Unit 9 Chinese Food
Teaching Points
By the end of this unit, students are supposed to
1) grasp the author’s purpose of writing and make clear the structure of the whole
passage through an intensive reading of Text I Chinese Food.
2) comprehend the topic sentences in Text I thoroughly and be able to paraphrase
them.
3) get a list of new words and structures and use them freely in conversation and
writing.
4) be aware of the cross-cultural differences of food
Topics for discussion
1) How important is food to the Chinese people? 2) What are the characteristics of Chinese cuisine?
Cultural Background
1. A variety of foods most commonly eaten in China
? In general, rice is the major food source for people from rice farming areas in southern
China. In wheat farming areas in Northern China, people largely rely on flour based foods.
? Noodles are symbolic of long life and good health according to Chinese tradition. They
come dry or fresh in a variety of sizes, shapes and textures and are often served in soups or fried as toppings.
? Tofu is another popular product often used as a meat or cheese substitute. It is a
soy-based product which is highly nutritious, inexpensive and versatile. It has a high protein/fat ratio.
2. Different regional styles of Chinese cuisine
A number of different styles contribute to Chinese cuisine, but perhaps the best known and most influential are Sichuan cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine and Guangdong (Cantonese) cuisine. These styles are distinctive from one another due to factors such as available resources, climate, geography, history, cooking techniques and lifestyles.
3. Cooking techniques of Chinese cuisine
Braising and stewing, baking, scalding, and wrapping, etc.
Basic methods of preservation such as drying, salting, pickling and fermentation.
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Text I
Chinese Food T. McArthur
Global Reading
I. Text Analysis
This article, which is written by a foreigner, provides us with a foreign perspective to examine our culture, though on a seemingly trivial aspect — our food. But all elements of a culture are actually of equal significance, so any of them can serve as a stand we set our first step on. If you haven’t started your journey to discover your own culture, then let yourself be pushed by this article and take it as your first step. At the end of this journey, you may either love your culture more, or less, but one thing is sure, that your feeling toward your culture will be more real and will be based upon a much broadened view.
II. Structural Analysis
This text can be divided into three parts:
Paragraphs 1-4: The first part discusses the difference in Chinese and Western attitudes
towards food.
Paragraphs 5-6: The second part explains how Chinese food has become an international food.
Paragraphs 7-9: The third part elaborates on the nature of Chinese food.
The topic sentence of Paragraphs 7-9:
Paragraph 7: The traditional high-quality Chinese meal is a serious matter, fastidiously
prepared and fastidiously enjoyed.
Paragraph 8: The enjoyment must match the preparation.
Paragraph 9: The smooth harmonies and piquant contrasts in Chinese food are an expression of basic assumptions about life itself.
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Ⅲ. Rhetorical Features
In this essay, alliteration is utilized here and there. Here are some examples: “Many people in the West are gourmets and others are gluttons, …”; “… to making you a saint or a sinner?”; “… everywhere from Hong Kong to Honolulu to Hoboken to Hudderfield.” The underlined parts show repetition of the first sound or letter of a succession of words, which helps to convey a sort of melodious quality, thus making those words sound more pleasing and impressive.
Other examples of alliteration in the essay:
1. “… all these have become much more a part and parcel of the average person’s life …”
(Paragraph 6)
2. “Meat and fish, solids and soups, sweet and sour sauces, …” (Paragraph 8)
Detailed Reading
Questions
1. How important is food and eating, according to Kenneth Lo? (Paragraph 1)
Food and eating, according to Kenneth Lo, determines not only one’s physical health but also one’s spiritual and moral soundness and his ultimate well-being.
2. How do the Chinese and westerners differ in their attitudes towards food? (Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4)
According to the author, many people in the West are gourmets and others are gluttons, while a large number of them are pretty indifferent to food. On the other hand, Fu Tong, a London restaurateur, maintains that food is of primary importance and one of the ecstasies of life. When they go to a restaurant, Westerners care more about the table than the food, while the Chinese aims to eat with a capital E, or take the food with the utmost earnest.
3. Why does the author say that Chinese food is the only truly international food? (Paragraph 5)
Literally, Chinese food is ubiquitous. Chinese restaurants have sprung up almost everywhere in the world. At the root of the phenomenal rise of Chinese food in the world, there is a strong interest in Chinese food in the West. There is an increase in the sensuality in the Western world and coincidentally, Chinese food is very sensual in its combination of color, texture and taste.
4. Why does the author compare a proper Chinese meal to a religious ceremony? (Paragraphs 7 and 8)
For the Chinese people, the traditional high-quality Chinese meal is a serious matter. It is fastidiously prepared and fastidiously enjoyed. Both the preparation and enjoyment of a Chinese meal can last hours and make a shared experience which is well planned. The meals must not only meet the challenge of the palate but also that of the eyes. 5. How does Chinese food express the basic assumptions of life? (Paragraph 9)
A good traditional Chinese meal must be well planned and balanced in order to meet the demand of the palate and the eyes alike. So, according to Emily Hahn, there is moral excellence in good cooking, which implies the combination of all life, all action and all knowledge. So important is a meal that it does not mean the product of recipe itself; it express the basic assumption of life one of which is harmony and balance.
