Food and drink

In China, the art of cooking has been celebrated since early times. Feasts formed an important part of Chinese life and wealthy people often enjoyed elaborate banquets. In contrast, for most of the year ordinary people lived on a simple diet pd pulses and vegetables, with very little meat. Thought rice was always the favourite staple food in China, people in the northern provinces ate mainly millet and some wheat. Both rich and poor Chinese flavoured their food with a wide variety of herbs and spices. To save fuel, food was chopped into small pieces and cooked quickly in an iron frying pan, or wok, for a few minutes only. Many foods were also steamed or stewed. Toady Chinese food is enjoyed throughout the world.