I want to share my cooking and diet journey with whoever sees this story.
I come from North China. My family and I eat typical Chinese food: Chinese bread (Mantou), rice, Chinese noodles, stir-fried mixed meat and vegetables, stir-fried mixed egg and vegetables, fried meat, fried vegetables, fried eggs, dumplings, and steamed bao. I still remember when I started cooking with my mom, I was in the first grade of elementary school. I have to stand on a stool to reach the kitchen counter and make the dough flat for my mom to use to make dumplings.
In 2001, my family moved to Sweden. The first Western food I learned about from my daughter, who ate in school, was bread with butter. I spread a one-centimeter-thick layer of butter on the bread. After I have eaten this bread for half a year, I have been fatter, my skin has been smoother and shinier. When I went back to China, all my friends thought I was pregnant. After I started working in a nursing home in Sweden, I finally saw how Swedes eat bread with butter! While I was working in a nursing home in Sweden, I saw the patient eating typical Western food: bread, coffee, cookies, cake, the entrée, usually with meat and vegetables, and always with potatoes or mashed potatoes, pasta, or spaghetti. Staff are allowed to eat patients’ food for pay. I really enjoyed all the Swedish food. I also tried baking and cooking Swedish food at home. Although I didn’t cook Swedish food well, actually, I did it very badly, my family and I liked what I cooked. Compared to Swedish food and Chinese food, Swedish food contains more dairy, and Chinese food contains more vegetables.
In 2005, my family moved to Boston, America. My family eats mixed Western food and Chinese food. Although my family eats mainly Chinese food, spaghetti, and pasta are always our favorite foods. We usually eat spaghetti and pasta with Chinese stir-fried meat and vegetables. I sometimes spread butter and cheese on Chinese bread (Mantou) to eat, which is very delicious. We love pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches, cake, and cookies. When we go to a buffet, I see a lot of Chinese, Asian (like sushi and stir-fried vegetables), and Western food, all of which is so great and enjoyable.
In the field experience course, I translated many fliers into Chinese promoting fruit and vegetables. CDC recommends eating colorful fruit and vegetables throughout the day: at least 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit. For the Chinese, it is not difficult to achieve. But Chinese people should increase their dairy and protein intake, according to CDC recommendations (n.d.).
I want to tell people who, like me, come from China: please try Western food. You will find plenty of Western food that you will love, and you will be creative in making your dining table both attractive and healthy.
Reference
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n.d.). Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
https://cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf
A testimonial story by one of our members – Hongli Yu
我的美食历程
我想跟大家分享一下我的美食和做饭的经历。
我来自于中国北方。我和我的家人吃的是典型的中国饭：馒头，米饭，面条，肉炒青菜，鸡蛋炒青菜，炸肉，炸蔬菜，炸鸡蛋，水饺，蒸包等等。至今我仍然记得当我上小学一年级时就开始帮我妈妈做水饺。我站在一个小凳子上，擀饺子皮，我妈妈包水饺。
2001年，我跟我的丈夫和女儿搬到瑞典。我学到的第一个西方食物是面包抹奶油。我是从我女儿那儿学来的。那时，她在学校吃午饭。我把接近一厘米厚的奶油抹在面包上。这样，我吃了半年以后回国的时候，我的朋友都认为我怀孕了，因为我胖了很多，脸色也好了很多。 后来，我在瑞典老人院工作后，终于看到瑞典人是这样吃面包抹奶油的：他们只是在面包上抹上薄薄的一层奶油！真是让我震惊不已！我多吃了那么多奶油！我在瑞典工作的时候，看到病人吃的典型的西餐：面包，咖啡，蛋糕，各种甜点，肉和蔬菜制作的主菜。不管是哪种主菜，都配有土豆，土豆泥，意大利面或通心粉。工作人员可以付费吃跟老人吃一样的饭。我当时真是非常喜欢瑞典的饭。在瑞典的时候，我也尝试着制作瑞典的饭菜和面包甜点。虽然我做的不好，甚至很差，但是我和我的家人仍然喜欢我做的瑞典饭。瑞典饭菜跟中国饭菜比较，瑞典饭菜奶制品含量较多，中国饭菜蔬菜含量较多。
2005年，我们一家又搬来了波士顿。在美国，我们家即吃美国饭，也吃中国饭，还吃中美混合的饭。尽管我们家吃中国饭较多，但我们都特别喜欢意大利面，空心粉。我们吃意大利面和空心粉的时候，搭配中国炒菜。我有时候把奶油和奶酪抹在馒头上吃，非常好吃！我们喜欢吃披萨，汉堡，三明治，蛋糕，饼干等等。当我们去吃自助餐时，我们可以吃到中国饭，亚洲其他国家的饭和西方饭。真是美不胜收，让我们垂涎欲滴！
在我的公共卫生实习课程中，我翻译了很多鼓励人们多吃水果蔬菜的科普宣传材料。国家疾病控制中心建议每天至少吃三份蔬菜，两份水果，并且建议吃多种颜色的水果蔬菜。多数中国人吃蔬菜水果比较多，但我认为中国人的饮食结构需要增加奶制品和蛋白。
我想告诉像我一样来自中国的人们：多尝试西方的食物。你会发现很多美妙的西方食物，而且你会非常有创造性地制做出许多诱人且富有营养的食物。