Project for English Final Paper 15th of May, 2012

FO O D AS A C U LT U R AL E LE M E NT

Costea Sabin XII A National Highscholl Mihail Sadoveanu, Pascani

Teacher: Elisabeta Haratu

Religion often depicts sacred spaces in the food and table settings, the preparation and consumption of food being mankinds oldest ritual. All religions agree to the fact that food, as the element that alows life through the energy it gives, is a connection to nature, being worshiped not for its taste, but for the symbol that it represents. Food is defined as being any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells in an effort to produce energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth. Food is often as diverse and as intricate a nd mankid itself, tracing back its origins to the very first men, accompanying humanitys development over thouzands of years. Although pretty much everything can become food, all dishes fall under some strict categories, and there are 5 major tastes recog nized by everybody. These are sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. In our evolution, we have educated ourselves to like primarly the tastes associated with high energy amounts (especially sweet), while we tend to consume things with a high percetage of sa turated fat for the same reason. Sweet is generally the most enjoyable taste, which originates from sugar , in its simple form( such as glucose or fructose) or its complex form, molecules that combine simple sugars in a variety of ways. Sourness is generated by acids, the most common being lemon and lime acid, used to enhance flavour by opening new taste dimensions. Saltiness is achieved by adding salt( which has many varieties and can also be enriched with different substances such as iodine), which enhances flavour but also helps preserve the food. Biterness is the least popular, a strong, pungent taste that cand only be found in certain foods. Umami, although relatively unknows in W estern culture, is a stape taste in the oriental universe, being the Japanese word for delicious. It is used to describe rich meat flavours, ingredients like salmon and mushrooms being recognized as having high amounts of umami. The majority of cultures also have a special cuisine, which promotes a traditional, unique set of flavours, which evolves over time when this culture comes in contact with other people.
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Gastronomy studies these traditions, together with preferences ( spicy or mild when it comes to seasoning, hot or cold when it comes to eating termperature). The more complex food cultures have an almost endless variety of cooking ingredients and techniques, generating a standalone food industry . Global cuisines may vary based upon food availability and trade, various climates and ecosystems, cooking traditions and practices, and cultural differences. Humans are omnivorous from a natural point of view, but tradition, ethics, moral principles, environmentalism and religion affect what and how we eat. The most popular food cultures are Italian, French, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Indian, American and Caju n, while in the 20th century a recognized International cuisine has also appeared. Even to this day, as preserving methods have improved and globalization continues to decrease the distance between different countries, a variety of whole new cultures are e merging, also producing a shift in the culinary traditions. One important example could be fusion cuisine, which incorporates elements from a variety of backgrounds, but is not labeled as a standalone style of cuisine. Italian Cuisine( cucina italiana) Italian cuisine has its origins before the 4th century B.C, with influences from the whole Mediterranean basin( including the African bank and Greek culture) and ancient Greek and Roman backgrounds. It is one of the most rich culinary cultures, noted for extreme regional diveristy and an interesting evolution( caused by the discovery of the New W orld ), ingredients such as potatoes, peppers and tomatoes being int roduced after the 16th century. Italian cuisine is caracterised by simplicity, cooks relying of the abudance and quality of the ingredients found in this space rather than intricate cooking methods, most dishes having anywhere between 4 and 10 ingredients. Recipes are created and distributed to the younger generations, leading to very easy dishes, being one of the reason of the incredible popularity of this culture worldwide. Italian cuisine has a great variety of different ingredients which are commonly used, ranging from fruits, vegetables, sauces, meats, etc. In the North of Italy, fish (such as cod ), potatoes, rice, maize, corn, sausages, pork, and different types of chees es are the most common ingredients. In addition, wine is an important ingredient, used to compliment the culinary experience in addition to its direct use in cooking, Italy being both the number one
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producer and the number one consumer in the world of this beverage. In Northern Italy stuffed pasta, polenta and risotto are equally popular, ingredients including several types of fish and seafood dishes; basil, nuts and olive oil are very common. In Emilia-Romagna, common ingredients include ham ( prosciutto), sausage different sorts of salami, truffles, grana, ParmigianoReggiano, and tomatoes Traditional Central Italian cuisine uses ingredients such as tomatoes, all kinds of meat, fish, and pecorino cheese. In Tuscany and Umbria pasta is usually served alla carrettiara. (a tomato sauce spiked with peperoncini hot peppers) . Finally, in Southern Italy, tomatoes fresh or cooked into tomato sauce peppers, olives and olive oil, garlic, artichokes, oranges, ricotta cheese, eggplants, zucchini, certain types of fish (anchovies, sardines and tuna), and capers are important components to the local cuisine. Lunch is taken in Italy between 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm (usually, people from Southern Italian regions start lunch slightly later, from 1.15 pm to even 2.15 pm). Traditional formal Italian lunches are a lengthy affair, which usually involves an appetizer, antipasto as starter. This usually consists of cold cuts, cheese, bruschette or small sandwiches, olives and sauce dips. This is usually followed by a first cours e, such as various kinds of pasta, soup, ravioli, or risotto. The main course is usually meat or fish, with a vegetable garnish. The meal is rounded up by a dessert or fresh fruit. Most families still usually tend to have a traditional lunch on Sundays, even if the busy schedule does not allow this kind of table to happen each day. Pasta,the staple of Italian cuisine, is split in two major styles: dried and fresh. Dried pasta made without eggs can be stored for up to two years, while fresh pasta will keep for a co uple of days . Pasta is generally cooked by boiling. Under Italian law, dry pasta (pasta secca) can only be made from durum wheat flour or durum wheat semolina, and is more commonly used in Southern Italy compared to their Northern counterparts, who traditionally prefer the fresh egg variety. Durum flour an d durum semolina have a yellow tinge in color. Italian pasta is traditionally cooked al dente (Italian: "firm to the bite", meaning not too soft). Outside Italy, dry pasta is frequently made from other types of flour (such as wheat flour), but this yields a softer product that cannot be cooked al dente. There are many types of wheat flour with varying gluten and protein depending on variety of grain used.

