Gastronomy, the term etymologically originates from the ancient Greek ‘gaster’ means ‘stomach’ and ‘nomos’ means ‘laws that govern’ which literally stands to be “the art or law to regulate the stomach’. Gastronomy is the study of food, its nutritional values, the techniques regarding its preparations, its relation with different cultures and diverse communities and the art of presenting it, the ingredients and their nutritional values in respect to the health of the consumer of the food. Gastronomy is an emerging subject in today’s world; rather it plays a vital role in our daily lives. People nowadays are more inclined to the improvisation and transformation of the various facets of the subject. Due to globalisation, gastronomy has taken a universal form by inter-mingling various cuisines all around the world.
Lashley & Morrison (2013) have defined that hospitality is actually a harmonious blend of food, drinks, and accommodation along with the good behaviour of the hosts or staffs. Hospitality has attained a different genre moving out of the religious and social bounds to a more commercial status. On the other hand it can be said that the essence of hospitality which was then more of a social and moral duty to the needy has now declined to materialistic approach to expand the tourism industry Lugosi (2014) has divided the subject on basis of three domains namely Cultural or social domain, private domain and commercial domain. The cultural aspect of hospitality has transformed to a certain extent because of the increase in frauds, thefts and other criminal activities. The basic purpose of hospitality according to Lashley & Morrison (2013) is to set up some relation or to promote an already established relation. Hospitality results in the exchange of goods and services from one party to the other, the hosts who give the services and the guests who receive it.
Hospitality was always considered a social duty to be carried on by every person of every stature according to his/her abilities. Most significantly, the duty of offering shelter to the strangers had been key elements in all the religions. Lashley (2015) points out that in early modern England hospitality especially towards the travellers was considered as an important moral value. Not only food and shelter but the security of the guests (strangers) was also given much importance.
It is said that that offering food and shelter to the strangers was defined both as cultural behaviour and the teaching (Blain & Lashley, 2014). According to Lashley (2016), the Christian religion has been advocating hospitality as a key plank in the behaviour of the faithful. The requirement of hospitability is said to be much beyond the immediate treatment of Jesus and his disciples Lashley, 2016).
It is said that the Hindu ideas and teachings have their origins around 5000years ago. Hospitality has a primary importance in the culture and beliefs of the Hindus. ‘Athithi’ as the term expresses ‘without a set of time’ is called to the unpredicted guests or the strangers (Khan 2009).There is a popular proverb in Sanskrit “atithidevobhava” always heard from the elders suggests that the unpredicted guests should be treated as good as God (Blain & Lashley, 2014). Hinduism teaches that even the poorest should offer at least three things sweet words, a sitting place and refreshment (at least water). There is the teaching from Mahabharata (12,372) that even enemy should be offered appropriate hospitality if he arrives at one’s home, for the greatest instance, the tree never denies her shade even to the person who has come to cut it down.
In the Islamic context (Meehan, 2013), it is said that only true Muslim faithful understands the real hospitality. The non-believers offer hospitality with the expectation of reciprocity or repayment. While the true followers serve the strangers with their faith of honouring God (Lashley, 2015).
As the term Indian subcontinent symbolizes, it has all the world religions, cultures, communities present in it, besides its physical features because of which the term subcontinent has been attached to this country (Heimsath, 2015). It has all the physical features of a continent, these are mountains, forests, rivers, seas, and ocean surrounding the peninsula and desert, plateaus but the size of the country. Integrity in diversity is the slogan of the social culture. Invaders from Middle West and Western countries have added to the diversity of cultures, likely Greeks, Portuguese, French, Persian, Mughals and finally British have contributed to the diversity of cultures (Thapar, 2014).
Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrianism/Persians are the different religious communities of India, besides there are Anglo-Indians, Chinese, Nepalis, Tibetans, can be found settling in different parts of India. India has welcomed all the religions and communities from time to time. Hindus are the oldest civilisation residing over 4000 years approximately in India and the Dravidians or the Sothern Indian races were residing simultaneously in India (www.indianmirror.com/culture/cul8.html).
Indians follow caste system Hindus being the majority of the population, this comprises of four divisions. Though caste system is nearly demolished, but still in many parts of India it has some traces left in the social practices. Patriarchal domination is mainly found in major parts of India and is common in all the religious and regional communities. But in some parts of India matriarchal domination can be seen especially in the north-eastern frontier parts, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and some parts of south most India like Kerala (Indianmirror.com, 2017).
