Essay on Vietnamese Food

Take a moment to think about the following question: what is culture? Culture is everything a person does, believes in, creates, came from, and has done. It is also so much more than this simple list, but this is a good idea of what it generally is. Culture affects a lot of things as well. It can affect what you do, how you do certain things, and how you see things comparison to others. Culture is a major factor in how people perceive the world and those around them. Everybody sees the world differently through their cultural glasses. Some people see things as foreign and confusing, while others see the same things as daily life. The idea of different cultural viewpoints is shown in many articles throughout the years. Each of these stories

Culture is a set of ideals and values about life that are widely shared among people and that guide specific behaviors. Differences, as well as similarities, can be seen when comparing world cultures. We communicate with each other, we feed ourselves with food, and when we sleep we often dream. However, we speak different languages, eat different types of foods, and dream different ways. We call these cultural differences. What causes them is not always obvious to the ordinary person (Nancy). I feel culture is what really sets us apart from each other and what makes us unique as individuals and families.

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

According to Kashima (2010), defining what culture means is a difficult task. Culture can be considered the individual differences of identity. Culture is established by numerous things such as ideology and beliefs. While categories of culture are not limited to only country, a common classification of culture is that of different countries. Vietnam’s culture is diverse, influences from many countries have played a role in shaping Vietnam’s culture. Years of Chinese rule, French imperialism, social conflicts and war have given Vietnamese culture a unique richness of language, music and history.

America have a variety of food with no staple food to eat with every meal, unlike in Vietnam where the food is more exotic, but very easily to get sick of. Both countries daily meals consist of cooked goods, vegetables, and a variety of foods. Daily routine for eating is the same for both countries consisting of breakfast, lunch and dinner. But where there are similarities, there are differences such as the food cultures. Both the countries have difference regions, so of course each region vary on what they eat, and what they have access to. In America, the southern region’s foods are different than the cooked foods in other regions. In the same way, the foods that the southern region

Defining the meaning of culture is paramount to understanding how it can affect and shape a nation. Culture is defined by a set of customs, skills, courtesies, habits and lifestyle choices that develop as a result of a person’s environment. There are several characteristics that make up a nation 's culture, and set it apart from others. Geographical location greatly influences culture because it can determine profession, diet, as well as interaction with other individuals. Key infrastructure helps define a citizen’s access to resources such as clean drinking water, medicine, and trade items from other areas. Weather can take a monstrous toll on civilized nations, preventing them from expanding or limiting agricultural growth. Lines of communication throughout a nation are critical to ensuring that borders are maintained and cities well governed. Military conflicts often times determine government influence and can even destroy a nation’s way of life. Most notably

After doing all my research on the Vietnamese food, I now want to travel there and try it all!! In the 1800’s, during the Nguyën Dynasty, the French established a colony in Vietnam and they brought along their own food, which shortly became a huge influence on the Vietnamese cuisine. Foods like carrots, potatoes, lettuce, and others are all a few of the ingredients the French introduced to the Vietnamese that they now use on a daily basis in their cuisines. Coffee and baguettes are two of the mostly influences foods introduced by the French, along with several others (Wiens, Mark, 2013).

When comparing cultures, one must form a definition of what culture is. Culture can be easily defined as the social behavior and normality’s found in human societies. It can also be easily made up of a composed arrangement of educated conduct and thought designs. Culture is a sorted out framework since it includes many parts. Throughout the world, there are many cultures that are both very different and also very similar. "Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at table, how we greet visitors, how we behave and one million other things." (Cristina De Rossi.)

Africa is a continent that is rich and diverse in terms of culture and traditions. The continent is also considered to be the agricultural hub in the world. Due to this, most of African culture is ultimately intertwined with the foodstuffs that the land has to offer. In general, most of the inhabitants of Africa live within the rural areas and rely on subsistent farming to meet their day to day food needs. Fast food restaurants and supermarkets where processed and packaged food is sold are usually frowned upon and considered a waste of money and resources (AIG, 2011).

It would be in order to first examine the connotation and exact meaning of culture. Sociologists differ wide in their perceptions in explanting culture and its inter-related concepts. The best definition from the military view point is given by Leslie A. White, who quotes famous sociologists Frank Boas and Melville J. Herskovits. He writes “culture may be defined (as per Boas), as the totality of the mental and physical reactions and activities that characterise the behaviour of individuals composing a social group….”. He further quotes Herskovits and says, “When culture is closely analysed, we find but a series of patterned reactions that characterise the behaviour of the individuals who constitute a given group. Another writer Sapir quoted by Leslie white classified culture as the mass of typical reactions.’ Culture is best summarised as a way of life of the people. It is manmade part of environment. Cultures includes beliefs, ideas, religion, art, customs and other habits which the people acquire while living in a society. Another very important aspect of culture is that it is ever changing by learning and transmitting from one generation to other through a

A country’s national culture dictates almost everything that is done on a daily basis within that specific country. Everything from the way people eat, the way they speak and the holidays they celebrate are all dictated by these established beliefs and traditions. Culture can be described as “the characteristic way of behaving and believing, that a group of people have developed over time and share in common” (Tarique). This can be easily

It is not easy to define culture because culture is too broad a concept, can be both abstract and specific. However, what is agreed is culture covers all faces of our life as well as direct the way we behave, interact and communicate. (Liu et al., 2011). One popular definition is that “Culture is the total way of life of a group of people, comprising of the deposit of knowledge, experience, belief, values, traditions, religion, and notion of time, roles, spatial relations, worldviews, material objects and geographic territory”. (Liu et al., 2011, p.57). In this essay, I will analyse components and characteristics of culture, and based on that grounds, I will reflect on my own culture-being a Vietnamese. Dodd (1998) considered that culture is made up by three layers which consist of the core layer, the intermediate layer and the outer layer. I will examine what values and beliefs are considered important in my culture. Those are components of the inner core. Then, I will take some examples of the intermediate layer (expression of cultural activities by manifestation) such as communication patterns, customs and festivals.

Vietnamese cuisine can be very diverse due its geography and climate. There is no accurate average temperature for the whole country. The Vietnamese national culture emerged from a concrete living environment: a tropical country with many rivers and the confluence of great cultures (Vietnam Country). Vietnam is a long, narrow country in Southeast of Asia that borders south China, east of Laos and Cambodia. Vietnam is practically the size of Italy and Japan put together; and is divided into three regions: north, central, and south.

Street vending is one of the fanciest experiences visitors should take when they come to Vietnam. Imagine every morning when you wake up, somebody reaches your home and sells everything you need to cook today. The long existence of street vending proves that Vietnamese people are really open to old culture while adapting new shifting in their culture. Although the modernization of society has impacts on the activities of street vendors, Vietnam will lose its culture without street vendors.

On one hand, Vietnamese gastronomy is not just about Vietnamese food; the gastronomes can try Chinese, Thailand, French food and many other dishes from different countries in the world right here in the Vietnamese restaurants. It is really a paradise of food bringing tourists to Vietnam. On the other hand, many Vietnamese restaurants located abroad contribute to present the image of Vietnamese gastronomy to the world. Misses Wendy Chan, an expert from Definity Marketing assumes that Vietnamese food is the most fashionable choice for the Americans.