Sharing a meal is a good habit (focus on table revolution)
Editor's note: This year's Patriotic Health Month, the discussion of the meal sharing system has received widespread attention.
Whether or not a meal is divided involves not only three meals a day for hundreds of millions of people, but also a long-standing catering culture. Is it necessary to share meals? Is it feasible to share meals? How should the meal sharing system be promoted? In response to the above issues, this edition launched a series of reports, inviting experts and industry professionals to discuss together.
◆ In the early days of Chinese civilization, a small pottery was served for each person.
◆ Meal sharing system not only reduces the risk of disease transmission, but also helps to reasonably match nutrition.
◆ Food culture has been constantly changing and developing.
The back kitchen of a Chinese restaurant in Pudong, Shanghai, a large plate of egg fried rice was divided into 6 small portions, neatly sized on the plate. A piece of perch is cut into two pieces along the bone of the fish, cut into sections, and placed in a fish shape again for the convenience of consumers. "Public chopsticks and spoons are put on the table, and there are many benefits of sharing meals." At present, the sharing system is being promoted in many cities.
Meal sharing is also a meal management
Yang Yuexin, a professor at the Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out that eating and drinking together is a hotbed of infectious diseases. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, saliva is one of the most important ways of spreading diseases. Studies have shown that saliva can spread hepatitis A, avian influenza, enteroviruses (norovirus), Helicobacter pylori and so on. China is one of the countries with a high incidence of gastrointestinal diseases such as stomach cancer, which exceeds the world average and is also related to our diet.
In our culture, we are used to eating together. Using a pair of chopsticks, drinking a bowl of soup and drinking a glass of water at the same time becomes an expression regardless of each other. Yang Yuexin believes that in modern society, there are many ways to express intimate relationships, and eating together is not the only option. "Several pairs of chopsticks are stirred in a pot of soup, and there are people who are not so familiar with it. They are too enthusiastic to bring you dishes."
In fact, food culture is a concentrated expression of social and economic development and the values of local residents. The food culture of a country or a region has always been developing and advancing in constant change.
Yang Yuexin believes that meal sharing is also a type of meal management. The goal of diet management is a reasonable diet and nutritional balance, and a reasonable diet is the first condition to protect health. For example, according to the weight and activity intensity of family members, the main meals and dishes can be reasonably matched and distributed quantitatively. It is characterized by its own responsibility, grasping the weight and giving up. Yang Yuexin believes that sharing a meal can help cultivate a "new food hanger" that is economical, hygienic, and reasonable, and can help change the bad habits of eating and drinking.
There are also views that, in a sense, the modern family composition is more complicated and has many tastes. To coordinate tastes, most of them have to go through a process of persuasion and accommodation. If you want to skip this process, the meal sharing system is a good choice.
Dining habits are quietly changing
Xiao Fang, an expert and professor in folklore at Beijing Normal University, introduced that historically, Chinese people were divided into meal systems before the Han and Wei dynasties. At that time, the diet was simple, that is, one pot to cook, one person has a small pottery.
Jiang Junxian, president of the China Culinary Association, said that when people mentioned the "big banquet", it is easy to think of the lively scenes of sitting around a table and staggering plans, but the scene of the banquet seats in the Western Zhou Dynasty is that people are sitting in dire straits. Whether it is the record of the Hongmen Banquet in "Historical Records of Xiang Yu Benji", or the depiction of one person and one person sitting in the banquet in the late Eastern Han Dynasty fresco "Feast Drinking and Dancing Dance", it is clear that the mainstream status of the divided meal system in the ancient diet etiquette.
With the progress of the agricultural society, along with the northern nomadic people going south to the Central Plains to bring them the dining habits of sitting around a stove to eat, divided meals and shared food began to coexist. Just as in the famous "Han Xizai Night Banquet", there are both meal sharing and seating arrangements.
Jiang Junxian said that after the founding of New China, for various reasons, there were multiple places to implement meal sharing. Schools, kindergartens and government canteens basically implement a meal-sharing or meal-sharing system.
Jiang Junxian said that with China's reform and opening up, foreign affairs activities have increased significantly. In order to adapt to the requirements of the times, units such as the Great Hall of the People are at the forefront of the meal sharing system. At that time, the relevant leaders, along with the chefs and waiters, comprehensively innovated from the banquet menu, dish design, and meal sharing service specifications to promote meal sharing. In the banquet menu, change the six cold cuts, four hot stir fry, eight dishes, two snacks, two desserts, one fruit that were common in China in the past, and greatly reduce the number of banquet dishes. There are only four or five dishes in the whole banquet; , Increase the variety of western dishes that are convenient for eating, such as filet steak, fried cod, and various soups. Of course, not all banquets in the city hall are divided into separate meals. If guests have a request, they will also adopt a meal-sharing system.
Jiang Junxian said that in recent years, the concept of meal sharing has also been further popularized. One of the more famous ones is the Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant. All the dishes on their menu are basically per customer. At present, many domestic catering practitioners have begun to "go out to sea", and the first step to be solved is "division of meals". I believe that with the internationalization of Chinese food, the meal sharing system will become more and more popular.
Wang Junping Zhang He