Chapter 526 Origin of Cuisine
“How do you say it?”
“These are all important Nanguan dishes back then. Also, there was a noodle shop in Rongyuan Garden back then called 'Ji "Xue, this eel and bamboo shoot noodles is Jixue's special dish." Zhou Zhi looked at the menu and nodded: "It seems that this shop has something, the boss or the chef, but." It could be the authentic version of Rong Yuan Paradise.”
“I don’t know if it’s authentic or not,” Fei Guan said with a smile, “It tastes good.”
“Lao Chai and I have been here a few times. , I feel that the dishes here are more advanced than those outside, and some of them can be regarded as high-end Cantonese cuisine, but I don’t know whether they are real Sichuan cuisine or fake Sichuan cuisine.”
"Now that brother Xiao Zhou said this, it is naturally Sichuan food."
"It is real Sichuan food, but some of it is Sichuan food that has disappeared for a long time." Zhou Zhi smiled and said: "Then I will order it?"< br>
“Order!”
So Zhou Zhi ordered snowflake chicken, steamed eight-treasure pot, roasted deer tendon with green onion, steamed pigeon egg and agarwood, hot and sour sea cucumber, sweet and sour crispy fish, hot shredded eel, chicken Beef soup, pig skin steamed cake, golden noodles.
Dismissing the waiter who came over to take the menu, Lao Chai said with a smile: "Come on, let's talk, let's talk. It's rare to hear the author of "Interesting Stories of Sichuan" telling stories today!"< br>
Zhou Zhi smiled and said: "Then do you know when Sichuan cuisine became a popular cuisine and became an important cuisine?"
"This should be a long time ago, right? Ming Dynasty?" Old Chai said: "In the Ming Dynasty, Shuzhong When salt was produced, salt merchants began to pay attention to food and drink. Did the famous Yanbang cuisine come out at that time? "
"I think it might be the Song Dynasty," Fei Guan said, "How else? Cultivate people like Su Dongpo Are you a foodie? In the Song Dynasty, Shuzhong did not experience the wars that occurred in the Central Plains in the Five Dynasties. I guess it was the Song Dynasty.” The elegant hall is In the Qing Dynasty, and it was very late in the late Qing Dynasty, after the eleventh year of Xianfeng. "How is it possible?" Fei Guan couldn't believe it: "As far as I know, there were many banquets in Shujiang during the Song Dynasty. ”
"These can all be recorded in history." Zhou Zhi said: "Even the big banquets in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the dishes are just like that." For the grand banquet held by his promotion, Wei Juyuan obtained the Shangshu and recorded the "Shaowei Banquet List" at that time, which listed as many as fifty-eight dishes."
"It's weird to get this name, why do you want it? Is it called a tail-burning feast?" Lao Wang asked.
“When a fish leaps over the dragon gate, thunder will come down and burn its tail, and then it will be transformed into a dragon. This is the legend of the Tang Dynasty that ‘the fish will turn into a dragon, and the thunder will burn its tail’.”
“When a scholar becomes a scholar and an official becomes a prime minister, it is like crossing a dragon gate. Therefore, The banquet held is called the Shaowei Banquet." Zhou Zhi explained: "However, if you look closely at the fifty-eight dishes, the ingredients are all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas, and there are more than twenty kinds of pastries and snacks. There are three or four kinds, and there are several kinds of platters like fish and bacon.”
"There are less seasonings, milk, oil, crisp, honey, and probably sauce and salt."
"The method is to cook, steam, bake, fry, and just cold dishes."
"This The banquet has reached its peak.”
“There was indeed a trend of banquets in Shuzhong at that time, but since "Tokyo" "Meng Hua Lu" records the "Sichuan Restaurant" opened by the Song Dynasty in Bianjing City. The dishes are nothing more than noodles with meat, large noodles, large and small meat tao, fried pork, mixed fried events, and cooked and cooked rice. "
"How can we confirm that this Sichuan restaurant in the book is the earliest Sichuan restaurant?" Lao Li asked.
"Because it mentioned burning meat." Zhou Zhi said with a smile.
"The technique of "燠" is to marinate meat and fish with salt and spices and then put them into oil jars to preserve them. This practice still exists in Sichuan today, and it is the famous 'oiled meat' and 'jar meat'. '." "Obviously, these dishes are more like a fast food restaurant, not a banquet."
