In any study about food habits in China two things seem very important : any food has to "nourish life" and in this way belongs to the traditional pharmacopea while on the other hand a meal is composed of a staple food generally completed by dishes. Through some samples of traditional food one aknowledges a great continuity in these practises during the last hundred years in China. Showing what he thinks to be underlying this fact, the author suggests, carefully, possible changes.
