There are different ways of dining all around the world. Different cultures, especially eastern and western cultures, have different ways of eating, cooking food.

世界各地都有不同的用餐方式。不同的文化，特别是东方和西方文化，有不同的饮食和烹饪的方式。




Eating both Eastern and Western cuisine was a part of my childhood in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Growing up I had many friends and family from Asian and Western backgrounds and we constantly ate each other’s cuisines. Evidently there were noticeably different eating habits and food preferences between each other’s cultures.

在新加坡、马来西亚和澳大利亚，东西方美食都是我童年的一部分。在我成长的过程中，我有很多来自亚洲和西方背景的朋友和家人，我们经常吃彼此文化的菜。很明显，在彼此的文化中有明显不同的饮食习惯和食物偏好。

When we speak of Eastern or Asian cuisine, we usually think of dishes originating from the Asian region, maybe rice and noodle dishes. When we speak of Western cuisine, dishes such as bread, potatoes and pasta commonly come to mind. That said, for each cuisine there are a multitude of varying dishes in between as this world is so diverse.

当我们谈到东方或亚洲美食时，我们通常会想到源自亚洲地区的菜肴可能是米饭和面条。当我们谈到西餐时，我们通常会想到面包、土豆和意大利面等菜肴。也就是说，每一个地区的美食都有许多不同的菜肴，因为这个世界是如此多样化。

Long-held traditions and stereotypes often influence how we eat, dine and drink. Other times our eating habits are simply shaped by the eating practices and types of food that we are familiar and comfortable with.

长期以来的传统和刻板印象经常影响我们的饮食习惯。其他时候，我们的饮食习惯是由我们熟悉和舒适的饮食习惯和食物类型所决定的。
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1. Utensils

1. 餐具
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Eating with fork and spoon is the norm in Western cultures, and so is eating with a knife when a good chunk of meat is served. There can be a unique utensil for each course of a meal, such as in French dining. While many of Asian background eat with fork and spoons, many also eat with chopsticks or eating with just their hands. For instance, it’s common for Muslims to eat with their right hand and this in line with their faith. For some Indians it’s a mark of respect (especially to the host) to physically touch the food one is eating – joining all fingers together and picking up food to eat, in a way creating a spiritual connection with what one is eating.

在西方文化中，用叉子和勺子吃饭是一种常态，当有一大块肉时，用刀吃饭也是如此。一顿饭的每一道菜都可以有独特的餐具，比如法国餐。虽然许多亚洲人也用叉子和勺子吃饭，但也有很多人用筷子或只用手吃饭。例如穆斯林用右手吃饭是很常见的，这符合他们的信仰。对一些印度人来说，用身体接触正在吃的食物是一种尊重的标志(尤其是对主人)——把所有的手指合拢在一起，捏起食物吃，在某种程度上与所吃的食物建立了精神上的联系。

When I was a kid, my Chinese-Malaysian parents first taught me to eat with fork and spoon, and later taught me how to use chopsticks. These days I use chopsticks whenever I eat Chinese food; it just feels natural (probably from having watched my family eat Chinese food with only chopsticks as a kid). Never had trouble picking up rice with chopsticks (which is baffling to some, but the trick is to put the rice bowl close to your mouth so rice doesn’t fall everywhere). There’s also hearsay in Asian cultures that placing cutlery upside down invites spirits to dine with you (not sure where this came from).

当我还是个孩子的时候，我的华裔马来西亚父母首先教我用叉子和勺子吃饭，后来教我如何使用筷子。这些天我吃中国菜都用筷子;这感觉很自然(可能是因为我小时候看到我的家人只用筷子吃中餐)。用筷子夹米饭从来不会有问题(这对一些人来说很困难，但诀窍是把饭碗靠近你的嘴，这样米饭就不会掉得到处都是)。在亚洲文化中也有这样的传闻，把餐具倒过来会招来鬼魂与你共进晚餐(不知道这是从哪里传出来的)。

2. Cooking techniques

2. 烹饪技术

Steaming, boiling and stir frying are popular Chinese cooking methods. Popular and staple Chinese dishes include soup and pan-fried dumplings, steamed veggies with oyster sauce and simmered bone broths. In contrast many popular Western dishes in Australia tend to be on the fried or baked side: fried chicken, pizza, fish and chips, parmagianas, meat pies and lamb roast. Notably in Asian culture dishes are more or less served warm or hot and rarely raw and cold (sushi would be the popular exception). On the other hand, salads, yoghurts and cheeses are popular ‘cold’ gastronomic choices among many Westerners.

