Reference Message Network reported on June 2 that the Singapore Straits Times website published an article titled "The Spicy Global Curse: Regional Cuisine Becomes China's Most Tasty Soft Power" on June 1, with the following content compiled as follows:
In 1972, the world witnessed then U.S. President Richard Nixon using chopsticks and sitting together with a smiling host, former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, to taste many delicious dishes.
This might be called "a week that changed the world's perception of Chinese cuisine," as Chinese restaurants across the United States from Los Angeles to New York soon reported booming business, with curious diners eager to try the exotic Eastern delicacies eaten by their president.
However, in most of the next 50 years, the understanding and appreciation of Chinese cuisine outside East Asia and Southeast Asia were largely limited to Orange Chicken, stir-fried noodles, chow mein, and other things pretending to be Chinese food.
Luckily, for our Western friends, those days of fried meats drenched in sweet sauces are basically over. Local Chinese cuisines are gaining popularity, and they can arguably enhance the country's soft power.
The rich, spicy flavor of Hunan cuisine has taken over the position previously held by Yunnan cuisine, which was once popular. Now, there are often long lines outside Hunan restaurants in Singapore.
From roadside stalls to coffee shops and restaurants, Wuhan hot dry noodles, Xinjiang lamb skewers, and Shaanxi roujiamo are all available, each making one's mouth water.
Fuchsia Dunlop, a Chinese food expert and chef, wrote in her book published in 2023: "No cuisine mainly driven by small entrepreneurs rather than multinational corporations has ever had such a remarkable impact and been so widely loved, adopted, and localized in so many countries."
However, Dunlop said that the craze for inauthentic Cantonese menus that started in North America and spread to other regions "cast a shadow over efforts to appreciate the diversity and complexity of Chinese culinary culture."
Nowadays, diversity is thriving globally, following the dietary trends of China's rise.
Since the 1980s, rapid urbanization and economic growth have changed the food culture. Millions of people have moved from rural areas to cities, bringing their home-cooked meals. Cities like Beijing and Shanghai have become melting pots of gourmet foods, while the rise of China's middle class, with its disposable income and exploratory spirit, has also sparked interest in diverse dining experiences.
TV programs and social platforms like Douyin showcase rich local cuisines, making Lanzhou beef noodles and Yangshuo beer fish known nationwide.
Outside China, Chinese restaurants are no longer humble little shops run by early immigrants but fashionable and luxurious restaurants operated by their second or third generation, like the Michelin-starred Cherry Restaurant in New York.
Some suddenly enlightened food writers happily call this the revival of Chinese cuisine. But these native cuisines haven't been reborn; they've just been "discovered" by the outside world.
Why has Chinese cuisine succeeded? The answer lies in its authenticity and universality. Food is a cultural ambassador that needs no translation. The spread of Chinese cuisine has not been through top-down instructions but through the spontaneous efforts of chefs, immigrants, and food enthusiasts who proudly share their traditions. (Compiled by Wang Qun)
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7511178993933009460/
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