Free Reflections On The Brazilian Food Culture Project Essay Example

During this project I have learnt loads of captivating facts about Brazilian culture and eating practices and had a chance to compare it with the food practices typical for my own culture. It is true that food is vitally important in human’s life and therefore is represented in the culture of a particular nation. Our project findings prove that people who share the same culture share the same food habits. Brazilian culture is very rich in foods and Chinese, one can say, is also food oriented therefore comparing these two cuisines is at the core of this essay. I will observe on differences and similarities of the cuisines and provide a short evaluation of the overall project.
As it was noted in a part of the research Brazilian food includes different culinary traditions as a result of massive migrations, colonization, mixture of population, etc. Chinese cuisine has also integrated various foods as a result of migration, trade and imperial extension. The diversity of climate from the west to the east of the country as well of from the northern parts till the southern resulted in the evolution of eight main cuisines also known as “four flavors”. Due to the religious and geographic reasons food practices are very different in China. For example, the Muslim region great differs with its food from the other areas.
Another similar feature of Chinese and Brazilian culture is that both are very traditional countries and their cuisine is influenced by this. For instance, there are many rules of cooking and dining which need to be kept. For example, the task of cooking usually falls on women in Brasilia. In China cooking is closely related to religion and includes several superstitions.
One can distinguish a few determinant features of Brasilian food. Firstly, it is spicy, it often includes meat and typical for the region vegetables. There are three products which are the key ingredients of almost every Brazilian meal. Those are black beans, rice and cassava. For Chinese the staple food consists of rice, noodles, soybeans, wheat, vegetables and various herbs. The consumption of meat is much lower in China than in Brasilia. But both cuisines include a lot of seafood as they have an access to the water resources.
What is particularly fascinating about Chinese culture is the variety of cooking methods as baking, boiling, braising, frying, poaching, sauteing, scalding, shallow frying, simmering, smoking, steaming, stir frying, barbecuing, blanching, etc. These special techniques in which basic food stuffs are prepared and preserved gives special flavors to the tastes. Brazilian cook do not use so many cooking methods and mostly boil or fry food. The research also covered the topic of Brazilian drinks noting that coffee is the leader among them. In the Chinese case, the most popular drink is tea. There are even long drinking ceremonies planned in order to consume this drink.
Also it is known that Chinese food is very healthy and has prolonging life effects giving energy to a body. It has less oil, meat and spices than other cuisines. I am not sure whether the same can be said about the Brazilian foods.
Talking about the food culture and table manners Chinese traditions are strongly kept and reserved. One of the distinctive elements is the usage of chopsticks. It is believed that forks and knives are weapons therefore cannot be used for food consumption. Also for this reason most of the dishes have chopped vegetables and boneless meat. In Brasilia forks and knives are used instead. Occasionally people eat with their hands.
Surely holidays are as important as “the daily bread”. If in Brazilian case the biggest feast is celebrated on the 7th of September, Chinese people have more occasions to make special food for. For instance, the New Year’s celebrations require lots of kitchen work. Adding a word of eating out, it seems that in Brasilia dining rather belongs to family life while in China there are plenty buffets and places where one can share food with friends and coworkers.
Summarizing the information gathered for this project I would like to draw attention to the uniqueness of Brazilian cuisine and its long tradition. Discovering how Brazilians prepare and consume their food was a great experience for my personal growth.
The main contribution of others to this project is a complex description of Brazilian food and culture. It was correctly divided into five sections for everybody to concentrate on. The detailed information of food ingredients, the way of cooking and preserving food, unique table traditions and meal sharing practices provide a solid background of the research. To sum up, Brazilian food culture takes its roots from the ancestors and this factor enriches the variety of foods. Also it is well-balanced and it is supposed to satisfy not only human’s basic needs but give a full pleasure and a reason to share a good time with others. Chinese cuisine is surely very different but also very traditional and delicious.