"This is a bit unexpected. " Fei Guan said: "Our Shuzhong is known as a gourmet area, but it was still a gourmet desert during the Tang and Song Dynasties? He smiled and said: "But before the late Qing Dynasty, Sichuan restaurants, commonly known as 'Guoguoyan', had rows of stoves with dozens of kinds of cooking dishes, and customers could add more as they came."
"Most of the banquets were developed from rural banquets. The main business is also 'three steamed and nine dishes'. The dishes are all in a big steamer. Guests can order a few and add them to the dinner plate, plus appetizers, cold dishes and appetizers. Seasonal vegetables and pickles can also serve as a feast.”
Similar restaurants are still common in Sichuan, and everyone couldn’t help but nod when they thought about it.
Fei Guan asked: "Then how did our Shuzhong cuisine develop into what it is today?"
Zhou Zhi said: "Speaking of which, people in Shudu still like to have banquets. It was brought by the wind, but it was after the banquet pattern standards in the north were introduced to Shuzhong that the people of Shuzhong opened up Later, this cuisine was developed to its extreme.”
“Banquets were also popular in Shu in the late Qing Dynasty, but at that time, high-end banquets were hosted by the chefs or family members of wealthy families, and many chefs. The family members all have good cooking skills, which is the predecessor of "private kitchen"
"After Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, the self-catering method began to decline, and was replaced by the consumption of packaged banquets, that is, entrusting professional packaged banquet halls to host banquets at your doorstep. 'There is no need to prepare your own meals when treating guests, it saves the trouble to arrange a banquet.' This poem from Zhuzhi It reflects the consumption fashion of banquets in Chengdu at that time.”
“This kind of banquet is not. The host is greedy for food, so the place where the host holds banquets is no longer limited to the home, but also pays more attention to the environment. This is the inheritance of Song Dynasty. "
"In Chengdu in the late Qing Dynasty, the banquet style was very popular. Whether it is a government banquet or a private banquet, whether it is a regular seasonal banquet, an elegant gathering banquet, or Whether it is a casual picnic or a banquet, it is an unprecedented event. A number of banquet halls have emerged with the popularity of banquets. "
"There are more than 20 banquets inside and outside the city. There are special banquet halls in the city. The main ones in the city are: Ding Gong Temple, Guizhou Pavilion, Xiaoguan Temple, Ye Gong Temple, Xilai Temple, Lian Xi Temple, Haihui Temple, Sanyi Temple Xiangguo Temple, Xiao Fujian Yingyun Garden and Sun Family Garden on Buhou Street, etc.;"
"Outside the city is even better, with thatched cottage, Zhenjiang Tower, Feng Garden, etc. , Wuhou Temple, Erxian Temple, Shuangxiao Temple, Baima Temple, Lei Temple, Xiao Tianzhu, Da Nanhai and other places. ”
“Most of these banquet halls have beautiful environments and have different atmospheres and characteristics.”
“For example, the Ding Gong Temple located on Fangzheng Street at that time not only had pavilions and pavilions, but also lush flowers and trees. four seasons , many officials and gentry used this place to entertain guests;"
"The Guizhou Pavilion, located on Guizhou Guan Street, is also filled with beautiful flowers and trees, especially the plum grove inside the pavilion. When the plum blossoms are in full bloom in early spring, the fragrance is Overflowing , the scenery is pleasant, so many people come here for banquets;"
"The Sun Family Garden on Buhou Street, with sparse flowers and trees, scattered pavilions, winding ponds and swamps, has an atmosphere of wealth and wealth. At that time, there were many gentry in the city. merchant house, We often hold weddings, weddings, birthday banquets and spring wine banquets here;"
"The Wuhou Temple and Zhenjiang Tower outside the south gate are the places where officials and gentry see off, and they often choose to hold farewell banquets here;"
“The thatched cottage outside the west gate has bamboos and red plum blossoms. It not only has a pleasant scenery, but also has a wide area. It is an ideal banquet place whether it is for a spring banquet or to enjoy the cool weather in summer;”
“Little Tianzhu has the wonder of ancient banyan trees, which is an ideal place for holding banquets. Poets and scribes gather here all year round;"
"The Shuangxiao Temple located in Erxian Temple, The flower and tree pavilion has a unique charm. It is adjacent to the Qingyang Palace. The flower festival is the peak season every year. "Hundreds of officials and gentry have banquets here every day."
"It is a pity that these places do not hold banquets now. ” Lao Li said: “But there are still tea gardens, Wangjiang Park and Wenshu Monastery, which are good for drinking tea.”
(End of this chapter)