I believe most of you have tried Chinese food. But I�m not sure whether you like it. Actually I don�t believe the restaurants outside China may make the real Chinese food with the real taste. The traditional cuisine in China even changed as time passing by. We could often hear old people complaining about the typical taste of old times had gone. Anyway, the following article quoted from my website is the introduction of Chinese Imperial Food, one of the most famous and important categories of Chinese food. Since it has a long history, it also contains cultural taste.
The History of Chinese Imperial Food Chinese imperial food dates back to slave society. Ever since there were emperors and palaces, there has been imperial food, which was served mainly to the emperors, their wives and concubines, and the royal families. Emperors used their power to collect the best delicacies and called upon the best cooks to make delicious food for them. Imperial food represented a dynasty�s best cuisine.
Although imperial food was made exclusively for the royal family, generals, ministers, and nobility, it was the peasants, herders, and fishermen who provided the raw materials, craftsmen who made the kitchen utensils, the cooking staff who provided the service, civil officials who named the dishes and protocol officials who drafted the dietary and culinary rules. Imperial food comprised the dietetic culture of the Chinese palaces and it is part of China�s valuable cultural heritage.
Chinese imperial food originated around the Zhou Dynasty (11th century B.C. � 476 B.C.). Although China�s dietetic culture developed and grew prior to the Zhou Dynasty, it truly flourished during the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties (1122 B.C. � 220).
During the Zhou Dynasty, Chinese imperial cuisine took shape. Staple and non-staple foods were plentiful and many imperial and famous dishes were developed. A complete organization was responsible for the imperial food served in the Zhou Dynasty palace; it included a large staff and a clear division of labor, including chief cook, internal cooks, external cooks, assistants, nutritionists, wine officers. Altogether, there were 22 departments with more than 2,300 staff.
During the Han and Wei Dynasties (206 B.C. � A. D. 265), imperial food and drink followed the system initiated in the Zhou Dynasty. By this time China�s strengthened economy and its cultural exchanges with other countries had provided new sources of raw materials, better cooking utensils and cooking skills, wider adoption of ironware, and higher standards for imperial dishes.
Stir-frying was the chief cooking method during the Southern and Northern Dynasties (A.D. 420 - 589), and stir-fried dishes became popular as everyday meals among the common people. Buddhism was spreading in China by this time, and vegetarian dishes began appearing because the Buddhist monks ate vegetarian food. In response to the demand for vegetarian dishes, the cooks of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty (502 -557) introduced the use of gluten.
The technique of using fermentation to make staple foods, such as steamed buns, stuffed buns, and steamed cakes, which are still popular foods today, was already being used in the final years of the Han Dynasty. Other staple foods were baked cakes and noodles.
The imperial food of the Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties (581 - 1279) followed the system and rules of preceding dynasties, but the varieties of food and meal procedures changed tremendously. During Yang Di�s reign in the Sui Dynasty (enthroned 605 - 618), seafood appeared much more frequently on imperial menus.
The characteristics, habits, and customs surrounding food in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and in the Sui and Tang Dynasties belong to the same period. There were also similarities in the imperial food prepared and served in the Song and Yuan Dynasties (960 - 1368). And, there is almost no difference between the food of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911) and the food served today.
People in the Qing Dynasty treasured shark�s fin and edible bird�s nest, which are indispensable ingredients at modern, opulent banquets. These two foods were brought into China from Southeast Asia in the early years of the Ming Dynasty when the eunuch, Zheng He, returned from there. During the middle period of the Qing Dynasty, edible bird�s nest and shark�s fin headed the menus at extravagant banquets. Sea cucumbers and prawns are native to China, but only became imperial dishes much later.
As cities and towns began to develop and thrive, cooking became a commercial activity and many restaurants were opened. Some cooks freed themselves from their slave status of serving the royal family and nobility by becoming independent laborers who sold their cooking skills. Many famous cooks and chefs emerged, among them Song Wusao in the Southern Song Dynasty and Wang Eryu in the Qing Dynasty.
To some extent peoples� food and drink are influenced by regional divisions, but the primary influences are peoples� income, education, culture, and religious beliefs. For these reasons, China developed several dietetic cultures. These include the imperial, aristocratic, literati, market, and temple cuisines. Especially during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, imperial food and drink were closely tied to preserving health, which led to the development of unique imperial food.