The history of Chinese cuisine

In China, food and its preparation has been developed so highly that it has reached the status of an art form. Rich and poor, the Chinese people consider that delicious and nutritious food is a basic need. There is an old Chinese saying "Food is the first necessity of the people."

This art has been cultivated and refined over hundreds of years. Legend has it that the culture of Chinese cuisine originated in the fifteenth century BC during the Shang dynasty and was originally introduced by Yi Yin, it is the first prime minister.

The two dominant philosophies of Chinese culture had extreme influences on the political and economic history of the country, but it is less known that also influenced the development of the culinary arts.

Confucius emphasized the artistic and social aspects of cooking and eating. The Chinese do not gather without involving food - is considered to be poor etiquette to invite friends to your home without providing appropriate food.

Confucius established standards of cooking and table etiquette, most of which remain today. The most obvious example of this is the cut small pieces of meat and vegetables during the course of preparing food in the kitchen, rather than with a knife on the table that is not considered to be good manners.

Confucius also encouraged the blending of ingredients and flavorings to become a cohesive dish, rather than tasting the individual components. Harmony was his priority. He believed and taught that without harmony of ingredients there could not be any flavor. He also stressed the importance of the presentation and use of color, texture and decoration of a dish. Most importantly, cooking became an art rather than a chore to be endured and certainly he was instrumental in promulgating the philosophy of "live to eat" rather than "eat to live".

On the other hand, Tao encouraged research into nutritional aspects of food and cooking. Rather than concentrating on taste and appearance, they were more interested in the properties of the food gives Taoist life.

Centuries, the Chinese have discovered the health benefits of all sorts of roots, herbs, fungi and plants. They have taught the world that the nutritional value of vegetables is destroyed by over-cooking (particularly boiling) and have further found that things with a great flavor also have medicinal value.

China homemade food is very healthy, although much of it is fried. This is due to the use of polyunsaturated oils (used only once and discarded) and the exclusion of dairy products. Furthermore, inclusion of animal fat is minimal because they are small portions of meat.