-term political division, the continuous migration of economic and cultural centers, to a large extent, led to the history of Western cuisine presented a mobile plate, unbalanced development pattern, the development of major countries’ cuisine in each important historical stage is extremely unbalanced.
In ancient times, the most prominent development of the Western diet was Italian cuisine. Italian food directly originated from ancient Greece and Rome, is the longest history of western food flavor school, can also be said to be the originator of Western food. Until the end of the 16th century, Italian food was very prosperous and became the leader of ancient Western food with its simple style.
In modern times, the western food development has made brilliant achievements, the world attention is the French food. It is deeply influenced by Italian cuisine, but on the basis of absorbing the characteristics of Italian cuisine to a great degree, combined with its own advantages to develop and grow, and eventually formed different from Italy’s French characteristics, and outshone the blue and became the absolute ruler of Western food from the 17th century to the 19th century, can be called the king of Western food.
In modern times, although Italian cuisine and French cuisine are still thriving and prosperous, it is British cuisine and American cuisine that make people feel fresh and shocked. They are more or less influenced by Italian cuisine and French cuisine, but eventually organically combined with the inherent characteristics of the local, and the use of modern science, technology and ideas, so that the traditional cooking methods and cooking tools have a qualitative change, with their own cooking style, so as to become one of the most important representatives of modern western diet. Among them, in the mid-20th century, American cuisine gradually competed with Italian cuisine and French cuisine and became the leader of the trend of Western cuisine. It can be said that American cuisine is a real upstart.
4, exquisite food production skills.
Westerners attach great importance to excellence and the pursuit of perfection in the making of food. They all show their exquisite skills in the making of dishes and tea wine.
Taking the cooking techniques as an example, the use of raw materials is very fine, and different cooking methods are often selected according to the different parts and quality characteristics of raw materials.
In terms of cutting, it is very simple, using more basic knife method and less mixed knife method (” flower knife “). The basic form of raw materials is relatively simple, and the main course shape is mostly large and thick pieces.
In the cooking, cooking method is unique, commonly used air and solid as heat transfer medium cooking methods, such as baking, iron plate, iron grill, etc. In seasoning, a unique style, emphasis on pouring flavor after heating, often made alone to season, but also use spices, wine, dairy products to season.
In terms of the shaping and beautification of dishes, the beauty of patterns is emphasized, and the setting of dishes is simple and practical. It is not only simple and elegant, but also natural and casual. Most of the things on the plates are edible, integrating decoration and eating, and rarely decorating for decoration.
5, a large variety of diet.
The West is a multi-country, multi-ethnic region with a long history. Westerners, especially professional chefs and housewives, have created thousands of various dishes and drinks in a long time.
In the aspect of dishes, many dishes are conceived in different social backgrounds. If we can sort out and divide them from the perspectives of the history and the objects of food, they can be divided into different categories, such as folk dishes, palace dishes, national dishes and restaurant dishes.
From the perspective of region, due to the differences in natural conditions, products, people’s living habits, economic and cultural development, western countries have formed a large number of flavor schools, among which, the most famous and most representative are Italian cuisine, French cuisine, British cuisine, American cuisine, German cuisine, Russian cuisine and so on. Most of these famous dishes have their own unique development history, exquisite cooking skills, and even a variety of beautiful legends or allusions. In each country, different regions and different historical stages also have different local dishes, and most of them have strong local characteristics and different styles of cooking art.
In terms of drinks, there are mainly wine and coffee. Taking wine as an example, there are many types of western wine, which can be classified according to production technology and raw materials, as well as according to origin, color, sugar content, state and drinking method. If according to production technology, they can be classified into brewed wine, distilled wine, mixed wine, etc. Among them, the famous varieties of brewing wine include wine, beer, etc., the famous varieties of distilling wine include brandy, rum, whiskey, gin, vodka, etc., and the famous varieties of mixing wine include aperitif, sweet wine, liqueur, etc. In addition, cocktails also highlight the characteristics of the Western wine.
