Since I was a child, I wanted to give up eating meat!  Not that I didn’t enjoy it…I loved my mom’s Sri Lankan chicken curry, or my Dad’s Beef Badung, and I have eaten Venison by the truck load.   It was amazing!  When I was growing up in Sri Lanka, on my way to school I saw herds of cattle being dragged to a slaughter house nearby. It was not a pretty scene!  So when I sit at the dinner table and I see a meat dish on the table, the memory of those poor distressed animals would flash back into my mind.  So I refused to eat meat, but  my parents(being meat-eaters) would warm me of the perils of giving up eating meat. “You will not get adequate protein” and “you will grow skinnier” they warned me, and coaxed me into eating even a little bit. I did comply, but however my body having its own intelligence decided for me…soon I became allergic to meat!  It was such a relief when  they stopped forcing me to eat meat!

After several years, as my memory of the distressed cows faded from my mind, I resumed eating meat with no repurcusions.  But some where deep within me, I knew there was an inner wisdom guiding me to quit.  So I made a compromise with myself.  I decided  to quit eating any flesh such as beef, pork and chicken and decided to be content with eating fish and seafood for several reasons.  Having been raised on an island, fish and seafood was part of our natural diet and I also enjoyed the taste as well as how I felt after eating.  Perhaps, our human intelligence can guide us to foods that make us feel whole and well.  Fish was such a comfort food for me. 

Well call it an expanded consciousness, if you will, but  lately the internal debate about eating another living thing has re-surfaced! I have been debating whether my own selfish reasons for eating fish could  be any longer justified –considering  that no animal or fish would be willing to undergo even the slightest suffering and to be put to death just to please someone else’s taste buds!  Do they really have a choice?  But we do!

I can understand when a carnivorous wild animal like a lion kills its prey to satisfy its hunger…because it has no other choice.  Carnivores are genetically wired to eat that way..they cannot survive eating plants or grass! But we humans..have so many choices and no shortage of foods like grains, beans, lentils, vegetables and fruits. We also have eggs and dairy products, if we choose to enjoy them.  Although my vegan friends may disagree with me, I can still occasionally have the pleasure of supplementing my diet with them, since I have the comfort of knowing that the chicken who lays the egg is not put to death; neither is the cow who gives us milk!

So it all goes to show that we make our food choices based on  the level of our own understanding…We can make conscious decisions based on whether the food is good or bad for us…whether it is good for our environment, whether it is safe to eat, and whether we can continue to ensure a safe and adequate food supply for future generations. Yet for some people,  none of these reasons will withstand the their strong desire or craving for the taste of meat. 

So choosing to be or not to be a vegetarian, will ultimately rest on their own conscience –which stems from one’s own inner level of consciousness and how they relate to the outer environment.

All the reasons given for choosing a vegetarian diet..whether they be  religious,  ethica, or ecological are irrelevant.

As for me the choice is clear…. “If  I know another living being is killed or subject to pain in order to satisfy my eating needs, then I am not eating it!”

Jini Aroon

Types of Chinese cuisine

People in North America tend to generalize the food from another country and tend to label it in terms of what is familiar to them.  One has to remember that China is a vast country with many regions and each region has their own culinary specialties and styles of cooking based on taste preferences and the availability of ingredients.  In North American restaurants the common styles of food are mainly Cantonese, Shanghai, Sichuan or Hunan. Beijing cuisine commonly referred to as Mandarin finds its roots from various other regions of China, and is closely associated with Huaiyang cuisine which has long been praised since ancient times in China.  This cuisine is interesting and unusual as they are very plain and simple and each dish characteristically uses one main ingredient as opposed to the more common North American Chinese styles of stir-fry dishes which combine a number of ingredients such as chicken with vegetables.  The way that ingredient is cut is also pivotal to its cooking and its final taste. The unique sweet and sour flavour of the vegetable dishes such as  soy beans, cucumber or cabbage  is derived by the use of sesame oil and  Chinkiang vinegar, which is produced in the Zhenjiang region. The dishes are almost never spicy, in contrast to some cuisines of China (e.g., Sichuan or Hunan). Pork, fresh water fish, and other seafood  serve as the meat base to most dishes, which are usually more meticulous and light compared to the more “brash” eating styles of northern China. Beijing Duck is also a popular dish featured in many Beijing restaurants as a specialty.                         The element of traditional Beijing culinary/gastronomical culture of enjoying artistic performances such as Beijing opera while dining directly developed from the similar practice in the culinary/gastronomical culture of Jiangsu/Huaiyang cuisine.

Chinese Imperial cuisine that originated from “The Emperor’s Kitchen” which was a term referring to the cooking facilities inside of the Forbidden City, Beijing where thousands of cooks from the different parts of China showed their best cooking skills to please royal families and officials. Therefore, it is at times rather difficult to determine the actual origin of a dish as the term “Mandarin” is generalized and refers not only to Beijing, but other provinces as well. However, some generalization of Beijing cuisine can be characterized as follows: Foods that originated in Beijing are often snacks rather than full courses, and they are typically sold by little shops or street vendors. There is emphasis on dark soy paste, sesame paste, sesame oil, and scallions, and fermented tofu is often served as a condiment. In terms of cooking method, methods relating to the different ways of frying are often used.^]There is a lesser emphasis on rice as an accompaniment than in many other areas of China, as local rice production is limited by the relatively dry climate.  For dishes of Beijing cuisine served as full courses, they are mostly originated from other Chinese cuisines and some of the following in particular have been central to the formation of Beijing (Mandarin) cuisine.

Chinese Islamic cuisine is another important component of the Beijing cuisine, with the first major introduction when Beijing was selected as the imperial capital of the Yuan Dynasty.

Shandong Cuisine: 

The most significant contribution to the formation of Beijing cuisine came from Shandong cuisine, as most chefs from Shandong came to Beijing en masse in Qing Dynasty. Unlike the earlier two cuisines which were brought by the ruling class such as royalties, aristocrats and bureaucrats, and then spread to the general populace, the introduction of Shandong cuisine begun with serving the general populace, with much wider market segment, from the wealthy merchants to working classes.

Note: An interesting observation I made in Beijing is that the locals are not big on desserts! A plate of water melon or other fruit was offered as dessert along with a pot of green tea.