FOOD IN USA

How does an understanding of food help us understand culture in general?

It is an obvious common sense that almost every country has its own choice of ingredients and cooking methods. To understand how their food cultures are different may help us distinguish people with different country backgrounds from one another. The choices of foods differs from countries, for instance, Chinese do not like to eat uncooked foods like salad in the past, people in America or most western countries prefer to eat bread and butter. How the local people’s lifestyles are can also be showed in the way they cook foods. And this can not only be different among countries but can also be different among cities. Table manners and custom can also be included when we are trying to know the food culture of a country. These can also show how they treat people in their own way, sometimes misunderstandings or quarrels or impolite things happen because of different eating habits. Understanding a country’s food culture can help to avoid making mistakes when we behave in other countries.

What is some eating habit that that is special to USA?

· Americans eat with a knife and fork, and they eat in a very particular way. Therefore, when invited to have a meal with American friends, you should pay special attention to their eating habits. The eating habits of Americans is three meals a day. The size of meals is always larger than other countries.

· If you're new to restaurants in the United States, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Choose suitable restaurants (such as family restaurants or self-service restaurants)

2. Restaurant opening hours (open at 11:30 am until evening)

3. Generally, a reservation should book in advance, especially for the famous restaurants

4. When you arrive at a restaurant, do not go straight to the table unless there is a notice "Sit at your leisure"

5. When paying, don't forget to leave a certain percentage of the waiter tip (generally 10% to 15% of the actual total).

As the fast pace of American life, fast food has appeared.Its fast food chain throughout the world, among which the biggest influence is the McDonald's fast food chain. Fast food served like hamburgers, roast beef, sandwiches, potato chips and so on.

What do these eating habits above teach us about American culture?

1. Americans ear with knife and fork actually reflects part of its history. The European colonization brought their own culture to the new continent. Therefore, their eating habits influence American eating way.

2. In America, when you decide to eat in a restaurant, you should book in advance. Chinese people may not be used to it. Chinese chefs seems can finish a table of various dishes in relatively short time, but American chefs are not the same. They pay attention to delicacy and beauty in cooking, which makes them use as many as five or six kinds of knives when cooking, and different knives are used to deal with different ingredients. Chefs can only wait until the order comes so it takes a long time to cook.

3. When we mention America food, most of us probably will say fast food. It seems that fast food become a particular symbol of America. American get used to eat fast food though it is regarded as junk food in other countries. Why fast food gain wide popularity in America? Initially, as a developed country, the pace of its life in big cities in US is very fast, so people don’t have too much time to cook or sit down and have a good meal. Secondly, the working class, no matter locals or immigrants, is very large in US. They are not well-off, and the low price of fast food meets their need to reduce the cost of living. In addition, eating fast food can help them save time. Therefore, we can get the idea of Americans’ life style through fast food.

4. Why American have to leave a tip when eating in restaurant? American believe the faith that hard work pays off. According to their concept, tipping who provides you with good service, is a kind of affirmation, a reward for their service. Besides, the basic salary of American service workers is very low, so they need to rely on tips to fill the minimum wage gap. Tips become their main source of income, and enable them to pay taxes.