Asian Food: Tickling Taste Buds
ConversesAsian Fiction & Non-Fiction
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011. Why the Chinese don’t count calories
Finished reading: 10 January 2012
Why the Chinese don’t count calories is based on the wrong assumption that all Chinese people are slim because Chinese food habits would prevent them from getting fat. According to the acknowledgements, the author, Lorraine Clissold came to China in the early 1990s. That was the time when virtually all Chinese were indeed slim. However, by the middle of the first decade of the new century, it is becoming clear that increased affluence in China leads to the same epidemic of obesity as elsewhere in the world. That effect must already have been very clear to the author in 2008, when the book was published.
The book is a bit of a jumble. Most chapters are devoted to unlocking the secrets of Chinese philosophy and relating that to food habits, interspersed with recipes for some common, popular Chinese dishes, and supplemented with two chapters on drinking tea and physical exercise. For the largest part, the book leans heavily on “Qi Gong” a popular pseudo-scientific philosophy, which had its hey day in the 1990s, but was subsequently suppressed. The book presents a wide range of “Qi Gong” philosophical concepts, which are presented in a unified framework which supposedly explains a “philosophy of food.” The most puzzling are the (several) five-point star diagrams, which link the (always) five elements, five (vital) organs, five orifices, five flavours, five climatic conditions, five elements of the life cycle. In addition to that, there are (of course) five characteristics of a Chinese meal. The diagrams show how and in which order these elements influence each other. This basic set-up of the book suggests that the author did an extensive Internet search and uncritically connects all she found in an all-encompassing, all-inclusive system. Least known, and least logical seem the “five orifices,” in which the tongue (!) is an orifice beside the mouth and only orifices on the head are included. Surely, Shakespeare would link the heart with the tongue, but perhaps even he would not see how to connect the ear to the kidneys/bladder. In my 12 years in China, I have never heard anyone refer to these ideas. They are about as popular in China as the theory of the five humours or “Ages of Man,” of the European Middle Ages.
Beside the “Qi Gong” base of ideas, the author discusses more widely accepted philosophical concepts such as Yin and Yang and relates these to food. These ideas, while perhaps less known in the West, are a part of Chinese medicine and form an integral part of Chinese (cultural) belief. Common people in China all refer to food that either promotes “heat” or cools the body. While Western medicine also considers these ideas as pre-modern, they can be seen to fit with ideas about food which causes or soothes inflammation. In my experience, many Chinese people have some idea of the main food stuffs and their effect. Unfortunately, rather than keeping things simple by suggesting hot as opposed to cool, the author divides the diagram in five columns listing Hot, Cold, Warm, Cool and Neutral. Listing food in five categories makes it much more difficult to understand or apply.
Another dichotomy rules by Yin/Yang is whether food is hard and dry, or soft and wet. This section clearly shows that the author has applied very little critical thought to her subject. Surely Western food matches Chinese food in variety of soups and dishes. Where Western food might be drier and harder than Chinese food, the author overlooks the fact that the Western kitchen prepares sauces which can be added to food, and Western people often drink beverages during a meal, whereas Chinese people do not. (They do nowadays, but that is a novelty.)
To sum up, this book mystifies rather than clarifies Chinese food culture, presenting a view which is dubious, uncritical and not current in China.
Finished reading: 10 January 2012
Why the Chinese don’t count calories is based on the wrong assumption that all Chinese people are slim because Chinese food habits would prevent them from getting fat. According to the acknowledgements, the author, Lorraine Clissold came to China in the early 1990s. That was the time when virtually all Chinese were indeed slim. However, by the middle of the first decade of the new century, it is becoming clear that increased affluence in China leads to the same epidemic of obesity as elsewhere in the world. That effect must already have been very clear to the author in 2008, when the book was published.
The book is a bit of a jumble. Most chapters are devoted to unlocking the secrets of Chinese philosophy and relating that to food habits, interspersed with recipes for some common, popular Chinese dishes, and supplemented with two chapters on drinking tea and physical exercise. For the largest part, the book leans heavily on “Qi Gong” a popular pseudo-scientific philosophy, which had its hey day in the 1990s, but was subsequently suppressed. The book presents a wide range of “Qi Gong” philosophical concepts, which are presented in a unified framework which supposedly explains a “philosophy of food.” The most puzzling are the (several) five-point star diagrams, which link the (always) five elements, five (vital) organs, five orifices, five flavours, five climatic conditions, five elements of the life cycle. In addition to that, there are (of course) five characteristics of a Chinese meal. The diagrams show how and in which order these elements influence each other. This basic set-up of the book suggests that the author did an extensive Internet search and uncritically connects all she found in an all-encompassing, all-inclusive system. Least known, and least logical seem the “five orifices,” in which the tongue (!) is an orifice beside the mouth and only orifices on the head are included. Surely, Shakespeare would link the heart with the tongue, but perhaps even he would not see how to connect the ear to the kidneys/bladder. In my 12 years in China, I have never heard anyone refer to these ideas. They are about as popular in China as the theory of the five humours or “Ages of Man,” of the European Middle Ages.
Beside the “Qi Gong” base of ideas, the author discusses more widely accepted philosophical concepts such as Yin and Yang and relates these to food. These ideas, while perhaps less known in the West, are a part of Chinese medicine and form an integral part of Chinese (cultural) belief. Common people in China all refer to food that either promotes “heat” or cools the body. While Western medicine also considers these ideas as pre-modern, they can be seen to fit with ideas about food which causes or soothes inflammation. In my experience, many Chinese people have some idea of the main food stuffs and their effect. Unfortunately, rather than keeping things simple by suggesting hot as opposed to cool, the author divides the diagram in five columns listing Hot, Cold, Warm, Cool and Neutral. Listing food in five categories makes it much more difficult to understand or apply.
Another dichotomy rules by Yin/Yang is whether food is hard and dry, or soft and wet. This section clearly shows that the author has applied very little critical thought to her subject. Surely Western food matches Chinese food in variety of soups and dishes. Where Western food might be drier and harder than Chinese food, the author overlooks the fact that the Western kitchen prepares sauces which can be added to food, and Western people often drink beverages during a meal, whereas Chinese people do not. (They do nowadays, but that is a novelty.)
To sum up, this book mystifies rather than clarifies Chinese food culture, presenting a view which is dubious, uncritical and not current in China.
2marietherese
Thank you for this fascinating review. I have many Chinese friends who use Yin/Yang in terms of food much as you suggest (hot vs cool) rather than the complicated categories suggested by the author. This sounds like a very curious but not especially enlightening book. Something to browse through at the library or bookstore but not to buy.
