Chapter 490 Palace Luxury
Right?
"Zhang Dashao" stared when he heard these three words.
Ning Weimin didn't expect that "Zhang Dashao" didn't say anything further, but instead got angry.
"What's the matter? Are you impatient now? You can't eat hot tofu if you're impatient. Don't follow me with this set of false tactics. You openly support and secretly urge. Who are you trying to hit with your words? I said it Are you talking nonsense? If you want to make a business that is better than others, of course you must first understand what is wrong with others. Let’s not talk about this…”
Hey, indeed.
After listening for a long time just now, Ning Weimin was really a little impatient.
I just wanted to get to the point quickly and get the truth on how to improve the quality of the dishes, so I used flattery as a whip and secretly urged her like a sheep.
It turned out that Jiang was very old, and the old man really had a soft eye, and all his little thoughts were seen through.
Well, this is embarrassing.
Needless to say, we must quickly correct the sloppiness and correct our attitude.
Otherwise, if the old man was unhappy and stopped here, wouldn’t his intestines be full of regret?
"Oh, Master Zhang, of course I understand that you are doing it for my own good, so how can I think that your words are useless? I am just a kid. I always want to learn to be calm, but I can't. . In fact, I am anxious because of the light your words gave me. I was wrong. I will definitely change this."
As he spoke, Ning Wei Min also handed over a "Great China" stick and rushed to light the old man's fire.
Seeing that he was so knowledgeable, "Zhang Dashao" didn't take it seriously and let him go.
"Hmph, it's enough to know what's good and bad, then let's go on..."
"Since the Republic of China and the fall of the Qing government, palace meals have always been an attractive and desirable part of the capital's diet. Dazhaimen, big restaurants, They rushed to hire royal chefs to cook. Restaurants with the palace brand have become even more famous in recent years, and are popular among official banquets and foreign guests. "
"But it is a pity that the royal cuisine has not been introduced to the public. It has been so long, but the world still has no idea what palace cooking is, and no one knows the relevant palace affairs, so that most of the rumors spread in the world are either based on imagination or based on speculation. Using this gimmick to make ends meet, the chefs who use the name of palace cuisine are becoming more and more superficial, taking things for granted."
"In fact, the palace cuisine is the most criticized and the most confusing. There are only two things to consider: how luxurious and luxurious the palace cuisine is, and whether it is delicious or not."
"Some people say that the emperor has one hundred and eight dishes for a meal. There are ninety-six kinds of dishes for the queen, and sixty-four kinds for the imperial concubine. All the delicacies are served by famous chefs from all over the world. . No matter how poorly it is made, it is still much better than the diet of ordinary people.”
"Some people also say that the emperor never leaves the palace, and eats warm meals cooked half a day in advance. An egg is worth two taels of silver. In fact, he is the one who is taken advantage of. He is deceived by his subordinates and suffers a lot. He has no idea what to do. It’s not delicious. Some people even say that the chef’s skills are not good and they just make fake food. Just like what your master described, the food tasted almost the same when you ate it before liberation.”
"I can only say that these diametrically opposed opinions are untrue even if they are experienced by many people personally. Because they are all taken for granted and one-sided personal opinions, and they are all based on personal subjective inferences. So it’s very meaningful for me to explain to you what’s going on with these noodles.”
“You think, at least you have to figure out why these issues are so controversial. Only then can you know how to manage your business and avoid some avoidable problems. Only then can you make your palace dishes authentic and delicious, and really stand out from others, isn’t it? ”
These words are too true.
Aren’t these two questions the core of palace cuisine? This is what Ning Weimin is puzzled by and really focuses on.
Then he truly realized the good intentions of "Zhang Dashao", and he no longer murmured in his heart.
I couldn’t help but thank you again respectfully.
"Master Zhang, it is my good fortune to receive your advice today. I am really lucky to get to know you. Thank you for your generous advice, I am all ears." It is not strange to be polite to many people, let alone true. Thanks or fake thanks, "Zhang Dashao" naturally has a clear mind.
The old man felt relieved, so he stopped pretending to be pretentious and spoke frankly to clear up his doubts.
"First of all, I have to say that although the royal family's food life has been luxurious since ancient times. There is a saying that 'one meal for the emperor is enough for hundreds of people to feed every year'. But it is not what most people imagine. You are not allowed to eat anything other than delicacies from the mountains and seas. We eat whatever is expensive. As mentioned before, the emperor only eats rice, noodles, meat and vegetables. The only difference from the common people is that they only have the best quality food as tribute from various places. Moreover, every meal includes hot and cold, sweet and salty, meat and vegetables, dry and fresh food. This achieves a reasonable nutritional mix and a balanced diet.”
“Of course there are delicacies from the mountains and seas, but even ordinary tributes are not eaten by the emperor alone. All the tributes have to be distributed to the harem and rewarded to princes, ministers, Guards. And since it is a precious ingredient, it cannot be eaten every day. It must be reserved for important banquets in special seasons."
"In terms of treatment, there are eight levels of difference in the harem. It was the same in the Qing Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. They were controlled by the "Gong Zhongli" and had a certain budget. In the Qing Dynasty, it was provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In professional terms, this was called "concubine", which was a very important limit. , above the concubine, life is relatively independent. below the concubine, life must be arranged according to regulations.”
