An Unknown Authentic Chinese Food (Part 1) An Unknown Authentic Chinese Food Last Friday, the lecture talked about the conception of “authentic food” and the definition of authentic food may vary f

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老李 Li Huawei

An Unknown Authentic Chinese Food (Part 1) An Unknown Authentic Chinese Food Last Friday, the lecture talked about the conception of “authentic food” and the definition of authentic food may vary from one to other. Today, I will show you an authentic Chinese food that you probably don’t even hear about before. So almost two months ago, I went a Chinese restaurant with my friends. The restaurant is called The Silk Road. We ordered some food; and here is the picture of my favorite food. As you can see from the photo, this food is a kind of barbequed meet. That’s right! And it’s called lamb kebab. Kebab? At a Chinese restaurant? Ok. Now you may wonder is it an authentic Chinese restaurant? Is this kebab authentic? People may think kebab is a cuisine originated in the Middle East. And that’s right. But if you know little bit about the population characteristics of China, then those questions will not bother you. This restaurant is run by a Uyghur family, a group of Uyghur people. I think Uyghur people make the best lamb kebab as far as I know; and this restaurant makes the best lamb kebab I ever tasted in GTA! Now you may have questions again. Uyghur people? Running a Chinese restaurant? Ok. Let me explain it to you. In China, there are fifty-six ethnic groups constitute Chinese population. Some may think there is only one ethnic group which is called “Chinese”. That may be partially correct. But the identity of “Chinese” is shared by these fifty-six ethnic groups. And Uyghur is one of them. Uyghur people believe in Islam, either culturally or geographically, they have strong connections with Arabian and Islamic countries. The reason why people tend to consider China only has only one ethnic category is that more than 90% of the population of China is constituted by Han Chinese, the one that people consider as yellow and oriental, and the one that speaks Mandarin and Cantonese. People apt to pay high attention to majority and neglect minority. This attitude does not only apply to race or ethnic, but also apply to food. To be specific, we tend to emphasis certain type(s) of food of a certain ethnic group and overlook other kinds of authentic food of this group. In this case, because Han Chinese is the dominating group of China, its cuisine is dominating the Chinese food culture as well. Thus, Han Chinese food is more valued than other ethnic groups’ food; outsiders are more familiar with Han Chinese cuisines than others.

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An Unknown Authentic Chinese Food (Part 1)

An Unknown Authentic Chinese Food

Last Friday, the lecture talked about the concept of “authentic food” and the definition of authentic food may vary from one person to another. Today, I will show you an authentic Chinese food that you probably haven't even heard about before.

So almost two months ago, I went to a Chinese restaurant with my friends. The restaurant is called The Silk Road. We ordered some food and here is the picture of my favorite food.

As you can see from the photo, this food is a kind of barbequed meet. That’s right! And it’s called a lamb kebab. A kebab? At a Chinese restaurant? Ok. Now you may wonder is it an authentic Chinese restaurant? Is this kebab authentic? People may think kebabs are a cuisine which originated in the Middle East. And that’s right. But if you know little bit about the population characteristics of China, then those questions will not bother you.

This restaurant is run by a Uyghur family, a group of Uyghur people. I think Uyghur people make the best lamb kebabs as far as I know and this restaurant makes the best lamb kebabs I have ever tasted in GTA! Now you may have questions again. Uyghur people? Running a Chinese restaurant? Ok. Let me explain it to you.

In China, there are fifty-six ethnic groups constituting Chinese population. Some may think there is only one ethnic group which is called “Chinese”. That may be partially correct. But the identity of “Chinese” is shared by these fifty-six ethnic groups. And Uyghur is one of them. Uyghur people believe in Islam, and either culturally or geographically, they have strong connections with Arabian and Islamic countries. The reason why people tend to consider China to have only one ethnic group is that more than 90% of the population of China is constituted of Han Chinese, which is the one that people consider yellow and oriental, and the one that speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.

People are apt to pay high attention to the majority and neglect the minority. This attitude does not only apply to races or ethnicites, but also applies to food. To be specific, we tend to emphasize certain types of food from certain ethnic groups and overlook the other kinds of authentic food of this group. In this case, because the Han Chinese are the predominant group in China, their cuisine dominates the Chinese food culture as well. Thus, Han Chinese food is more valued than other ethnic groups’ food; outsiders are more familiar with Han Chinese cuisines than others.

Also:

As you can see from the photo, this food is a kind of barbequed meet. - > barbequed meat

But if you know little bit about the population characteristics of China, then those questions will not bother you. -> But if you know a little bit...

In China, there are fifty-six ethnic groups constituting Chinese population. -> the Chinese population

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