India has produced in the past some gems whom the world can never forget, religious and academic reformers, they are Buddha, Mahavir Jain, Chaitanya, Guru Nanak(religious reformers) , Aryabhatta, Bhaskara, Ramanujan in academic field, Asoka, the preacher of Buddhism in India and foreign countries like Myanmar, China, Tibet, Japan, Thailand and Indonesian Islands, Malaysia and Sri Lanka (Chiu & Hong, 2013).
Indian Education system is one of the oldest and said to be the most efficient education system, which characterised by gurukuls, where parents sent their children to seek education under the complete guidance of the gurus away from home for the entire education period. But still, India has a low literacy rate. However, in recent years statistics have changed radically attracting pupils towards higher education.
Festivals are the lifeline of Indian social culture. Year round festivals for all season can only be found in India besides the religious festivals. Indians are said to be very fond of festivals. From the birth of a baby to his or her marriage celebrations of every stage of life is done in large scale (Ahmed, 2015). In addition there are fairs held everywhere in different seasons for different reasons. Indians love fairs whatever be the purpose. Book Fairs, cultural Fairs, Food fair, Handicraft fair, Agricultural fair, trade fair to religious fairs like Baisakhi, Navratri, Eid, and Christmas etc. are common in India.
In Thailand, Buddhism is said to be strongly influenced by their traditional beliefs regarding the natural and ancestral spirits whose traces can be found in Buddhist cosmology. People offer food and drinks to the spirits in miniature wooden built houses to keep them happy. It is believed that if they are unhappy they can get into the households and cause chaos (Reynolds, 2014).
One of their most unique custom of Thais is the ‘wai’ (Thai greeting).This custom is seen while greeting, leave-taking and in acknowledgment. The salutation is generally characterised by a prayer-like gesture with folded hands derived from the Indian originated Anjali Mudra along with a little bowing of the head and accompanied by a serene smile symbolizing the welcoming disposition and a pleasant attitude (Jackson, 2016).
On account of their traditional values and serene disposition, display of anger and conflict is eschewed in Thai culture. Tourists are also expected and advised to follow their serenity by avoiding any kind of conflict and expression of anger if any it should be solved through mercy and smile. Another very interesting and inspiring custom is the concept of ‘sanuk’ means ‘life should be fun’ that is why Thais are usually very playful and active in their day to day activities.
‘Chu Thai’ or Thai outfit as it is called usually consists of a phanung or a chongkraben, a blouse and sabai for women, whereas men’s attire usually includes chongkraben or pants, Raj pattern shirt, with optional knee length socks and sabai (Malikhao, 2017).
Rice is the national food of Thailand. Different recipes of rice are altered with the main rice as side dishes. Thai people usually use their right hand to eat. Traditionally floor mats are used to sit on during meals.The main rice is kept in the centre while the side dishes are kept around it, serving spoons and sharing spoons are used separately. In the northern parts of Thailand, a centre wooden table is used to keep the food. Cutlery was first introduced in Thailand during the reign Rama IV.In the central parts of Thailand, the aristocrats use dining tables, forks, spoons and waiter, and waitresses to serve food.
There is a saying about the behaviour of the Thais, ‘mai-pen-rai’ which means ‘it doesn’t matter’ or ‘it is no problem’.Thais are well known for their compromising attitude. They are well behaved and calm by nature which comes from their tradition and faith (Malikhao, 2017)
Chinese culture harks back thousands of years ago. It is said to be one of the oldest civilisations of the world. The cultural part of China extends a large part of the Eastern Asia, where varied cultures can be found in the provinces, villages, cities and towns also. The main aspects of Chinese culture are embedded in their ceramics, architecture, literature, music, dance, martial arts, visual arts, cuisine and of course religion (Shao & Wang, 2017).
Chinese culture as mentioned above is again further divided into distinct sub-cultures in each region. Chinese people are very loyal to the imperial rule. They follow the hierarchical system. They pay very importance to imperial education and engage their offspring into imperial education system so as to reach a high social class through employment in government sectors. Education was available mostly to males, who were prepared for imperial exams where they had to prove expertise in essay-writing and Confucian classics.If passed at the highest levels they attain the position of scholar- officials called ‘jinshi’ (Tseng & Wu, 2013).
Chinese people are found to pay sincere attention towards proper etiquettes. They are very proud of their country and the traditions and try to follow the codes of conduct set for them years ago. They stick to their culture, unlike the Westerners. Often Western people find it difficult or gets confused to deal with them. Another good quality is their modesty and keeping a low profile in their disposition, that means they never boast of their success rather share the credits with their friends, colleagues, and seniors. One interesting thing in their etiquettes is never refusing directly to any request (Shao & Wang, 2017). It is said that Chinese believe that their words should not hurt others feelings so they use the indirect way rather saying no on the face. It is said to be their way of paying respect to individuals.
