Let’s face it, food is a lot more than just cooking. Food has huge historic and cultural significance. And few places in the world so strongly underline the role food has played in our lives than China, where the art of cuisine has been developed for four or five thousand years.
Few other countries can claim to have made the gigantic contribution China has made to cooking, with countless varieties of dishes embracing aromas, colors and flavors designed to arouse our appetites.
Chinese food taste comprises five classes - sweet, sour, bitter, hot and salty, harnessing seasonings such as soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and salt.
Foodie visitors to China should also be prepared to try the highly distinctive regional food preparation styles dubbed ‘Eight Cuisines’, Shandong Cuisine, Guangdong Cuisine, Sichuan Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine, Jiangsu Cuisine, Zhejiang Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine and Anhui Cuisine .
Chinese cooking makes use of any and every part of an animal. And different shapes or parts of an animal can, it’s believed, replenish and strengthen the same part of the human body. So, for example, tiger testicle increases stamina for men, while monkey brains add wisdom.
Variety, some say, is the spice of life. And it China, it’s true, at least when cooking.
