Food Cultures

Food Cultures

Taiwanese Culture

The culture of Taiwan is a blend of Confucianist Han Chinese, Japanese, European, American, global, local, and Taiwanese aborigines cultures, which are often perceived in both traditional and modern understandings. The common socio-political experience in Taiwan gradually developed into a sense of Taiwanese cultural identity and a feeling of Taiwanese cultural awareness, which has been widely debated domestically. Reflecting the continuing controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan, politics continues to play a role in the conception and development of a Taiwanese cultural identity, especially in the prior dominant frame of a Taiwanese and Chinese dualism. In recent years, the concept of Taiwanese multiculturalism has been proposed as a relatively apolitical alternative view, which has allowed for the inclusion of mainlanders and other minority groups into the continuing re-definition of Taiwanese culture as collectively held systems of meaning and customary patterns of thought and behavior shared by the people of Taiwan (Brown, 2002).

Taiwanese food identity

Taiwan is home to an ethnic and cultural diversity that affects its dietary culture as well. Taiwanese cuisine has been strongly influenced by foods rooted in mainland China's Fujian province, and also by the cuisines of Fuzhou, Chaozhou and Guangdong. 

During Taiwan's half-century of Japanese colonial rule, Japanese-style cooking techniques also began to color Taiwanese food. Such classic Japanese foods as fried prawns and raw fish have been transformed into Taiwanese specialties. “Hostess club cuisine,” which developed in the Beitou area at social clubs and entertainment venues, and “bando” culture, a form of boisterous eating around a round table in an open space, were significant in the development of Taiwanese cuisine. When the Republic of China government relocated to Taiwan, Taiwanese cuisine began to incorporate the hometown dishes of people who arrived from the various mainland Chinese provinces, resulting in a still greater diversity. With a rich array of dishes, Taiwanese cuisine offers a style unique in the Chinese-speaking world (Alton, 2002).

Taiwanese foods place an emphasis on ingredients' original flavor. A light taste and fresh ingredients are their main features. As Taiwan is an island, seafood is in ready abundance and has become a major focus of Taiwanese dishes. As to cooking styles, sautéing and stir-frying are used widely as they have been found to best preserve ingredients' freshness and nutritional goodness.

From past to present, Taiwanese cuisine has continued to incorporate the essence of dishes introduced from abroad and to absorb the influences and flavors of Western dishes. The Taiwanese cuisine of today is the fruit of a long, continuous process of evolution and innovation.

Perhaps the most well know dish in Taiwan is the Stink Tofu.This dish is known as the local specialty and a must-try if you come to Taiwan. What makes this dish unique is its unique odor which is commonly potent enough to effect the nostrils of pupils on the opposite side of the street where it is being sold. Smelling of what has been described as rotten sewage, this dish is served either boiled or fried with a side ...