Chinese Cuisine In America

Chinese food has become more and more popular in the Americas as time has gone by. More and more Chinese restaurants are popping up all over North, South and Central America. There are many Chinese people living in the Americas too and thus with them they bring some of their traditions, culture and food.

There's more to Chinese cuisine than meets the taste buds. There is also what meets the eye, the ear and the imagination. Chinese culture commands attention to the entire presentation of a meal, including the blend of flavors, subtlety of the spicing, how appealing the colors and arrangement of the food is and how well it plays on the imagination of the diner. This is a concept that is as foreign to most Westerners as an appreciation for the nuance of a single brushstroke in an ideograph. To the Chinese though, the name of a dish plays its own part in the presentation when meals are being served to guests.

The subtlety of Chinese cuisine is lost on most Americans, who'd rather know what's going to be on their plate than enjoy a bit of imagery with their meal. Some of the most common names survive. Seven Happiness, for example, is a dish that includes shrimp, lobster, scallop, fish, pork, beef and chicken in a delicate sauce accompanied by vegetables. Seven happiness indeed, what mouth wouldn't be happy with that? In China, however, many honored and respected restaurants still cling to the old traditions.

At the Confucius House, one can dine on Two Phoenix from One Egg, An Oriole Welcoming Spring and As Luck As One Wishes. The Fangshan Restaurant in Beihai Park serves Phoenix in Its Nest and "Frog and Abalone". The Fangshan Restaurant has also revived an ancient tradition, known as the complete Manchu-Han Banquet. Created during the Qing Dynasty as a celebration of important events, the Manchu-Han Banquet consists of 234 hot dishes, 28 cold dishes, along with cakes and fruit. It is such a lavish spread that it is normally held over the course of a few days.

The practice of giving poetic names to dishes flourished during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. While many dishes were named simply for their appearance, many others included a play on words in their names, subtle references to the ingredients wrapped in a beautiful title. Hence, a dish of shredded fish with orange might be called "powdered gold and minced jade". Shrimp with green peas and scallions might bear the name "Coral, Pearl and Jade". Some were far more fanciful and in some cases descriptive of the elaborate preparation that turned a plate of food into a work of art. One such dish is chicken and soft-shelled turtle served in its shell and named "the Conqueror says goodbye to his concubine".

Hunan cuisine is considered to be the most visually appealing of the Chinese regional cuisines, so it is not surprising that it also features the most fanciful and delightful names. Who cares what the ingredients are when your host serves you 'Footsteps of the Phoenix' and "Pearls in the Snow"? They are truly names fit for the dishes that graced the tables of emperors.

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