蒸、煮、炒是中国流行的烹饪方法。受欢迎的中国主食包括汤、煎饺、蚝油蔬菜和炖骨汤。相比之下，在澳大利亚许多受欢迎的西餐往往是油炸或烘焙的:如炸鸡、披萨、炸鱼薯条、意大利干酪、肉馅饼和烤羊排。特别是在亚洲文化中，食物或多或少都是温热的，很少有生冷的(寿司是一个受欢迎的例外)。而相反，沙拉、酸奶和奶酪是许多西方人喜欢的“冷”美食选择。

3. Table and seating configuration

3.餐桌和座位配置

Dining at round tables is common in Asian cultures and encourages inclusivity no matter where one sits. Dining at a round table, everyone can see each other – it encourages everyone to chat and connect with each other (one can see everyone at the table face to face), it’s convenient to pass food around on a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table. Also, the eldest or most senior person usually takes the seat facing the entrance, symbolic of hierarchical respect.

圆桌就餐在亚洲文化中很常见，无论坐在哪里，人们都鼓励包容。在圆桌上吃饭，每个人都可以看到彼此——它鼓励每个人聊天和彼此联系(一个人可以面对面地看到桌子上的每个人)，它可以很方便在桌子中间的转盘上传递食物。此外，年龄最大或地位最高的人通常坐在面对门口的座位上，象征着等级的尊重。

Eating at rectangular tables is more common in Western cultures. One might not get the chance to chat with every single the person when seated at this kind of table but might be highly encouraged to make small chat with the person beside or right in front of them.

在长方形的桌子上吃饭在西方文化中更为常见。坐在这种桌子上的人可能没有机会和每个人都聊天，但可能会被鼓励和他们旁边或前面的人闲聊。

4. Sharing vs individual dishes

4. 分享菜肴vs分餐制

In Chinese culture most dishes are designed to be shared over rice or noodles, and rice and noodles are supposed to be eaten along with other dishes. Growing up in Malaysia and Singapore, whenever the folks and I went to a Chinese restaurant, each of us had a bowl of white rice and three to four dishes placed in the centre of the table – everyone gets to try everything and this is synonymous with the virtues of sharing and being a part of a team, virtues revered in Chinese culture.

在中国文化中，大多数菜肴都是搭配米饭或面条一起吃的。我在马来西亚和新加坡长大，每次我和家人去中餐馆吃饭，我们每个人都有一碗白米饭，还有三到四道菜放在桌子中央——每个人都可以尝试吃所有的菜，这是分享和成为团队一份子的美德，是中国文化所推崇的美德。

Individual dishes are more common in Western cultures and it’s not surprising for someone to order one dish and have it all to themselves. Time and time again in Chinese restaurants I’ve seen Westerners doing this (like eating a whole plate of oyster sauce veggies by themselves), which strikes me as unusual as there is only so much nutritional value gained from eating one kind of food. Not to say there aren’t individual dishes in Chinese culture – for example duck noodles and Hainanese chicken rice are dishes that one would have to all themselves. But many if not most Chinese dishes are really meant to be shared.

在西方文化中，个人单独的菜肴更为常见，点了一道菜然后独享是不足为奇的。我一次又一次地在中餐馆看到西方人这样做(比如一个人吃一整盘蚝油蔬菜)，这让我觉得很诧异，因为吃一种食物能获得的营养价值是有限的。这并不是说中国文化中没有可以单独享用的菜肴——例如鸭面和海南鸡饭都是人们只能个人享用的菜肴，但很多(或者说大多数)中国菜肴都是用来分享的。

On the plus side, when everyone orders a dish for themselves, it can be easier when it’s time to pay the bill: everyone eats their own share, fair and square pays for their own dish, no need to fight over the bill.

好的一面是，当每个人都为自己点一道菜时，结账的时候就会更容易:每个人都吃自己的那一份，公平公正地为自己的菜买单，不会为付账单而发生争吵。

5. Balance and variety

5. 平衡和多样性
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There is usually a starter/entrée, main and dessert when it comes to having many a Western meal. Sometimes this includes a salad and cheese course. While multicourse meals are also part of Asian dining, balance is key here: there is usually a soup, a base of rice or noodles and a vegetable and meat dish served. With Asian cuisine, there is a focus on optimising meals for digestion – aligning with the concept of yin and yang – rather than stuffing oneself and feeling satiated.

