EAST TO WEST

I put these four pictures together in a collage, and I named it EAST TO WEST. It is obvious that what I am presenting in this collage is acculturation. East Asians accepted those typical western countries’ food many years ago, like burgers and fries; and now, people from western countries are also fund of Asian food, like the man eating moon cake in the picture. Food is not a basic daily supply for human beings any more, but also could be a great tool for cultural exchange.

Hunan cuisine-smoked meat

I was born in a Province called Hunan in southern China, and my parents and I moved to Beijing when I was 12. However, my family is still keeping the taste of Hunan cuisine dishes. There are eight different Cuisines in China. One famous cuisine is Hunan cuisine, which is original from Hunan Province. Hunan cuisine consists of local Cuisines of Xiangjiang Region, Dongting Lake and Xiangxi coteau. It characterizes itself by thick and pungent flavor. Chili, pepper and shallot are usually necessaries in this division. Different from spicy dishes in other regions, the Hunan cuisine dishes looks good, smells better, and tastes the best. Also Hunan cuisine chef mainly focus on three aspects of the dishes. The first thing is they must be Skilful of using kitchen knives, because they want to make sure each dish has a delicious taste and a beautiful shape. Secondly, chefs know how to make sour and spicy dishes by adding various kinds of seasonings. Thirdly, adopting a wide variety of techniques is helpful for a Hunan cuisine chef to be creative on making new dishes.

In China, people know that Hunan people usually pay attention to details and creative. That characteristic could be exemplified by what I mentioned above. Detail is an important concept for Hunan people, and that is why Hunan People can make such delicious dishes.

The most common dish in Hunan is smoked meat, like bacon in western countries, but that tastes even better. Because of the location of Hunan Province (southern China), the air there is moist, and food there are easily getting musty, so Hunan people use their intelligence to smoke the meat in order to store it to pass the cold wet winter. And in modern times, smoked meat becomes a regular dish for the spring festival and other big events in the family to celebrate all the relatives getting together. This tradition shows that Hunan people are kind and like to be together with family members. I think this is a sweet characteristic of Hunan people.

As people around the world accept the Hunan cuisine, it is not hard to find a Hunan restaurant overseas. I know a very good Hunan restaurant in Columbus, but I can’t its English name. Maybe later I can post in the blog.