The Socio-Cultural Genesis of Cuisine: A Comparative Study of France and China

Abstract

Food is so naturally an expression of sharing and communication between people, something everyone on Earth appreciates as vital to life and well being. To choose food as my topic seemed only natural as well, considering my interests in studying cultural awareness and communication. Food itself is, of course, a rather broad topic. Cuisine, as the particular way in which a culture approaches the preparation and consumption of food, seemed a logical place to start. I chose France and China because they had the two greatest and well known cuisines from the East and West.