Several years ago I was having a dinner with a group of Chinese students and asked what they thought of western food. Few of them had knowingly eaten it. Those who had only knew McD’s and KFC and thought it disgusting. This didn’t surprise me. Most Chinese visit once out of curiosity then never return. Yet these two chains do well here – by catering to children at celebratory birthday parties and by giving ‘gifts’ of toys to children on regular visits. The kids then pester their parents to return, not for the food but for another ‘gift’. The gifts are cheap crap. China’s government has criticised the practice but done nothing about it. And Chinese parents are notorious for never refusing their precious little darlings anything.
Western non-chain restaurants in China are 95% execrable and run and cheffed entirely by people who have never eaten western food. The few good ones never last outside of large cities with an ex-pat presence.
But back to those students. I asked them what they thought western people eat. Bread, steaks, pizzas and hamburgers were the top answers. I said I rarely eat steaks, seldom hamburgers and told them they’d never eaten real pizzas. Chinese pizza place’s offerings are bizarre and Pizza Hut are no better. Durian pizza, FFS?
So I asked them if they eat bread, fish, pork, beef, shrimp, etc., listing the common proteins. Yes, they said (as I knew they would). I then went on and listed common vegetables, then starches, then spices. Yes, yes, yes,…
When I told them we eat all the same things, they were astonished. When I said we eat rice and noodles they were dumbfounded. They thought only Asia eats rice and didn’t know that tomatoes and chillies originated in the Americas as did many of the fruits they eat. And these weren’t dumb people, by any means. They were master’s degree or PhD candidates.
They didn’t know that potatoes (also from the Americas) are a staple food in much of the world. I explained that if my mother served a meal to my father without potatoes, he would have thought she had lost her marbles, just the same as they would if their mothers served dinner with no rice. This misconception I kind of understood. For a start, China produces more potatoes than any other, with 25% of the market, but most of that goes to animal fodder or some industrial uses, Until very recently potatoes were only regarded as peasant or emergency food for humans. Still, they are only ever used a yet another vegetable in Chinese cuisine; never as a staple.
They only real difference between western food and Chinese food is the serving. Nearly all meals are served family style with sharing plates to be sampled bite by bite at random.
I’m not trying to put my students down. Most western people know little about food in China. Even chefs!
