For those who have been to a meal hosted by Chinese, you will know what ’too much of a good thing’ really means. Indeed, it is the social norm in China to crowd the table with dozens of dishes with the objective to impress your guests and genuinely giving them a treat.  (Many even see having empty dishes as a dining faux pas). But the way China’s leadership entertains is vastly different from the burgeoning middle class.  This week, President Obama was treated to four dishes and one soup followed by ice cream by President Hu Jintao at the state banquet. The four dishes consist of an appertizer, tofu soup, Chinese style steak and fish. It is a far cry from China’s ubiquitous display of opulence.  But  what’s also worth noting is that the four-dish, one-soup menu, known as 四菜一汤/si4 cai4 yi1 tang1 is a protocol set by the PRC’s first and much beloved premier Zhou Enlai. Premier Zhou believed that the menu was satisfying enough without being extravagant, a true reflection of the regime’s proletariat roots and also of the trying times. The menu later bacame the standard for entertaining guests and colleagues in both official and private occasions.

Decades have gone by and hardly anyone exercises the 四菜一汤 protocol. But China’s ultimate authority still pays culinary homage to the founding fathers. As they would have said, ’a glorious tradition’ indeed.