Chinese culture and tradition play a vital role in the attitude of individuals. Those who don’t follow these rules or protocols are often looked down upon as braggarts, uncultured and arrogant. In Chinese tradition, elders being the decision makers from birth to their daily life matters. The most senior family members decide what the youth should study and where. Not only this, they also decide the marriage time for the youths and whom to marry, when to expand family Upton and McLaughlin (chinaculturecorner.com, 2017)
From time immemorial India has welcomed all other cultures and traditions and also their cuisines such as the Mughal cuisine, the Chinese cuisine, the Thai cuisine, British and the Mediterranean cuisine. Globalisation has resulted in the Indianisation of various international cuisines. The metro cities are seen to have restaurants specialising in international cuisines. But this has in no means lessened the importance and popularity of Indian traditional dishes (Culturalindia.net, 2017).
Thai cuisine has mainly one food in common, Rice in all regions. Thai cuisine can be subdivided into four regions namely the northern, the north-eastern, the southern including the gulf region, the central part, and Bangkok. In every region, the cooking styles are different due to the availability of ingredients (Selin, 2013). Red meat is the main food along with rice in the northern, while the north-eastern, the poorest of regions doesn’t waste any part of beef or other meat like chicken, pork, even boar. The southern region is abundant with fish, fruits, and coconut, a large scale of fish sauce is produced and used in the cuisine. The central part has abundance in rice, so rice noodles and different other rice recipes are common whereas, in Bangkok, Chinese dishes are prevalent (Thespruce.com, 2017).
Chinese traditional food can be divided into four regions, the northern Chinese people eats salty, simple food with wheat being their main ingredient, these are noodles and dumplings. In western China, lambs are consumed in huge amount and serve as the main ingredient whereas in central China people usually have spicy food with lots of seasoning as the primary feature. On the other hand in south China, sour and chilies are much used in the dishes regularly and eaten by the minorities. In the eastern parts, they eat light food with a sweet flavour. Chinese use chopsticks to have their food. They are very particular about dining etiquettes. Culture reflects in their dining styles (Chinahighlights.com, 2017)
Thailand is renowned for its long cultural history, beautiful and attractive natural resources and its well-known hospitality. Bharwani et al. (2016) have stated that Thailand has an excellent reputation in rich, luxurious and also affordable accommodations for different economy classes especially in the beach resorts in Phuket, Samui, Krabi, Pattaya, and HuaHin.Visitors enjoy a lot of activities including canoeing, snorkeling, scuba diving, yachting and golfing. Bangkok is the capital of Thailand, and also the winner of the Travel and Leisure 2010 World’s Best Cities, with the highest score of 90.30/100.
According to the Wold tourism Organisation (WTO) report, China has the highest international arrivals which count US$ 33,949 million in 2006. Chinese hospitality reflects their traditional beliefs and virtues; these are kindness, harmony, and modesty. To serve wholeheartedly is considered as the reflection of “Chinese consciousness”. Moreover, China tourism delivers the customers world class services, entertainment, and high-value products at a reasonable rate so that the customers are content (Btg.com, 2017).
The Sanskrit phrase “AtithiDevoBhava” means ‘the guest is truly the God’ teaches to respect the guests in India. Indian hospitality is characterised by a ready smile on face, a willingness to go out of the way to help someone and a genuine happiness on meeting any person, these features are inbuilt in the characters of Indians. That is why it is found that visitors come back again and again in India. The integral part of guest hospitality is by greeting them saying ‘Namaste’ either to a hotel or at any native’s house. If any native’s house is visited, one can expect a warm welcome with an offer of food and refreshments or at least a glass of water (Iloveindia.com, 2017)
In the north and north-eastern Himalayas of India, ‘homestay’ has acquired significant popularity in the tourism industry. A warm welcome by the native people, the well-organised cottage rooms, good food and the service of the hosts are said to compel the tourists to come back again. In Darjeeling, Gangtok and parts of north Sikkim Tourists opt for peaceful and quiet homestay in the lap of nature rather than the crowd of five-star hotels. In various parts of India, the nature of hospitality may differ due to the traditions but the warmth and the sentiments of hospitality are the same (Bharwani et al. 2016).
