Mapping the Social Contexts of Taiwan Rice Wine in Cooking: A Recipe-narrated Investigation

• Main Authors: Ju Chi Lee, 李如琪
• Other Authors: 蘇恒安
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/46104394266045485066

碩士 === 國立高雄餐旅大學 === 台灣飲食文化產業研究所 === 99 === Inherited from the traditional concept of “food being the medicine and vice versa” in China, using rice wine as an essence of health supplement has been a common practice for pregnant women and elders in Taiwan’s society. Moreover, due to the cultural influences from traditional Chinese cooking and Japanese cooking in its colonial period, rice wine has gradually become an indispensable seasoning in simple dishes with significant importance. The tasting development of cooking with rice wine has consequently turned rice wine into a nearly addicted seasoning for all people, especially through the spread of cooking knowledge and practices by mass media. The consumption phenomenon can be witnessed by and since the new epoch of Taiwan’s accession to WTO. Since the price of rice wine soared up suddenly, the society was in great panic; people began to store rice wine intentionally and even produced fake rice wine. Nevertheless, although these rice wine incidents are still mentioned nowadays, little academic research was conducted in terms of the trends of cooking with rice wine. Therefore, this research aims to depict the historical progression of cooking with rice wine based on food culture developed from Taiwan’s tradition and from a fusion of multi-ethnic cooking concepts. As for methodology, this research referred to a great deal of historical documents and cookbooks since the Japanese colonial period and used them the as an analytical tool. The research found exterior reasons enhancing cooking with rice wine are economic growth, proliferation of home cooking education, and mass communications of cooking recipes by publications and mass media. On the other hand, the interior reasons are the hybridization of multi-ethnic cooking habits and an identity developed from the practices of cooking with rice wine.