Particular varieties of pasta may also use other grains and milling methods to make the flour, as speci fied by law. Some pasta varieties, such as pizzoccheri, are made from buckwheat flour. Fresh pasta may include eggs (pasta all'uovo 'egg pasta'). W hole wheat pasta has become increasingly popular because of its health benefits over pasta made from refined flour.

Italian cuisine is also a very important export of Italian culture, especially with the migrations to the USA. The vast array of ingredients meant that the cuisine could be easily adapted, leading to Italian -American specialties that originate from the Mediterranean, but take advantage of new -found culinary riches, especially the fish and seafood found in the best fisheries in the world. Italians that moved to the US imposed their own type of food rather than adopt a new lifestyle, pizza taking over as the main type of food( replacing the pasta in traditional Italian households found on the other side of the Atlantic) Coffee is also an important element of an Italian meal, this cultural space considering the other elements of a meal as important as food itself: the experience is complete only when one is accompanied by friends and family, with a good wine and some strong cofee.
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French cuisine( Cuisine franaise)

French cuisine is the most exquisite, the most advanced and the most complex cuisine in the word, with an amazing number of regional sub -cuisines from which Auguste Escoffier invented the haute cuisine, codifing and organising this extremely rich background. French cuisine has a rich heritage, contributing to all Western culture, that the UNESCO added it to the list of intangible cultural heritage, being the only cuisine that can boast such achievement ( Mexican cuisine was added too, in order to salute the efforts of preserving the traditions in Central America, under threat from American ideology). Beacause each region has its own special style of cooking, it is basically impossible to compare the northern regions( Alsace, Lorraine, Champagne) to the sout hern one ( Provence, Rhone Alpes). Paris and the Ile -de-France region have the best cuisine anywhere in the world, with more than 10.000 restaurants, this city hosting the most Michelin Guide establishments anywhere in the world. However, the structure of the meals is similar, with a simple breakfast (Le petit djeuner) is often a quick meal consisting of tartines (slices) of French bread with jelly or jam, croissants, pain aux raisins or pain au chocolat also named chocolatine in the south of France (a pastry filled with chocolate) along with coffee or tea. The lunch (Le djeuner) is a two hour mid-day meal, but it has recently transformed into the one hour lunch break. In some smaller towns and in the south of France, the two hour lunch may still be customary. Sunday lunches are often longer and are taken with the family. Restaurants normally open for lunch at noon and close at 2:30 pm. The diner (Le dner) often consists of three courses, hors d'uvre or entre (appetizers or introductory course, sometimes soup), plat principal (main course), and a cheese course or dessert, sometimes with a salad offered before the cheese or dessert. Yogurt may replace the cheese course, while a simple dessert would be fresh fruit. The meal is often accompanied by bread, wine and mineral water. Main meat courses are often
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served with vegetables, along with potatoes, rice or pasta. Restaurants often open at 7:30 pm for dinner, and stop taking orders between the hours of 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm. Some restaurants close f or dinner on Sundays. A typical type of restaurant if the brasserie, created by refugees in the Alsace region ( with strong German influences) , where one can enjoy a fine bottle of beer, together with light dishes, composed of mostly seafood and regional specialties.

Chinese cuisine Chinese people, living in the worlds most populous country and the second largest, have a culinary history that stretches for centuries, with exotic ingredients, special cooking methods and original tastes. Such as in other well -known food cultures, the regional differences are so obvious, that it is almost impossible to compare dishes from different parts of China, which is one of the most food-oriented cultures in the world.

