Unforgettable

As a person who had lived in his country for many years, it must be hard to forget his country’s culture. Suddenly, he had to move to a new country that he had never been in. That is me. I have been in Chicago for more than one year. I remember after I came to Chicago, something in my mind had been disappeared. I feel some of my cultures had been lost. Among the many rituals and customs, I think food is one of the most unforgettable things from my country.

First of all, it’s hard to find the traditional Chinese food in Chicago. I have been living in Chinatown for more than one year, and this is a place where there are lots of Chinese restaurants. Every morning, I pass Wentworth Street which is the main drag of Chinatown. I would like to walk into the restaurant and ask the owners: “do you have “ginger pig knuckle in sweet vinegar,” but they always say no. This is a kind of traditional food in my country, which is made of sweet vinegar, ginger, egg, and pig’s knuckle. This food is only eaten one month after a woman has a baby, but now these days in China, this food is also sold for breakfast in the restaurant or grocery store. Until this day, now, I still cannot find it in a restaurant of Chicago’s Chinatown. I can eat it only when my mother cooks it a home.

In addition, I cannot forget the freshness of the food from my country. For me, I define freshness as the food that is alive before cooking. I mean that the food still contains nutrition. Throughout my life in China, I remember that I bought fresh food always fresh food before I cook it. There is a market in each town, and this market is for the local people to sell their food. All the food is delivered from the fields or the place that produces the food instantly, such as vegetable, meat and fish. Especially the fish, I used to buy live swimming fish. The fish even can swim when I buy it, but at this moment, I can only eat is the frozen fish or the “dead fish. That is what I call it.

Finally, I think the taste of the food has changed a lot here. I remember the day I came to the U.S. when I ordered fried rice from a restaurant. Fried rice just a simple Chinese food, but the taste was different from China. Not only the fried rice, but a lot of Chinese food has a different taste in this country. I think the most important reason is the Chinese restaurants cater to the public taste. In the U.S.., most people like to eat food with a strong taste. If the food’s taste is originally salty in my country, probably the food’s taste is a little salty in the U.S.. Likewise, if the food is sweet in my country, the food must be sweeter here.

Although I have been living in this new country for more than one year, it is really difficult to
find the aspects of the food like in my country. The traditional food, freshness, and taste has
become gradually lost. I really hope the food culture will not be totally lost in my new country,
especially in the Chinatown. Because this is a unique place to display my country’s unique
culture, and the culture of the food is a really important part of a country.