Chapter 337 Is this Guo Yanmiao?
Diaoyutai State Guesthouse is about 1 kilometer long from north to south and about 0.5 kilometers wide from east to west. The entire park covers an area of nearly 430,000 square meters.
A large rippling blue lake is embedded in the park like a pearl. Sixteen reception buildings are built along the lake with the lake as the center, and are scattered in the park in an orderly manner.
The internal environment is elegant and clean, with pavilions, bridges and flowing water, combined with a combination of Chinese and Western architectural styles, each exuding a noble and elegant atmosphere.
Nan Ge drove slowly, admiring the scenery along the way, and finally stopped in front of a quaint courtyard.
There are already waiters waiting in front of the majestic red door.
As soon as the car stopped, he came forward and helped open the door, and then led the three of them into the courtyard.
Li Mu looked up before entering the door. There were three large gilt characters written on the plaque - 'Yangyuanzhai'.
It is said that this was inscribed by Emperor Qianlong himself.
"How's it going? Does it look good?" Brother Nan pointed to the waiter leading the way and turned to ask Li Mu in a low voice.
"Yeah."
Li Mu nodded.
The waiters here are uniformly dressed in cheongsam. They are all very good-looking, and they are different from those outside. They are very dignified and elegant.
They are all highly educated and have received special training. They are not only knowledgeable, but also proficient in the languages of many countries.
After entering, there is a large courtyard, a standard courtyard house in Beijing, with two halls: a reception room and a banquet hall.
The three of them came for dinner, so they went directly to the banquet hall.
The entire hall is decorated with splendor, carved beams and painted pillars, and the ground is covered with an embroidered red carpet, making it feel like you have arrived at the emperor's palace.
There is a couplet hanging on the pillar in the hall, which reads, "The beauty is in the spring stone, and the happiness is in the sangma". It is a calligraphy work copied by Qianlong's grandson.
Brother Nan gave Fang Shulin the main seat. She and Li Mu sat next to each other, and then began to order.
"Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Boiled Cabbage, Wensi Tofu, Yangzhou Lion Head, Dongpo Pork, Blanched Chicken, Crystal Pigeon Egg, Luo Han Tripe, Lotus Abalone, Longjing Shrimp, Soft Pocket Eel, Squirrel Mandarin Fish, Almond Tofu, bird's nest in clear soup."
"Is it too much?" Li Mu saw that Brother Nan had reported a lot of things and hadn't stopped yet.
"Sounds like a lot. The dishes here are mainly exquisite and beautiful, but the portions are small." Brother Nan waved his hand, "Just listen to me."
"Oh."
Li Mu listened silently as Brother Nan continued to name the dishes. There were some dishes that he had never even heard of, let alone eating them.
After a while, the waiter responsible for recording the names of the dishes bowed and went out.
Another waiter came to the table to make some tea for them. After making it, he stepped aside and waited, ready to refill their tea and water at any time.
When yogurt arrives in a new environment, it is natural to patrol it to see if there are any mice.
I saw her walking around the banquet hall slowly with her tail hanging down, jumping here to take a look, jumping there to sniff.
The waiters lowered their eyes and followed her, but no one dared to say anything to stop her from running around.
Mao'er slowly walked up to the waiter's feet, looked up at her, and then continued walking forward. As he passed by her feet, he touched the hem of her cheongsam, and the hem swayed, instantly attracting her. His gaze made her raise her paw and pluck it twice quickly.
Then she walked around the pillar, looked up at the words written on the couplet, and found that she knew every word, but when put together, she didn't understand the meaning.
Mao'er secretly made a note, preparing to ask Nimu when he got back, and then continued to patrol the hall.
Suddenly, many people lined up outside and came in. She immediately lowered her body, made a vigilant posture, and looked up to observe them.
When he saw that each of them was holding a plate, he knew that the food was being served, so he quickly trotted back to Li Mu, jumped slightly, and squatted on the table.
