Dutch missionaries' bread, Qing dynasty people's canned salmon, Japanese colonial beef, explore Taiwan's food culture history
Cao Mingzong╳Taiwan history expert Weng Jiayin,
Let’s start from the beginning and learn about the history of Taiwanese people’s eating.
Food is a major issue of people’s livelihood, affecting the national economy and having a subtle influence on the social and cultural levels. This book will focus on Taiwanese people's favorite food and introduce how these foods and eating methods were introduced and transformed. Through detailed investigation and tracing, it will answer the historical roots of why you and I eat the way we do today and which eating methods we think are delicious.
Find your own history while eating
Taiwan is located at the intersection of the Eurasian continent and the Pacific Ocean. Over the past hundreds of years, from the maritime exchanges of the Austronesian people to the introduction and improvement of agricultural products by foreign immigrants, the island has local specialties of the indigenous peoples, European ingredients from the Dutch era, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Chaoshan cuisine from the Qing Dynasty, Japanese Western cuisine to post-war military village cuisine. Taiwan has since become a veritable food kingdom.
Putting food back into the historical context
We often attribute some eating habits to the Japanese occupation or even the post-war period. In fact, Taiwan and the Southeast Asian islands have long formed the Austronesian cultural circle, and some products and eating habits can even be traced back to before the 16th century. During the Dutch era, many foods from Europe, America and South Asia were introduced. At that time, there were records of Taiwan employing Chinese people to make bread. Chinese workers and oxen were also brought in to produce sugar and rice and export them to Japan and other places, thus developing the earliest agricultural economy.
Taiwanese people's 400-year history of eating beef
Eating beef is seen as a dietary habit brought by post-war immigrants. However, there are records from the Japanese era that people at that time might not have been able to eat working cattle openly, but they knew how to eat imported "Wagyu"! The stone tablet prohibiting the killing of cattle in the Qing Dynasty also shows that some people really did eat beef jerky at that time. This habit can even be traced back to the beef jerky of the Dutch era!
Taiwan, the King of Food Inventions
Taiwan has not only absorbed foreign eating habits, but has also invented many foreign delicacies that seem to have come from across the ocean. For example, Wenzhou wontons which are not available in Wenzhou, Sichuan beef noodles which are not available in Sichuan, and Mongolian barbecue which is not produced in Mongolia are all unique to Taiwan. These Taiwanese inventions also demonstrate Taiwan's inclusiveness and creativity.
Find your own history while eating
Taiwan is located at the intersection of the Eurasian continent and the Pacific Ocean. Over the past hundreds of years, from the maritime exchanges of the Austronesian people to the introduction and improvement of agricultural products by foreign immigrants, the island has local specialties of the indigenous peoples, European ingredients from the Dutch era, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Chaoshan cuisine from the Qing Dynasty, Japanese Western cuisine to post-war military village cuisine. Taiwan has since become a veritable food kingdom.
Putting food back into the historical context
We often attribute some eating habits to the Japanese occupation or even the post-war period. In fact, Taiwan and the Southeast Asian islands have long formed the Austronesian cultural circle, and some products and eating habits can even be traced back to before the 16th century. During the Dutch era, many foods from Europe, America and South Asia were introduced. At that time, there were records of Taiwan employing Chinese people to make bread. Chinese workers and oxen were also brought in to produce sugar and rice and export them to Japan and other places, thus developing the earliest agricultural economy.
Taiwanese people's 400-year history of eating beef
Eating beef is seen as a dietary habit brought by post-war immigrants. However, there are records from the Japanese era that people at that time might not have been able to eat working cattle openly, but they knew how to eat imported "Wagyu"! The stone tablet prohibiting the killing of cattle in the Qing Dynasty also shows that some people really did eat beef jerky at that time. This habit can even be traced back to the beef jerky of the Dutch era!
