Wednesday, July 14, 2004

I love Chinese food. Or I'd better say 'the Chinese food we get at restaurants in Europe', as I have never been in China and tried the 'real' Chinese food. I think in Europe they feed us a mix of the most popular dishes from the main Chinese cuisines : Shangai, Canton, Szechuan and Beijing. For a nice website with Chinese recipes, have a look here : Chinavista . Unfortunately, Chinese restaurants are expensive in the United Kingdom compared to, say, Indian restaurants. There is a well established Indian population in the UK, so it is not surprising there is a lot of competition. But curiously enough, Chinese restaurants seem to be mostly a cheap option in many countries. For instance, in Spain they are very well known for their very affordable prices and the variety of menus. Nowadays, there is a Chinese restaurant at every corner (almos!). But the Chinese community has been only established in Spain since the early 90s and they are still a minority. Probably there are more Chinese citizens in the United Kingdom. So how come that Chinese restaurants are that expensive? This question doesn't allow me to sleep But then, again...maybe I should not wonder. After all, everything is expensive here!


Me encanta la comida china. O, mejor dicho 'la comida china que nos dan en los restaurantes de Europa', ya que nunca he estado en China y, por tanto, nunca he degustado la 'autentica' comida china. Creo que aqui nos dan una mezcla de las principales cocinas chinas, la Cantonesa, Pekinesa (Beijing), Szechuan y Shangai. Aqui teneis una util pagina web con recetas chinas (en ingles): Chinavista . Desafortunadamente, los restaurantes chinos son caros en el Reino Unido, comparados con, por ejemplo, los restaurantes indios. Me imagino que los precios de los indios son asequibles porque la comunidad india lleva muchos anios establecida en el Reino Unido y hay mucha competencia en restaurantes. Pero, curiosamente, los restaurantes chinos son, en la mayoria de los paises, la opcion mas barata. Por ejemplo, en Espania son bien conocidos por sus precios baratos y la variedad de sus menus. Hoy en dia hay un restaurante chino en cada esquina - o casi!. Y la comunidad china sigue siendo una minoria en la poblacion espaniola y la mayoria solo llegaron a mediados de los 90. Probablemente, hay mas ciudadanos chinos en el Reino Unido. Asi que...por que son caros los restaurantes chinos? La duda me consume. O quiza no deberia consumirme tanto, si consideramos que, aqui, todo es caro!.


The weather today:
Cloudy
21C
UV Index: 1 Low
Wind: From the West Southwest at 14 mph
Dew Point: 16C
Humidity: 73%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1,014.9 mb

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