西餐通常有前菜，主菜和甜点。有时还包括沙拉和奶酪。虽然多种菜肴也是亚洲饮食的一部分，但平衡是关键:通常会有汤、米饭或面条，以及蔬菜和肉。亚洲菜注重的是优化食物以促进消化——符合阴阳的概念——而不是只为了填饱肚子。

6. Serving size

6. 份量

Portions tend to bigger when it comes to Western cuisine, more food per serving. Perhaps the most famous kind of portion is the supersize options in many fast food outlets in the States, portions that are known to contribute to obesity.

西餐的份量往往更大，每份食物更多。也许最著名的是美国许多快餐店的一种超大份快餐，这是众所周知的导致肥胖的原因。

From what I noticed, the portions for Asian cuisine here in Australia are much bigger than what you get in Asia. That said, in Chinese culture eating until you are full is encouraged and many Chinese festivals such as the Chinese New Year and Dragon Boat Festival revolve around food. Even breakfast in Asia can be quite a big affair portion-wise, just as big as lunch and dinner: dim sum, fishball noodle soup, coconut rice, century egg congee were breakfasts I had at hawker centres on weekends in Malaysia and Singapore.

我注意到，在澳大利亚，亚洲菜的份量比你在亚洲吃到的要大得多。但在中国文化中，吃到饱也是被鼓励的，许多中国节日，如春节和端午节都围绕着食物。在亚洲，就连早餐也可能相当丰盛，就像午餐和晚餐一样:点心、鱼丸面汤、椰子饭、皮蛋粥都是我周末在马来西亚和新加坡的小摊上吃到过的早餐。
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7. Drinks

7. 饮料

Having an alcoholic beverage for lunch or dinner is pretty common in Australia. Beer is always on the drink menu when it comes to eating at many Asian restaurants here in Melbourne. But when I lived in Asia this wasn’t always the case; in many Halal restaurants in Malaysia there is a no alcohol policy. Warm tea is usually the first drink to be offered when dining Chinese and in many Chinese eateries I’ve patronised in Australia, tea is offered for free. Soy bean milk, milk tea and sugarcane juice are also drinks many Chinese like to order with their meals. Interestingly, water isn’t usually served with Asian cuisine as it is believed to cause upset stomachs.

在澳大利亚，午餐或晚餐喝一杯酒精饮料是很常见的。在墨尔本的许多亚洲餐厅里，啤酒一直是菜单上的饮品。但当我住在亚洲时，情况并非总是如此;马来西亚的许多清真餐厅都有禁酒的规定。在中国就餐时，第一杯饮品通常是温茶。我在澳大利亚光顾过的许多中国餐馆里，茶也都是免费提供的。豆浆、奶茶和甘蔗汁也是许多中国人喜欢在用餐时点的饮料。有趣的是，水通常不与亚洲菜搭配，因为人们认为边吃饭边喝水会让胃不舒服。

8. Setting and ambience

餐厅设置和氛围

There’s the common conception that eating in a Chinese restaurant is a crowded, dark and dim affair. From my experience, this is the case with quite a few dumpling joints in Melbourne…but I’ve also been to Chinese restaurants where fluorescent white lights shine down from the ceiling and you can clearly see what you are eating. When it comes to dining Western, if it’s a romantic meal for two chances are it might be a dim dining affair in a secluded cozy corner booth – at least that’s what many movies are inclined to let you believe.

人们普遍认为，在中国餐馆吃饭是一件拥挤、昏暗的事情。从我的经验来看，墨尔本很多饺子馆都是这样的……但我也去过中国餐馆，那里的荧光灯从天花板上照射下来，让你可以清楚地看到你吃的东西。说到西餐，如果是一顿浪漫的晚餐，很有可能是在僻静舒适的角落里聚餐——至少很多电影都是这么让你相信的。

9. Flavours

9. 口味
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Many Asian dishes are bold and aromatic in flavour. It’s the ingredients used that bring out these flavours, ingredients such as vinegar, five spice powder, cooking wine, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. Ginger and garlic are also staple ingredients in many Chinese dishes, and there’s usually the option of added chilli too. Compared to Asian cooking, Western cuisine might come across as more bland. Chilli isn’t served with every meal and many chilli dishes in Australia aren’t as spicy as dishes in Asia. Processed sauces seemed to be served more with Western food. Tomato sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce are some popular sauces one finds with American, European and Australian cuisine.