Text II
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Chinese Food in America
Corinna Lothar
Lead-in Questions
What are the most popular Chinese dishes among foreign visitors as far as you know? Any thing they don’t like about Chinese cooking?
Main idea
Say No to Western Fast Food introduces a new phenomenon that is happening around China now. It implies the harm the fast food brings to people. On the other hand, it doesn’t deny the advantage of eating in the fast food restaurants. The article compares fast food with Chinese traditional food, emphasizing the significance of keeping food tradition in China. Notes
1. About the author: Fortune Cookie Chronicles, subtitled Adventures in the World
of Chinese Food, by Jennifer 8. Lee, a New York Times reporter for the Metro section.
2. Jennifer 8. Lee (Paragraph 1) Jennifer 8. Lee was born in New York City and
graduated from Hunter College High School and Harvard College. She interned at The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Newsday and The New York Times while working on her applied mathematics and economics degree and writing for The Harvard Crimson. She joined the Times in 2001, one and a half years after graduating from Harvard. Lee was not given a middle name at birth and chose her own middle name later. She chose \as a teenager because of the prevalence of her first name. It was in her teen years that she also began a life-long obsession with food. For many Chinese, the number eight symbolizes prosperity and good luck. Lee wrote a book about the history of Chinese food in the USA and around the world, titled The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, documenting the process on her blog. Warner Books editor Jonathan Karp struck a deal with Lee to write a book about \
3. Powerball lottery (Paragraph 2) Powerball is an American lottery game sold
through U.S. lotteries as a shared jackpot pool game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), a non-profit association formed by an agreement with member lotteries. Powerball is drawn Wednesdays and Saturdays. 4. General Tso's chicken (Paragraph 4) General Tso may refer to Zuo Zongtang (左
宗棠, 1812-1885), a Qing Dynasty general from Hunan.. General Tso's chicken is a sweet and spicy deep-fried chicken dish that is popularly served in American and Canadian Chinese restaurants where it is erroneously considered Hunan cuisine. The origins of the dish are unclear. The dish was previously largely unknown in China. Thus, General Tso's Chicken is most likely an American invention in the history of American-Chinese food.
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5. Colonel Sanders (Paragraph 4) Colonel Harland Sanders, (1890-1980), was an
American entrepreneur who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). His image is omnipresent in the chain's advertising and packaging, and his name is sometimes used as a synonym for the KFC product or restaurant itself.
6. “waves of Chinese continued to wash up on the shores” (Paragraph 7)
Chinese immigrants arrived in the US in large numbers beginning with the mid-19th century worked as laborers, particularly on the transcontinental railroad, such as the Central Pacific Railroad, and the mining industry, and suffered racial discrimination for a long time.
7. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (Paragraph 7) The Chinese Exclusion Act
was a United States federal law passed on May 6, 1882, following revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. Those revisions allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration, and Congress subsequently acted quickly to implement the suspension of Chinese immigration, a ban that was intended to last 10 years.
8. Szechuan (Paragraph 9) This is the Romanization of 四川 using the Wade-Giles
system rather than the Pinyin system, which renders it Sichuan.
9. kosher ducks (Paragraph 10) The word “kosher” means proper or fit for Jews. This
is because it relates to the kosher dietary law. They are safe to consume and sometimes used as ingredients to produce additional food items. Previously, most kosher foods were made in the family kitchen or in a store or small factory in the community. At that time, it was simple to know if the product was kosher or not. Sometimes, even rabbis used to supervise the purity of the product.
Questions for Discussion
1．How can the reader understand and enjoy “a delicious sense of humor and irony” of Jennifer 8. Lee ?
2. Why do the stories Miss Lee gleaned and spread sound so convincing?
3. What is one possible philosophical notion that helps to constitute the driving force in developing Chinese food in America?
4. What is the fact used to tell the reader that Jews in America like Chinese food?
Key to Questions for Discussion
1. In her “Fortune Cookie Chronicles,” subtitled “Adventures in the World of Chinese Food,” Jennifer 8. Lee writes with humor and irony and “delights the reader with tales about Chinese food in America, and its sometimes hilarious origins”, which is really delicious. In addition, Miss Lee adds a social and cultural dimension to the Chinese-American cuisine, seasoning it well with personal anecdotes, which is also delicious. “A delicious sense of humor and irony” may be interpreted as a sort of “transferred epithet”.
2. The stories Miss Lee gleaned and spread are not fairy-tales, fictitious or improbable stories, but true stories based on first hand experiences “over hill and dale, ocean and mountain,
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