There were many waiters, each of them brought a dish, and it was all served quickly.
Brother Nan is right, the dishes here are very exquisite and the presentation is particularly exquisite.
Li Mu has never seen many of the dishes, and the tableware used is also very beautiful, like antiques. The chopsticks are inlaid with gold and have the words Diaoyutai printed on them. They look very classy.
Fang Shulin took out her mobile phone and took a photo.
Li Mu also took several photos. It is no exaggeration to say that if these photos were posted online, they would shock 99% of the people in the country. Brother Nan has eaten it so many times that he has become accustomed to it. He does not take pictures himself, but instead holds the yogurt and watches Li Mu take pictures, and from time to time he gives him pointers on the angles to take pictures.
Let’s eat after taking the photo.
The waiter also provided a cutlery for Yoghurt. Li Mu picked up a piece of squirrel mandarin fish and put it in Cat's bowl: "Master Yoghurt, try this."
"Okay! "The cat lowered his head and began to chirp.
“Is it delicious?”
“Delicious!” Cat licked his mouth, looked at a table of beautiful dishes, and looked up at him, “This is the Guoyan you are talking about. Meow?”
"State banquet."
"State banquet~"
"I don't know if it counts."
"Then you are not smart."
" .Eat this.”
Li Mu gave the kitten another piece of Longjing shrimp and crystal pigeon egg.
State banquets specifically refer to banquets held by the government to entertain state guests, distinguished guests, or people from all walks of life on important festivals. Generally speaking, they can be divided into hall dishes and Taiwanese dishes.
Taiwan cuisine means eating in the Great Hall of the People, and Taiwanese food is eaten at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
Li Mu is not sure whether today’s meal is considered a state banquet.
It should be calculated.
Because Brother Nan said that when she came to eat, everything was cooked by the chef himself, and what she ordered were all the dishes on the state banquet menu.
It can be said that today’s table is no different from a state banquet except that there are relatively few people and there are no activities such as reporters taking pictures.
"What do you think of the taste?" Brother Nan asked Li Mu next to him.
"It's delicious."
"You are dishonest." Brother Nan shook his head and looked at Fang Shulin, "Auntie, what do you think?"
"It looks good and tastes good, but the overall taste is a bit bland and not satisfying," said Fang Shulin.
"Yes, I have thought so for a long time." Brother Nan nodded with deep understanding, then turned to look at Li Mu, "Look, aunties are more honest than you."
" emm”
Li Mu didn’t say a word, just eating silently.
But as Brother Nan said, these dishes are delicious, but the taste is too fresh and elegant.
This is completely opposite to the heavy oil and spicy food at Fly Restaurant, especially since Brother Nan also ordered a dish of boiled beef. This is a Sichuan dish famous for its heavy oil and spicy food, but here it is made into a less spicy and oily version. It is obviously deliberately catering to the tastes of the elderly and the style of a 'state banquet'.
But I gained a lot of knowledge after eating this meal.
The state banquet draws on the strengths of the eight major cuisines and also absorbs the essence of dishes from all over the world. It includes ancient palace banquets on the top and folk snacks on the bottom. Some dishes can be traced back hundreds of thousands of years.
Sometimes, we adjust or even create our own dishes according to the tastes of foreign leaders.
Even some dishes are closely related to current events at that time. For example, during the 2008 Olympic Games, when our country hosted leaders of various countries, there was a grilled mustard steak whose shape and color alluded to the Olympic gold medal. It was golden and had jade in it.
It can be said that there is a story behind every dish.
Brother Nan happens to be good at this. While she was eating, she introduced the birth period and background of each dish on the table to Li Mu and Fang Shulin, saying which chef created it under what circumstances, or how it was created. What folklore.
Li Mu listened with great interest, but at the same time he couldn't help but glance at Brother Nan.
She knew so clearly that she must have been running here a lot.
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(End of this chapter)