Do the chinese eat cheese?

[darth vader]

A comment in an earlier question 'tell em about the honey' provoked a debate in the office (cos we're bored) as to whether chinese people eat cheese, also do they eat bread? Anyone shed some light?

[darth vader]

My opinion is that they don't eat cheese as you never see it in any chinese meals, and they don't eat bread as they predominantly grow rice, but any wheat would be used to make noodles, not bread.

[Headtime]

Cheese is an alien concept in China. I remember seeing a news report on the first Pizza Hut to open in Beijing some years ago..and all the pizza's did not have cheese on them.

I have also been told by someone who spent a year working in China, that the Chinese have a derogatory phrase for westerners who are all perceived by the Chinese to smell of sour-milk as a result of our dairy-consuming habits!

[darth vader]

I guess the next question is WHY don't they eat cheese? They have cows in china yes?

[rekstout]

I am half-Chinese (mum's side) and I can confirm that most Chinese people do not eat cheese at all. Many chinese people are intolerant to Lactose (genetic thing) and so avoid it anyway. My mum has been Westernised and loves cheese (except the mouldy ones). Same goes for milk (many prefer soy milk). Younger generations are more tolerant and enjoy a Starbucks Latte with their McDonals Double Cheeseburger. - Genetics or Marketing - not sure.

[tracymort]

i do find the whole dairy consuming concept odd! especially as i breastfeed and think that the milk in my fridge came from cow boobs as was meant for a calf! no wonder so many of us have problems with milk (even if we don't realise it). animals that have drunk another animal's milk die as it was not designed for them. hence the reason why, on a whole, formula fed babies are more likely to be obese. cows milk is designed to promote fast "body" growth and slower brain development. human milk is the other way around!

[Gef]

Seems to me that tracyh's answer is total nonsense. Can you provide proof of animals dying due to drinking the milk of other animals. Cats seem to thrive on cow's milk and the bit about brain growth is just hilarious. By the way, I am a firm believer in breast feeding so perhaps the problem is that my mother did not breast feed me.

[melandraf]

this is for Gef... human milk has smaller protein molecules than cows which makes cows milk difficult for us humans to digest. (Baby milk that we one can buy is made from cows milk. This is why breast milk is best for babies.)

[Gef]

Thanks for your answer melandraf. I totally agree that the best milk for human babies is human milk. I was just trying to point out that the answer submitted by tracyh seemed to based more on exaggeration than on fact.

[tracymort]

"Cows milk is designed for baby cows Human milk contains completely different proportions of protein, fat, carbohydrates. Cows milk is designed to help put on weight quickly, grow amazingly fast, and develop only as much brain power as a cow needs. The natural hormones in cows milk are geared toward cows, not humans. The fact that human beings can even drink the milk of another species in sort of amazing when you stop to think about it. " http://www.promom.org/101/index.html number 63 i have read about animals that have been given another animals milk as an infant and they have died but can't find the link now. will come back if i do! thought i'd mention that they have discovered breastmilk kills cancer cells and that formula fed babies health problems cost the NHS 35 million a year!

[mindpencil]

It say s on wikipedia that in yunnan, China, one of the main foods is goat's cheese "ru bing". Maybe it depends on the region.