许多亚洲菜味道开放，口感芬芳。是食材带来了这些味道，比如醋、五香粉、料酒、海鲜酱和酱油。生姜和大蒜也是许多中国菜的主要食材，通常还可以加些辣椒。与亚洲的烹饪方式相比，西餐可能会显得平淡无奇。并非每顿饭都配辣椒，澳大利亚的许多带辣椒的菜也不像亚洲菜那么辣。加工过的酱料似乎更适合搭配西餐。蕃茄酱、芥末酱、蛋黄酱、烧烤酱是美国、欧洲和澳大利亚菜肴中很受欢迎的酱料。

10. Dessert

10. 甜点
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Fruit is a popular dessert option in Asian cuisine. Watermelon, papaya and rockmelon were some of the desserts I remember being served to me and my extended family after we finished ten-course celebratory banquet meals. Some popular Asian desserts include sweet sticky rice pudding, peanut soup, egg tarts and lotus seed paste balls. On the other hand, ice-cream is always a popular dessert option at the end of a Western meal, and so is the choice of brownie and cake. Not sure how true this is, but Asian desserts seem to taste sweeter than many Western desserts.

水果是亚洲美食中很受欢迎的甜点。西瓜、木瓜和岩瓜是我和我的大家庭在吃完十道菜的庆祝宴后吃到的甜点。一些受欢迎的亚洲甜点包括甜糯米布丁、花生汤、蛋挞和莲蓉球。另一方面，在西餐结束时，冰淇淋总是很受欢迎的甜点选择，布朗尼和蛋糕也是如此。不知道这是不是真的，但亚洲甜点似乎比许多西方甜点更甜。
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* * *
Over time our food preferences and eating habits might change. We might prefer eating different cuisines at different times of our lives depending on how we’re feeling or where live or travel.

随着时间的推移，我们的食物偏好和饮食习惯可能会发生改变。在人生的不同时期，我们可能更喜欢吃不同的菜肴，这取决于我们的感受或居住和旅行的地点。

For reasons I still don’t know, as a kid I preferred eating Western food over Chinese food. Friday night was fish and chip night at home, and I would eagerly anticipate my mum taking the battered fish and salted chips out from the oven. Though my parents bought Chinese duck, roast pork and dim sum on the weekends, somehow I always wanted pizza. These days it’s a bit of a different story. While I’ve never liked eating pork and still don’t eat much roast pork, I love eating a good roast duck. That said, I still love a good pizza anytime.

在我还是个孩子的时候，我更喜欢吃西餐而不是中餐，原因我还不知道。周五晚上是家里的炸鱼薯条之夜，我总是迫不及待地等着妈妈把烤好的炸鱼薯条从烤箱里拿出来。虽然我的父母周末会买中国烤鸭、烤猪肉和点心，但不知怎么的，我总是想吃披萨。如今情况就不一样了。虽然我一直都不喜欢吃猪肉，也不怎么吃烤猪肉，但我喜欢吃美味的烤鸭。尽管如此，我仍然在任何时候都喜欢好吃的披萨。

Perhaps we like eating the food we eat because of how our brains are wired. Research published in the Journal of Food Sciences looked at how colour impacts our perception of food. It proposed that we may be more inclined to eat food that match our memories and the brighter a certain food is such as cake, the more intense in flavour it was perceived to be.

也许我们喜欢吃我们所想吃的食物和我们的大脑对信息的处理有关。发表在《食品科学杂志》上的一项研究探讨了颜色如何影响我们对食物的感知。该研究提出，我们可能更倾向于吃与我们记忆相符的食物，而像蛋糕这样的食物越明亮，人们就会认为它的味道越浓郁。

Also, in 2011 a study on complex systems explored why Asian and Western foods taste differently. It found Western cuisines tend to use ingredients that shared matching flavour compounds – or matching chemical tastes – while Asian cuisines tend to avoid using ingredients with same flavour molecules. Certain foods might be comfort foods to us, acquired tastes from our upbringing or life experiences over time – and it is these foods we have gotten to know so well that they are now an extension of ourselves.

此外，在2011年，一项关于复杂系统的研究探索了亚洲和西方食物味道不同的原因。研究发现，西方菜系倾向于使用味道相同的食材，而亚洲菜系倾向于避免使用相同味道的食材。某些食物对我们来说可能是安慰性的食物，从我们的成长经历或生活经历中获得的味道——这些食物我们已经非常了解，它们是我们自身情感的延伸。

Given each cuisine is unique, what we eat forms part of our identity. As the saying goes, we are what we eat. Sometimes we eat the foods we’ve always eaten to really be who we are. And then we share that with the rest of the world.

鉴于每一种菜肴都是独一无二的，我们所吃的东西就构成了我们自己的一部分。俗话说，人如其食。有时候我们吃我们一直吃的食物是为了做真正的自己。然后我们会在世界其他地方和其他人分享。

Do you prefer eating Asian or Western cuisine?

你喜欢吃亚洲菜还是西餐?