Jason Ross
*One dominating feature of traditional Chinese cooking is the lack of any one defined archetype. In the past, Chinese food types varied widely based not only upon geography location, but also social stratification. Chinese gourmets used to argue (we have recorded works on the subject) whether Chinese cooking could be grouped into 2, 4, 6, or 8 different groups. However, in the modern era migration, communication improvements and food storage methods have smeared the once-defined designations.
While this culinary flexibility is a ‘soft’ fact, derived from historical observation, two historical explanations exist.
1)
*Trepang, or sea cucumbers. Highly sought after for nourishment
and medicinal qualities, not for taste. By middle 19th century
*“Bird Nests”. Made of the dried saliva of
the swiflet species found exclusively on one side
of one small island (
2) Because
Turning to the modern era and Globalization
*In the modern era, Chinese food has been ‘globalized’ for nearly a century, reaching almost every corner of the world. However, it has not followed current theories of global proliferation that describe globalization (food or otherwise) as flowing outwards, fueled by financial backing from the center. Instead, Chinese cooking, especially in restaurants, has moved to new areas (pushed mostly by immigration) and reinvented itself, based upon local food tastes, ingredients and taboos. This is the core concept in global Chinese food; it changes based upon time, place, local tastes and local ingredients. Interestingly, while this food is undergoing a creative process, dishes often become ‘standardized’ to a specific region. A good example is the Western invention of fortune cookies. While several competing stories explain their precise origins, they are an agreed upon early 20th century Californian creation, accredited to Americanized moon cakes.
*In tracing the diaspora
of Chinese cooking the critical concept is patterns and periods of immigration.
Data is not currently available on all areas of Chinese immigration
as linked to food, but in
1) 19th Century Cantonese peasants. During this period, few job possibilities existed and opening, or working at, a Chinese restaurant was a good option. ‘Chop suey,’ (a mixed plate of ‘Chinese’ food) was created from the synthesis of peasant cuisine and local tastes.
-WWII created
a new wave of global migration.-
2) 1960-1970’s. New Chinese immigrants came primarily from central
and northern
3) 1980-current. Higher levels of education and expected income,
from a wider range of the Chinese population, including