Two Diet Cultures (FE7)

Chinese food and American food are very distinct. We believe that Chinese have abounded in diet culture and we are proud of with that. In Taiwan, we have hundreds of ways to cook food, such as steaming, coiling, frying and roasting.

Unlike American, we have rice as the essential part in our daily diet. Besides, we also prepare three to four dishes to match rice, such as frying vegetable, green pepper beef, tomato egg, etc. After finishing a meal Taiwanese like to drink a bowl of soup. People who come from Guangdong value the importance of soup. They would cook the soup with chicken or fish for almost 6-8 hours, because they believe that can extract the essence.

When I came to America, I was not used to American food. On the one side, Americans do not eat lots vegetables in their meal. They love to eat fresh vegetables with salad, but in my hometown, we think that it is unhealthy if you eat uncooked food. On another side, in my impression, American food is too greasy. They love to eat cheese, ham and creamy sauce, which has been considered as high fat food and may cause some heart disease and obesity.

However, all the impressions I have are based on the food provided by my dining hall and student center. And someone told me that it is not truly American food. Next time, if I have chance, I want to try the really and traditional American food. Maybe I will change my first impression with it.