Thai food has attained commendable popularity in few decades outside the country, becoming a truly global cuisine being known around the world. Due to the marketing campaign of Amazing Thailand in 1994 by Tourism Authority of Thailand increased demands of tourists for learning Thai cooking has been observed in last decades. Their culture is reflected in their adherence to the authenticity of the food preparations (Malikhao, 2017). Vegetarian and not- vegetarian dishes, both are available in the restaurants and hotels, while the sea beaches have seafood as their fundamental feature which includes different sea fishes and abundant use of fish sauce is found in the different recipes. Thai Jungle curry, Pad Thai, Papaya salad are some well-known Thai food, besides desserts are plenty ranging from puddings and pastries, made of tropic fruits, coconut milk, rice eggs and sugar.
Chinese cuisine has undergone changes in last few decades. Though Chinese are known for their adherence to the tradition, but in the case of appetite, it has accepted changes caused by globalisation and also urbanisation. Western influences like European and American cooking has occupied a good portion of China (Chiu & Hong, 2013). Restaurants specialising in international cuisines has made their foothold strong in China. Other neighbouring countries like Japan and Korea also has considerable influences in China.
In North Indian cuisine uses of spices are mainly paid attention to. Spices are the life-line of Indian cuisine (Heimsath, 2015). Different spices are being used in different preparations and the tastes are completely different from each other. In South Indian cuisine dishes are comparatively less spicy and simple in preparation.Much use of lentils and vegetables, tamarind and yoghurt are done in south Indian dishes. Dishes like ‘Dhosa’, ‘Idli’, Uttapam, Sambhar are quite popular everywhere in India. They serve as good snacks to the taste buds. Dhal is common in all the parts of India.
There are nearly 100 types of dal cultivated all over India, some popular dal recipes are too dal, urad dal, Bengal gram or chana dal, mung dal, masoor dal, green mung, rajma etc. Some popular north Indian recipes which are very popular roadside snacks, eg,‘phuchka’ or ‘golgappa’ or ‘paanipuri’, ‘chaat’, ‘bhelpuri’, samosas, ‘chhole’ or spicy chickpeas and ‘kachauri’ etc. are lip smacking and quite tantalizing to the taste buds. Roti or ‘phulke’ is the main food consumed all over North India, while rice is the staple food in South India (Heimsath, 2015).
Thailand has attained fame in tourism and hospitality industry and that Bangkok has won the position of best city award in Travel and Leisure 2010 World’s Best Cities for its rich culture, natural sights, restaurants and foods, people and shopping destinations. Their compromising and calm nature makes them one of a kind in the tourism industry. The world class accommodation and services in the beach resorts of Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, and others are quite popular among Western tourists. Organising different activities like canoeing, snorkeling, scuba diving, yachting, hiking attract the adventurous and the youths to spend good holidays in Thailand.
China, on the other hand, adheres to its traditional outlook in the field of tourism and hospitality (Lashley & Morrison, 2013). Chinese tradition and virtues enable them to serve the guests with utmost sincerity. Their cultural prosperity and down to earth behaviour attracts the tourists and make them feel at home. In addition, Chinese foods are also a reason for the tourist’s attraction.Chinese food has become a household food to the different parts of the world. Noodles, chicken rice, puddings, dumplings are some favourite dishes quite famous worldwide (Btg.com, 2017).
The slogan of Indian hospitality ‘AtithiDevoBhava’ which means ‘the guests are truly the God’ symbolizes Indian sentiment regarding hospitality. This sentiment is visible in the practices of most of the Indians (Culturalindia.net, 2017). Indian hospitality is characterised by a ready smile, a genuine expression of happiness upon meeting someone and the willingness to help anyone going out of the way. The food of different parts of India will definitely arise a desire in the visitors to come back again n again because one cannot finish the tour to visit different places and attractions of India in one visit. The colourful festivals of India attract tourists from different parts of the world be it, Navratri (Durga puja in West Bengal province), Holi, Diwali, MakarSankranti, Eid or Christmas and the way Indians include tourists and encourage them to join in their celebrations are rare (Lashley, 2015).
Conclusion
From the above study, it can be said that the changes occurred in the cuisines of these three nations is completely due to the globalisation and urbanisation. But in all three countries tradition, culture food and hospitality go hand in hand which means these factors are all interrelated. Although these countries have their own set of rules and regulations regarding hospitality and food culture completely different from each other but one can find that hospitality plays very important role in their tradition and that tourists or guests are given whole-hearted service and they are made to feel at home.
Reference List
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