A world-famous French chef once said ‘There are two great cuisines in the world- French and Chinese’. He may have been biased about the French, but he was certainly right about Chinese.

Chinese cuisine is greatly influenced by Chinese philosophy, particularly of Confucian, who laid down rules to cut, dice or slice, size of portions, cooking methods and the order of serving as well as the use of chopsticks. The emphasis on the ‘yin and yang’ aspects of a menu creates a balance not found in other cuisines. The result is a cuisine that is visually appealing, fresh, fragrant, and nutritious and makes best use of available ingredients. Food is not served in individual portions, but is to be shared amongst all those at the table. The staple diet of most Chinese is rice- in the form of grain, or as noodles. Wheat, too, is used, as noodles or as bread. Given the widespread poverty in the country, few people (especially in rural areas) can afford meat; dishes are therefore `filled out’ with lots of vegetables, beancurd and the like. Milk and dairy products are regarded as children’s food, and rarely consumed by adults. Flavourings such as spices (including the famous five-spice powder used to flavour classic meat dishes), wine, soybean and black bean sauce are used extensively.

Regional styles of cuisine in China, include the wheat based northern dishes; the spicy, chilly-hot cuisine of Szechwan; and the rice-vegetable-and-seafood diets of coastal China. Whichever part of China you go to, you’ll find food which is appetising, interesting, and often pretty unusual too – thousand year eggs, bear’s paws, shark’s fin and bird’s nest are used-

Vegetarians can find little to cheer in China. Plain vegetarian dishes can be found in homes and restaurants, though the Chinese associate vegetarian food with the poor. Pure vegetarian dishes share the same names as their meatier counterparts, so check if your roast duck or twice cooked pork is kosher for you or not. Buddhist food bars the use of onions, garlic and some other spices; so if in dire need, head for the nearest Buddhist temple at mealtimes.