Taiwan, the King of Food Inventions
Taiwan has not only absorbed foreign eating habits, but has also invented many foreign delicacies that seem to have come from across the ocean. For example, Wenzhou wontons which are not available in Wenzhou, Sichuan beef noodles which are not available in Sichuan, and Mongolian barbecue which is not produced in Mongolia are all unique to Taiwan. These Taiwanese inventions also demonstrate Taiwan's inclusiveness and creativity.
Good reviews
The popular history of Taiwan can easily become a history of hatred. It does not require you to remember who invaded you, who committed corruption and murder, or that this land has not belonged to anyone since ancient times. These questions all seem to point to similar answers, but upon closer inspection they contradict each other, seeming like a crude tactic of cognitive warfare and making for unpleasant reading. This book, "A History of Taiwan's Food," breaks away from the above stereotypes and looks at the origins of the delicious food that this beautiful land and diverse ethnic groups have created and that makes the world salivate from the perspective of interdisciplinary material culture. How can it not be fascinating?
——Zhuang Deren/PhD in History from National Taiwan Normal University, history teacher at Jianzhong High School
The popular history of Taiwan can easily become a history of hatred. It does not require you to remember who invaded you, who committed corruption and murder, or that this land has not belonged to anyone since ancient times. These questions all seem to point to similar answers, but upon closer inspection they contradict each other, seeming like a crude tactic of cognitive warfare and making for unpleasant reading. This book, "A History of Taiwan's Food," breaks away from the above stereotypes and looks at the origins of the delicious food that this beautiful land and diverse ethnic groups have created and that makes the world salivate from the perspective of interdisciplinary material culture. How can it not be fascinating?
——Zhuang Deren/PhD in History from National Taiwan Normal University, history teacher at Jianzhong High School
Cooking is part of experimental science. Knowing how to eat can make cooking reach the pinnacle of deliciousness. Understanding the ethnic groups, migrations, and post-war legacy on the land of Taiwan has left behind signs and contexts of the evolution of food ingredients, and also integrated the most proud acceptance and tolerance in Taiwan's food culture. The introduction of new ingredients from all over the world has taken root in the pleasant climate of Taiwan. The improvement of rice varieties, the policy market of the wheat pasta industry and bread, the hot and cold drinking habits of tea, the rise and fall of Taiwan sugar, the characteristics of sugar and Taiwan rice wine, and the diversity of seasonings have cooked up the diverse flavors of Taiwanese cuisine.
Holding the book "History of Food in Taiwan" by teachers Cao Mingzong and Weng Jiayin, one can enrich the evidence of knowledge and allow Taiwanese chefs to showcase the life and value of local ingredients.
——Lin Yicheng/Chef of "Delicious Innovation" of Fengshi Charity Food Culture Education Foundation
About the Author
Weng Jiayin
He is an associate researcher at the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica, and an adjunct associate professor at the Institute of Taiwan History, National Chengchi University and National Taiwan Normal University.
His research expertise lies in the history of Taiwan from the 16th to the 18th century, East Asian history, historical theory, and historical folklore. He has presided over projects such as the "Xingang Documents Research" and the translation and annotation of the "Resolutions of the Dutch Era". Proficient in Dutch and Dutch literature, his book "Study and Interpretation of the Ancient Map of Greater Taipei" interprets the ancient Dutch map of northern Taiwan in the mid-seventeenth century and is an important reference material for studying early Taiwanese history.
His research expertise lies in the history of Taiwan from the 16th to the 18th century, East Asian history, historical theory, and historical folklore. He has presided over projects such as the "Xingang Documents Research" and the translation and annotation of the "Resolutions of the Dutch Era". Proficient in Dutch and Dutch literature, his book "Study and Interpretation of the Ancient Map of Greater Taipei" interprets the ancient Dutch map of northern Taiwan in the mid-seventeenth century and is an important reference material for studying early Taiwanese history.
Cao Mingzong
Born in Keelung, Taiwan, he graduated from the History Department of Tunghai University and holds a Master's degree in Journalism from the University of North Texas. He is currently a writer, lecturer, and tour guide. He focuses on the language and culture of the common people in Taiwan and is dedicated to writing popular history of Taiwan.