Abstract
The Chinese people are generally very particular in the naming of the dishes served at restaurants. For the Chinese, dish naming is a knowledge involving the combination of the dishes’ ingredients together with their names to ensure that the names given can fit the specialty of the dishes and also maintain their uniqueness at the same time. This paper explains the nomenclature of Malaysian Chinese New Year dishes and investigates the impact the Chinese culture has on it. Malaysian Chinese dishes are normally named based on three methods, which consider the ingredients used (Realistic Nomenclature), cultural implication (Impressionistic Nomenclature), or a combination of both (The Actual Situation Nomenclature). A literature review revealed that a majority of the Malaysian restaurants tend to name the dishes by highlighting the cultural implication of the dishes. In this study, a total of 295 dishes were collected from 24 restaurants to classify the name of the dishes according to the three methods. The analysis revealed that dishes nomenclature in Malaysia is complex. Most of the Chinese New Year dishes are named according to cultural implication because Chinese people believe that a given good name will affect the year’s fortune.
Highlights
The list of basic human needs includes clothes, food, housing and transportation
A total of 295 names of Chinese New Year Dishes were analysed according to the ingredients used (Realistic Nomenclature), its cultural implication (Impressionistic Nomenclature), or a combination of both (The Actual Situation Nomenclature) and these were interpreted together with their structure and content
The ancestors of Malaysian Chinese emigrated from China to Malaysia over hundreds of years ago but the cultural heritage of the Chinese is still being carried on by their of kin and passed on to their grandchildren from generation to generation. This cultural heritage is clearly reflected in the daily diet where we find that the names of dishes reflect the daily beliefs and culture of the Chinese people, giving names that reflect good fortune and auspicious outcomes that will psychologically promote mental wellbeing of the diners
Summary
The list of basic human needs includes clothes, food, housing and transportation. For the Chinese people, food is the most important element, for survival and to showcase their culture. Food culture is always prominent in major events such as weddings, funerals, grand openings and for building relationships, whether professionally as in business relationships or in personal relationships. This shows that “eating” plays a major part in our lives. As the standard of living improves, people are particular about the food quantity, quality and nutrition, but they have a certain expectation on taste of food, ingredients used and dining environment. Diners will normally be presented with a menu of dishes to order
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