Different culture in different places

Food culture represents one face by which a country knows itself and by which it shows itself to the world. Due to its great ethnic diversity, Taiwan has a wide variety of such faces and, moreover, these have increased and strengthened with the rise in local awareness. This diversity of cuisines includes 8 main categories: Holo (also called “Minnanese,” or simply “Taiwanese”), Hakka, and Aboriginal Cultures, as well as the various cooking styles with long histories from the length and breadth of China such as northern style, Hunan, Jiangzhe (from the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang), Hong Kong (Cantonese), and Sichuan. In general, therefore, it can be said that Taiwan’s varied cuisine shows ethnic, geographic, economic, and other cultural influences.

With the emergence of a stable foundation of economic prosperity over the last half-century, Taiwan’s people became more particular about their eating culture, giving it new life and enriching its content. The eight major categories of dishes covered include a comprehensive range of both everyday and more refined foods. These siao-chih are intimately bound to popular customs. Becoming familiar with Taiwan’s foods enables the diner to better understand the country and its peoples, and the place that foods occupy in their hearts.