I. Learning Objectives

1. Have a thorough understanding of the Chinese and Western Cuisine;

2. Understand the difference between Chinese and Western food culture;

3. Understand the difference between Chinese and Western table manners;

II. Learning Requirements

1. Discuss on the preview questions on Section III.

2. Finish studying 3 videos given by lecturer in 3.4.

2. Finish self-learning about the learning material in 3.4.

3. Finish all the exercises in 3.4.

4. Finish the extra reading.

III. Preview Questions

1. What are the eight schools of the Chinese cuisine?

2. What are the criteria of judging cuisine’s quality? 

3. What are the main cooking ways of the Chinese and Western cuisine respectively?

4. Please think about the difference between Chinese and Western table manners.

IV. Key Words / Useful Sentences / Sentence Structures

1. layout 摆盘

2. aroma香味

3. The more the quantity of dishes in a banquet, the warmer hospitality can be shown, and the more “face” he can earn.

宴会上菜肴的数量越多，越能体现待客热情，请客者越觉得有“面子”。

4. Compared with extravagant banquets in China, the scale of banquets in western countries is much smaller.

与中国奢华宴席相比，西方国家宴请的规模要小得多。

5. Habitually the host will serve some dishes with his or her own chopsticks to guests to show his or her hospitality.

习惯性地，主人会用自己的筷子为客人提供一些菜肴来表示他或她的好客。

6. If you accidentally burp, cover your mouth with a napkin and say “excuse me”.

如果你不小心打嗝，用餐巾捂住嘴说“对不起”

V. Extra Reading

First of all, the making method of Chinese food is different from Western-style food. In Western-style food cookbook, various ingredients such as the flour, sugar, butter etc. have been indicated several grams, several spoons or several cups, even the size of the egg will all be explained. I think it is like a testing laboratory. So, Making Western-style food is easy, so long as you according to cookbook manual. But it is not the easy thing that you want to make fine Chinese food. Even if you have bought the cookbook, it is not so easy. Because the Chinese cookbook will not tell you several grams of ingredient, for example salt, Chinese cookbook just tell you appropriate amount of salt, don’t tell you several gram, several spoon or several cup. Why? The taste of people who live in different places is different in China. There is a folk adage in China “south sweet, north salty, east hot and west sour”. So, a good cook rely on experience and skill when cooks in China. Second, the atmosphere of Chinese food is different from Western-style food while having a meal. The atmosphere of Western-style food is particular about scenery. The good restaurant is generally built in the beautiful mountaintop, park or the revolving dining-room of the city center high building. So Western-style food is “Eat the scenery” but not “Eat taste. The atmosphere of Chinese food is particular about taste and participation. Chinese food conquers the world with taste. There is a folk adage in China “If I want to conquer your heart, I will conquer your stomach first”. Everybody sits around table while eating Chinese food, everybody is eating the dish in the same plate, the hospitable host will also nip the dish into your bowl, it is so friendly. The friendship between person and person is deeper after a meal. Third, the way that Chinese and occidental praise food is different. Chinese praise food, will generally say: “Your dish is cooked very excellently, has caught up with the level of the restaurant”; but occidental praise food, will say just like what the home make.

　　首先，中西餐的烹调方法不同。西餐的烹调书中写明了面粉需要几克，糖需要几汤匙，黄油需要几杯等等，甚至连用到的鸡蛋的大小也有说明。烹调西餐就像在实验室里做实验一样。所以只要参考着烹调书，西餐是很好做的。但是要做出美味的中餐，即使你有参考书也不是一件容易的事。因为烹饪书里不会告诉你原料的用量，比如盐，只会告诉你“适量”，而不会精确到克。为什么呢？因为在中国，不同地域的人们口味不同。俗话说：南甜，北咸，东辣，西酸。所以，一个好厨师靠的是丰富的经验和技巧。其次，中西方的就餐氛围不同。在西方，人们看重就餐的环境。一家好的餐馆最好建在风景如画的山顶、公园或者城市中心的高楼上。所以西餐吃的不是味道，是环境。在中国，人们看重食物的味道与分享。中餐以美味征服世界。中国有句古话：欲征服人心，先征服人胃。进餐时，大家一起围坐在餐桌旁，所有人共同分享一个盘子中的食物，主人还会热情的为你夹菜。一顿饭后，人们之间的情谊会加深。第三，中西方赞美食物的方式不同。中国人赞美食物会说：“你的菜做的真好，都赶上饭店的水平了！”西方人却会说：你的菜和家里做的一样好！

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3