In this part of the world, dinasties and rulers have changed almost every 50 years, each bringing his own favourite food and taste, in addition to the local background and various imports from central Asian countries or Europeans who came in search of rich trading grounds and brought staple western ingredients such as sheep and wheat. Generally, culinary equilibrium is sought -after in this country, respecting the Asian concept of harmony in every aspect of ones life. At the base of this complex system is the division between grains and other starch foods on one side and vegetable and meat dishes. To prepare a balanced meal, it must have an appropriate amount of both rice or noodle product and meat and vegetables, and ingredients are analised in order to provide necessary nutrients for the body as whole. The Chinese way of eating i s characterized by a notable flexibility and adaptability.A dish is made of a mixture of ingredients, its distinctive appearance, taste, and flavor do not depend on the exact number of ingredients, nor, in most cases, on any single item. The same is true f or a meal, made up of a combination of dishes. At times, a few more expensive items may be added to give subtle flavours , but if the times are hard they may be omitted without doing irreparable damage. If the season is not quite right, substitutes may be used. W ith the basic principles, a Chinese cook can prepare "Chinese" dishes for the poor as well as the rich and even in a foreign country without many familiar ingredients, the Chinese cook the way they do because of their need and desire for adaptabilit y. Another feature of Chinese food habits that contributed to their notable adaptability is the large number and great variety of preserved foods. This is a very important and unique element, as the climate is extremly unreliable at times, which lead to th e need of keeping food for extended period of times, thus giving birth to a vast array of preserving methods, Chinese people preventing even fragile ingredients from going bad. Food is preserved by smoking, salting, sugaring, steeping, pickling, drying, s oaking in many kinds of soy sauces, this people being ever ready in the event of hardship or scarcity. If we were to choose a regional cuisine, Guangdong (Canton) cuisine is the most internationally recognized( due to the large number of immigrants that s till eat as their ancestors did) , most people identifying the Chinese cuisine as a whole to the
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dishes that make up Cantonese tradition.I n Cantonese cuisine a number of ingredients such as Spring onion, sugar, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch, vinegar, and sesame oil suffice to enhance flavor, though garlic is used heavily in some dishes, especially those in which internal organs. Ginger, chili peppers, five-spice powder, powdered white pepper, star anise and a few other spices are used, but oft en sparingly. Canton has long been a trading port , leading to the early introduction of less popular ingredients in other parts of China. Besides pork, beef, and chicken, Cantonese cuisine incorporates almost all edible meats, including organ meats, chick en feet, duck tongue, snakes, and snails, some of which are not embraced by Western culinary traditions. Many cooking methods are used, steaming and stir-frying being the most favored due to their convenience and rapidity.

Indian Cuisine

Indian cuisine refers to dishes that come from the whole of the Indian peninsula, but also from neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, also leading to many versions of cuisines depending on the region they originate in. W hile this cultural space is renow ned for its exotic spices, that have caught the attention of European merchants since the dawn of time, traditions have also been
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shaped by Hindu beliefs and vegetarianism, a popular and respected way of life in some areas. One popular spice mix is garam masala, a powder that typically includes five or more dried spices, especially cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. An iconic dish from this larger region is curry. Dishes called "curry" may contain meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish, either alone or in combination with vegetables. They may also be entirely vegetarian, especially among those for whom there are religious proscriptions against eating meat or seafood. Curries may be either "wet" or "dry." W et curries contain significant amounts of sauce or gravy based on yoghurt, coconut milk, legume pure or stock. Dry curries are cooked with very little liquid which is allowed to evaporate, leaving the other ingredients coated with the spice mixture. Not all curries are based on curry powder as W estern people know it, the blend of spices that represents the base of the dish being a regional tradition or even a family secret. Because the word designates such a large famil y of dishes, that originate from Pakistan stretching to South East Asia( Malaysia), it is impossible to classify them, curry meaning sauce in an Indian language.

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Conclusion

There are countless other types of cooking than those shown here, but there are still common features. W hile ingredients are extrmely varied, the cooking techniques are not as numerous. People who take their culture abroad mix their heritage with other cultures, leading sometimes to very beautiful contrasts and a melting pot from which everybody can learn, but there is also a darker route. Most of the time, people tend to get assimilated, embracing the culinary habits of cultures that are not necessarily well-developed in that regard. Chinese fast food has been a part of their life for centuries, but fried noodles and small snacks one can take away in 30 seconds are a far cry from a Burger King hamburger. Dangerous fast food was spurred on the relentless pace of society today, seemingly taking over traditional Sunday lunch with family in W estern cultures or the variety of ingredients in the Eastern space. To counteract this tendency, Slow food appeared. It is a notion brought forth by an italian in the 90s, who ate a nice home made bowl of pasta in front of a MacDonalds with h is friends, chatting and having a good time, food being a central element in their table that they respect, not regard as merely a necessity. Since then, the movement has expanded in the major countries in their attempt to stop fast -food and its effects on society, trying to get people to value their roots by using locally -farmed ingredients that could help the comunity by the economical boost offered . Their motto is Good, clean, and fair, they have a snail as a mascote, trying to fight agriculture global ization and preserve culinary traditions that seem to be incresingly fragile. In our country, the situation is the same as in the rest of Europe. W hile we still value our national culinary treasures, our connection to the space we live in, there is a worr ying tendency. Our grandfathers ate some 30 ingredients in the 16th century, that have been reduced to 12 -13 according to a study, with regional varieties of plants and animals almost abandoned, replaced with international ones, that are easier to grow and which yield bigger numbers when farmed intensively. Despite all this, food is still the most resistant element in any culture. W hen one leaves his own birthplace to settle abroad, his children will most likely not speak his language, his grandsons will lose his name and customs, but food will last for 2 -3 more generations, everybody remembering what their grandmother used to cook.
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