Your bread is as good as my steamed bun

Ms G

Growing up in China, I have always thought of bread as a dessert or snack — not to be found anywhere near my mother’s daily menu for the family but more like a treat for outings. Rice, noodles, and steamed buns — these were the staple foods I was used to.

When I began to learn English at a young age, the many expressions based on the word bread felt a bit odd.

Why is the person financially supporting the family called a breadwinner? Why is bread and butter so crucial that they are equated with one’s livelihood?

When I had the opportunities to travel to and live in different parts of the world, I discovered a very different genre of bread.

Many are not soft and sweet and covered with cream like their cousins in China. They can be plain in flavour; they can be hard to chew; and they can be a permanent fixture on dinner tables.

So here is the question. As a kind of staple food, why is flour consumed as bread in many cultures when it is mostly made into steamed buns in China?

Wheat was not an indigenous plant in China in ancient times. Historians believe it was introduced into the country about 4 000 years ago.

Coming to a different geographical, climatic, and cultural environment, some adaptations were necessary. The category that stayed delivered plain flour, instead of the high gluten flour commonly used in other countries.

Such as texture made it good for steaming, which is a time-honoured tradition in Chinese cooking originated in prehistoric times.

About 20 000 years ago, pottery steamers were already used in China. As the steaming technique matured, another utensil was invented in the primitive years to be exclusively used for steaming food; it had holes in the bottom and could be placed above a large pot of boiling water.

When the Chinese were busy finding out better ways to steam their food, the ancestors of many other nations were perfecting their ovens.

So we diverged into two directions in how we consumed flour. Baking was not non-existent in ancient China; but it never made it into the mainstream and was seen as a way of making snacks.

The parallel reminds me of some larger debates in politics and economics. From similar starting points, we all set out towards the same goal — to be fed and clad and fulfilled in life.

But the course we each take can be very different. We have every reason to choose the best for ourselves while respecting the fact that others may choose differently from us.

There is no need to be judgmental.

Your bread is just as good as my steamed bun. And our different choices make the world a more vibrant place.