“Only the emperor, the queen mother, and the queen have a relatively free life, and their living expenses are not fixed. But it must be arranged according to the emperor, the empress dowager, and the queen again. "
"The food allowance is part of the empty portion, ranging from fifty taels to ten dozen taels. No, the lower the portion, the smaller the dining room, the fewer dishes, and the tableware used varies from gold and silver to tin and porcelain. ”
"The emperor must have the most. I still remember that every day is about twenty-two pounds of meat, five pounds of soup meat, one pound of lard, two sheep, five chickens, three ducks, cabbage, spinach, coriander, celery, and leeks. A total of nineteen catties, sixty radish, water radish and carrot, one each of melon and winter melon, six catties of green onions, four liang of Yuquan wine, three catties each of soy sauce and clear sauce, and two catties of vinegar in the morning and evening. There are eight plates of cakes, thirty each. "
"In addition, the imperial tea house also prepares tea, milk, etc. for the emperor's daily use. The emperor usually uses fifty cows, and each cow is delivered every day. Two kilograms of milk, a total of one hundred kilograms, and twelve cans of Yuquan water, one kilogram of butter, and seventy-five bags of tea every day."
"As for the dining habits of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty, this was not the case. There are three meals a day, but two meals a day. Breakfast is usually after Maozheng, which is about six or seven o'clock in the morning, and dinner is between noon and two o'clock in the afternoon. Every night at Youshi, around six o'clock in the evening, some snacks or snacks are eaten. "The imperial kitchen does not go to the emperor for every meal. The meal list has been drawn up by the imperial chefs. It must be submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs every day. Not only does the menu have the names of the dishes, but also the names of all the people involved in the cooking. It can only be operated after the signature of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Sometimes the emperor does not like to eat the meals on the menu, so he can order them a la carte. It's called "Tianshan", and it's usually a relatively simple meal. The chef responsible for making "Tianshan" is not fixed, but on rotation."
"To be honest, it's for the emperor. Cooking is quite a troublesome thing, mainly due to the strict rules and trivial procedures. Just like a dish, as soon as the ingredients are prepared, it must be inspected by the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then the meal list will be submitted and stored. The food must be covered with a dragon bag before being sent to the kitchen. When the chef is cooking, there is also a kitchen supervisor assigned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to supervise the cooking. The cooking chefs are all senior chefs. The dishes are sent here for inspection, and the taste is not what they need to be returned to be cooked again.”
"So the actual situation is that it is pure nonsense to say that the emperor eats 108 dishes every meal. There is no fixed number of dishes for the emperor to eat, ranging from a dozen dishes to more than 20 dishes. This is not even a meal for people to appreciate. Count it in. If you really want to cook so many dishes, even if you only have two meals a day, even doubling the number of people in the kitchen won’t be enough.”
“The luxury lies in the manpower. And the waste of materials. Not to mention the number of people serving, the waste of fish heads, fish tails, chicken heads, and chicken necks must be used up and cannot be left for the next time. The feet, chicken butt, pork bones, pork stick bones, and pork cavity bones are all thrown away."
"The same goes for vegetables. For example, you can use bean sprouts. It's not like just removing the roots. You need both ends. Pinch off all the ends and roots, and cut them into strips of the same thickness and length to ensure that they are evenly cooked and the roots are crispy. You can also use the first half of the leeks. Don’t just remove the puree and old roots. Also discard more than half of the short leaves and thin leeks. Only use the lower half of the green onion, and only use the cabbage heart. Throw away the rest.”
"To put it bluntly, from the perspective of ordinary people, it is particularly bad. And these leftovers are almost all sold by the imperial chefs and eunuchs to restaurants outside. It can be regarded as an additional income subsidy. But those who can take advantage of this kind of glory must He is a powerful person, and ordinary chefs, eunuchs and servants Sula can only pretend to be deaf and dumb."
"But having said that, it is also good for cooking, that is, the raw materials are guaranteed to the greatest extent. Freshness and high quality. For example, even the golden hooks are selected one by one, and no bran is allowed in them. The dishes made with such ingredients are naturally delicious.
"If we take stir-fry dishes as an example, the biggest difference between palace dishes and folk dishes is. The techniques of thickening and drizzling oil in Zhuangguan dishes are all makeup, making a false appearance. Even if the meat is not fresh, if you add too little oil, it will be overcooked. It can be covered up. But Qinggong is different, because the ingredients are fresh and not sticky. First put the main ingredients in a boiling oil pan and stir-fry until cooked. Then add the seasonings and stir them a few times. It's good if it's cooked raw. This method of stir-frying has very little soup, no oil on the surface, and the greens don't change color. It goes without saying whether they taste good or not. ”
“ The most important thing is that the soup stock used in the Qing palace is genuine and comes in many varieties. The most distinctive feature of Qing palace cooking is that no matter what kind of soup is used for cooking, boiling, or stewing, no water is used. Stock. For example, to make lamb liver, use lamb liver soup, to make pork knuckles, use kidney soup, and these soups are very expensive. After boiling, the thick soup must be purified with oil, making it as clear as well water. This is the key to ensuring the original taste of the dishes."
"So the real palace cuisine. , luxury is reflected in a very euphemistic and practical way. It can be said that it is dignified and upright. In terms of the advantages of reflecting the true nature of the ingredients, it is far more than comparable to folk dishes. In terms of taste, the characteristics of palace cuisine are also the pursuit of purity. and the ultimate in richness.”
“Let’s use a practical example to illustrate. For example, the plate of fried mutton and cabbage presented to the emperor looks ordinary, right? But the cabbage is tender heart, and the mutton is fresh tenderloin. If you cook it raw and stir-fried, I am afraid that once you have eaten this kind of stir-fried cabbage, all other stir-fried cabbages will taste the same.”
(End of this chapter)