Wu - 'Ethnic Foods' and Regional Identity (2)

China is a big country. There are 56 ethnic groups in China. Each ethnic group has its special identity. This article introduced Hezha food in Enshi. Writer also talks about other types of food contains special characteristic of some other regions and ethnic groups. There are different culture backgrounds behind each type of regional food. However, the writer also concludes the facts some of the Chinese food has the similar identities. In some regions, the regional food appears the same to the other regional food.

Such as Sichuan cuisine is well known as very hot dishes. It is because the weather in Sichuan is very humid and hot. Chill grows very well in that condition. Therefore, chill becomes so available to the region, and one of the most important ingredients of Sichuan food. It also becomes the identity of Sichuan.

However, China is a fast developed country. People move fast in China. There are lots of people travels to other regions outside their normal generated region in China. They introduce their regional food to other regions. With time passes by, it won’t be hard to find Sichuan food in other regions of China. It is even available in Chinese Restaurant in Sydney. They all contain the similar identities.

Everywhere in China, rice and stir-fries are the common food of every Chinese. Sichuan food could be really spicy in Sichuan, but lease spicier in Beijing. However, people are still eating the same style food, rice and stir-fries. No matter how the it the rice and stir-fries get cooked. It is still Chinese food, and Chinese steamed rice and sire-fries are always being the common food in China.

Wu - 'Ethnic Foods' and Regional Identity

Wu explains that the since there are so many different ethnicities in the Enshi Prefecture, the people there are more separated by their lineage than their ethnicity. As a result the Enshi people are not perceived to have their own identity as a culture. Their identity is associated with the food that they eat. Before there were a variety of ethnicities in the area, the identity of the Enshi food was regarded as using "dry land crops and wild food plants" and "mountain farmer’s food." However, with the recent rise in popularity of the Hezha food (locally made food) restaurants in the area, this concept changed. Hezha food has now come to symbolise the Enshi culture.

The Hezha food patterns have 4 main patterns: sour (such as pickled vegetables), sweet (such as sweet wine), glutinous (sticky rice and seasonings), and hot (such as a variety of pepper dishes).

A problem that I had with this article was what seemed to be a contradiction in Wu’s statement. Wu stated that there was not an Enshi identity, but then later stated that the Hezha food brought the identity of "mountain farmer’s food" away from the Enshi identity. I also found it difficult to determine when Wu was referring to food identity or personal identity throughout the article.

Question: Why does Wu state that the Chinese culture discourages the creation of ethnicities because it creates a hierarchy, yet tries to give the Enshi culture an identity?