Chapter 527 Zhengxing Garden
Zhou Zhi smiled and said: "Because of the professionalism, its advantages are certainly not available in ordinary family banquets."
"First, the dining environment is more varied, and the banquet host It can be flexibly customized according to the banquet objects, banquet types, and settings. Depending on the time of the banquet, the size of the banquet, and your preferences, you can choose different banquet venues to make the banquet more coordinated with the environment, unlike the cookie-cutter environment of ordinary family banquets."
"The second is for both the host and the guest. In other words, the atmosphere in banquet halls is relatively relaxed When guests are in such a public place, they lose the formality of being in the host's residence; the host hosts a banquet in a special banquet hall, and the tea is prepared and served by a dedicated person. The general services are also relatively complete, which saves a lot of time at home. ”
“Of course. The banquet hall was paid for use. According to the prevailing standards at the time, a land fee of 50 to 1 yuan was required for each table. In addition to the land fee, some tips were also paid to the service staff as appropriate. Although this was not a rule, it was in line with the rules. The unspoken rules of human relations ”
"However, people are not suffering enough. Driven by the banquet trend that is very popular in the capital of Shu, people hope for better restaurants to appear. If they can combine the environment of the banquet hall with the exquisite private cuisine, that would be the best. ”
“So a group of professional contractors The banquet halls eventually came into being. Among them, the most famous one was called 'Zhengxingyuan'. Zhengxingyuan was located on Mianhua Street in the city. The original site was Zhuo Bingtian, a famous person in Huayang County. The house is not big in scale, but it has extraordinary bearing, especially the gold characters on the black background. The store's calligraphy is exquisite and very eye-catching, so this environment is established."
"When it was founded, there were only a few types of banquets, including eight bowls of meat, nine large bowls, and ginseng banquets. Until the arrival of the famous chef Guan Zhengxing, it was renamed Zhengxing Garden. After entering the grand banquet layout in the north, he became famous in one fell swoop. "
At this time, the dishes had been served one after another. Fei Guan opened Wuliangye and said, "Come on, let's eat and chat, Tingting too. Can you have two drinks? ”
Zhou Zhi turned to look at Guan Tingting beside him: "Just one cup for junior high school students? The two cups Uncle Fei said is an imaginary number..."
"Real number, now is the holiday." Guan Tingting fought for power for herself: "Tomorrow it will be another No class!”
That makes sense, so Guan Tingting gave her two cups.
As for Jiang Shuyi and Guan Ma, no one restrained them. Guan Ma was in high spirits today because of the happy event, and even started to attack the banker. Her peach blossom face was full of eyes, and she was even more charming, which made the atmosphere at the table change again. Stepped up a notch.
Jiang Shuyi just stayed by Zhou Zhi's side, tasting wine, eating food, and listening to stories.
"Guan Zhengxing is a Manchu. He was brought to Sichuan by officials who entered Shu. He had seen some big scenes when he was in the north. He was the only person in Shu who could arrange a banquet for Manchus and Han Dynasties at that time. He is second to none."
"Because there are quite a lot of people in the officialdom He is popular, and his business has received special attention from officials. In addition, he is enterprising, so business has been good since the opening. "
"As the business has become more prosperous and stronger, he has continued to cultivate and absorb talents and introduce innovations. The dishes have been continuously enriched in the grade and specification of the banquet. After decades of hard work, during the Guangxu and Xuantong years of the Qing Dynasty, its reputation, influence and actual business were the best among its counterparts in Shu."
"Gradually. , Zhengxing Garden and contemporaries The biggest difference among the general banquet restaurants is the configuration of equipment and facilities. As the saying goes, 'a good horse deserves a good saddle'. The museum is comparable.”
