福建省光泽第一中学高中英语教师论文 从跨文化(5)

vegetable are supplements in Chinese cuisine and are usually treated as dishes. In terms of meat, the prominent portion of meat consumption china for the majority of people is pork, supplemented by beef and mutton, which are mainly consumed by some minority nationalities as the staple meat. besides pork, the staple meat for most of Chinese people, fish and chicken are also common on dinner table. Chinese people also take other kinds of meat which are not accepted by westerners such as snake, frog and donkey.

Western cuisine considers meat as their staple supplemented by vegetable. They also eat rice, noodle and other cereal products, but to a much lesser degree compared with Chinese, and mainly as a healthy and exotic supply rather than a main diet. As to meat, beef occupies the most prominent position as the indisputable staple. Mutton and pork are also consumption in last decades. Fish is another major part of meat consumption, as well as eggs and dairy products which are also daily necessities. In recent years, vegetable has gained more importance and recognition for its healthy effect and environmentally friendliness.The so-called green food, natural food, mainly including vegetable and cereals have become more appealing to the public.

To compare the food structures of the Chinese and Western cuisine, one finds that they have different structures of nutrition. In terms of the composition of various nutrients, Chinese cuisine definitely has more percentage of starch and carbohydrate, but less fat and calorie because of its staple diet of grain and cereal products. On the other hand, Western cuisine has a composition of much more protein, fat, sugar and calorie because meat products are their staple food. While the former is considered inadequate in nutrition traditionally, and the latter good for building a strong body, they have switched their roles to certain extent lately. Now, the traditional Western diet with a heavy emphasis on meat and dairy is considered less wholesome, and prone to cause heart and artery diseases. In contrast, the traditional Chinese diet based on grain and vegetable is more and more popular among the western people, thought as healthy food to keep fit and ward off diabetes, obesity and other related illnesses

2. Classification of Chinese and Western Dish Names

A dish name is like a person’s name. There are almost no dishes without a proper name, no matter Chinese dishes or western ones. As an important part of the dish, a wonderful name is not only a lively advertisement, but also makes people enjoy the beauty of the dish. When ordinary dishes were given beautiful names, it raised the attractiveness of the dishes and made diners happy. As chapter 1said,there is a clear difference between Chinese and western catering culture, because of which there is a difference between Chinese and western dish names. Many of the Chinese dishes are named after the ingredients or cooking methods. And there are many dishes which are named by means of metaphor or are connected with allusion, history, legend, a person’s name, etc. while most western dish names are named after the ingredient or cooking methods.

2.1 Classification of Chinese Dish Names

Almost all Chinese dish names are characterized by elegance. “It’s no wonder some