Abstract

Through the flow of people with a variety of lifestyles, the diversification of dietary culture has illustrated its flexibility and generates a strong power of creative cuisine. A number of cuisines appear in an innovative form and contain exotic sensations. Over time, with the globalization of business and the localization of new tastes, people come to be familiar with and to accept new cuisines. The exotic cuisine has become part of local food culture.
This article takes a conventional snack bar named ‘Chou’s Shrimp Roll’ as an example and discusses a creative cuisine which was transformed over time. Chou’s Shrimp Roll is located on the coast of Tainan city in an area called ‘Anping’. Anping is an area with a varied historical background and access to an abundant source of seafood. Because of the owner, Chou’s Shrimp Roll has not only become the icon of a traditional meal, but developed modern techniques which are closer to residents’ lifestyles. Analyzing the local features; store’s design, menu and service system to find out how Chou’s Shrimp Roll preserves the conventional features while undergoing the global effect. Chou’s Shrimp roll represents the combination of modern and traditional in the present consumer style and with full traditional flavor. Chou’s provides a ‘memory’ of the past for local residents and an ‘experience’ of local culture for outsiders.
The business model of Chou’s Shrimp Roll was affected by the overseas firm － McDonald’s. This turned the traditional meal into fast food subverting the ideas of conventional cuisine. McDonald’s implies the American culture: fast, queuing, self-serve, and personal seating. It also established the model of modernization and urbanization. Through the McDonald’s system, Chou’s Shrimp Roll took conventional cuisine into a modern form but Chou’s still keeps its local cultural characteristics. These circumstances truly display the phenomenon of glocalization and become the model of creative cuisine.