Food Culture of Wenzhou/Zhejiang and South India - A Comparative Study

Abstract

Food culture is diverse around the world based on climate, beliefs and attitudes as well as the method of cultivation, processes, distribution, and consumption pattern. Food culture of India and China differ a lot however, there are some similarities between Chinese cuisines and north eastern part of India's cuisine. This study is an attempt to understand the food culture of Wenzhou/Zhejiang, China and South India using two different questionnaires containing a list of 50 popular cuisines of the two countries and collected data from 200 respondents from Wenzhou/Zhejiang and South India. Apart from this, data was collected from 50 Indian students of Wenzhou Medical University to understand their Chinese cuisine preferences. The scale had a high level of internal consistency, as determined by a Cronbach's alpha of 0.717. This paper presents ten most preferred Chinese food of Chinese in Wenzhou/Zhejiang, ten most preferred Indian food of south Indians and ten most preferred Chinese cuisine of Indians living in Wenzhou. The impact of globalisation is witnessed through the changes in the food culture of Indians in general and the youngsters in particular. Food is medicine and verse versa that is evident from the traditional food habits of Chinese and Indians. It is a unique attempt made in discussing the similarities and differences between the food culture of Wenzhou/Zhejiang and South India. There is a scope for future research in understanding the Indian food preferences of Chinese living in India.