"Guan Zhengxing was a good collector of ancient utensils, and his collection of dining utensils was especially large. Colorful ancient porcelain plates and bowls, and exquisite ivory and ebony silver-coated chopsticks were all displayed in the banquet pavilion, forming a unique scenery that made Chengdu at that time Young upper-class diners are fascinated by it. "Secondly, the dishes are famous for their exquisiteness, especially seafood dishes, ranging from bird's nest to seaweed." From ginseng to shark's fin and fish belly, the cooking methods and varieties vary with the seasons; mountain delicacies and game dishes also have their own unique cooking methods and finished product styles;"
"The owners of restaurants that can serve such dishes are mostly people from the southern coastal area. Such restaurants were called "South Restaurant" at that time, and these dishes were also called the same name. It is called 'Nan Guan Cuisine', similar to the status of Cantonese cuisine in the catering industry today. "
"In addition to inheriting and carrying forward the characteristics of Manchu and Han Dynasty palace cuisine, Zhengxing Yuan also absorbs the essence of 'Nan Guan Cuisine', and Integrate them into one, and at the same time vigorously develop local unique dishes. Even the dishes made of ordinary ingredients have exquisite knife skills, such as the usual 'Fu' Pork with the character 'wan', pork with the character 'wan', pork with the character 'shou', checkerboard meat, tiger skin meat, etc., both in cutting technique and presentation, are very regular without losing their own style;"
"Soup dishes are even more special. Combining the emphasis on "broth" in Nanguan cuisine and Shuzhong's "Baba Banquet", it integrates color, aroma, taste and nourishment, and has always enjoyed a good reputation among diners. ”
"The third characteristic is that Zhengxing Garden monopolized the highest standards for the top banquets in Chengdu at that time and became the setter of banquet rules."
"Zhengxing Garden hosted Manchu and Han banquets three times in the late Qing Dynasty, which was at that time It is a unique qualification among banquet restaurants in Chengdu. ”
“The serving procedure of a modern Sichuan banquet is to serve cold cuts first, then main dishes, then desserts, and finally fruits. , which is inherited from Zhengxing Garden and has been used to this day.”
“The last one is that Guan Zhengxing attaches great importance to recruiting and cultivating talents.”
“At the beginning of its opening, It brought together many famous chefs, such as Qi Lezhai and Guiboshu from the Manchu ethnic group, and Zhou Zhicheng and You Bingquan from the Han ethnic group, who were all culinary elites in the Sichuan catering industry at that time. ”
"Later on, outstanding Sichuan chefs like the Lan Guangjian brothers were trained. Their exquisite cooking skills and exquisite dishes were quite convincing to Chengdu diners." The evaluation of Zhengxing Garden at that time is by no means an overstatement. In Fu Qiaocun's "Chengdu General View" in the late Qing Dynasty, He also gave high praise to Zhengxingyuan, saying that at that time, "Zhengxingyuan was the only place in Chengdu that was very particular about banquets." The grade of the dish was raised to a level comparable to that of Huaiyang official cuisine and Beijing palace cuisine at that time, which directly brought about a new era. The beginning of the rise of pie cuisine."
"Ancient porcelain bowls, ivory chopsticks..." Lao Chai couldn't help but sigh: "Doesn't it cost a lot to eat in such a venue?"
"Of course." Zhou Zhi said with a smile: "Because Zhengxing Garden's 'good pomp' and 'high style', the hosting fee is guaranteed It’s not cheap, of course. Calculated on a per-table basis, the usual hosting charges are: a general field banquet costs 2 taels and 45 silver per table, an ordinary sea cucumber banquet costs 3 liang and 5 liang, a full sea cucumber banquet costs 5 liang, and an ordinary shark fin banquet costs 6 and 7 liang. Twelve taels for a full banquet of shark fins, fifteen taels for a banquet of agarwood, and eighteen taels for a full banquet of agarwood and barbecue.”
"Please note that these are only expenses, and do not include the 'material money', that is, the cost of ingredients."
"Such a banquet consumption specification and level, except for some powerful officials and some wealthy people, Most people dare not pay attention to wealthy businessmen. .
While drinking and mingling, everyone listened to Zhou Zhi’s explanation of the stories that happened here. They couldn’t help but feel that the originally delicious dishes were now richer.
(End of this chapter)