The group set off from Shuntianfu (now in Beijing), and first arrived at Hetianfu (now Hetian City, Hebei Province). Qianlong Emperor for the people's feelings, throw down a large number of officials and the Empress Dowager, micro-suits out of the patrol, night stay a small inn. Who knows just after midnight, the Qianlong master suddenly feel hungry in the abdomen, they ordered to find some food to. But at this time is already deeper dew, where to find what delicacies, the inn cook in a hurry, find the day did not sell out of the pancake, stuffed with the rest of the dinner stewed donkey meat, put on the charcoal fire heated to the emperor, Qianlong bite down, amazed at what is so crispy and delicious! The cook stammered half a day to answer, coinciding with this time, outdoor frogs, Qianlong pen, said: "called 'toad swallowing honey' it." From then on, the donkey meat barbecue will have a "toad swallowing honey" beautiful name. As for why the Qianlong master here to compare himself to a toad, the descendants of the history books can not be understood.
Leaving the Hama House, all the way to the south, look to reach Chengwu County, which can be anxious Chengwu county magistrate. Qianlong master Hetao praised the donkey meat roast things quickly spread throughout the country, according to gossip, the emperor also rewarded Hetao three hundred donkeys to encourage them to develop the catering business, and strive to open the donkey meat roast all over the country, and unconditional advertising support for them. And Chengwu County, what are there, is nothing to eat, the magistrate want to break the head can not find what can come to entertain the long-lived master.
"The long-lasting master is used to eating those chickens, ducks, fish, meat and sea food, we might as well give him some rough food, let him taste fresh." In the master's point of view, Chengwu magistrate will Chengwu snacks "sauce big head" on the imperial table. This sauce big head sounds bluffing, in fact, is pickled daikonai, Qianlong master tasted really happy, the imperial pen wave, and do the sauce big head of free spokesman. After Qianlong left, the magistrate smacked the emperor to the sauce big head of the name "purple amber", said: "the emperor in the end is the emperor ah, change three words, this momentum are different."
Then the Qianlong master ate Luoyang does not turn over the soup, Yixian vegetable pancakes, drank Linyi grits soup, tasting the Weishan four-nosed carp, all the way to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.
Here Qianlong master of the lost more and more often, almost every time is in the starving at the time of accidentally encountered a pauper/beauty offer to eat, a taste under the amazing, high spirits will also be inscribed with a pair of words. Almost all of the snacks in the south of the Yangtze River by Qianlong discovery: Nanjing's Liuhe pork, Suzhou's squirrel Mandarin fish, Hangzhou's fish head tofu, Ningbo's stone pot fish, Wuxi's Xiaolongbao, the name of the place is not known to call the chicken ......
Qianlong life is not only the six to the south of the Yangtze River, but also four times the western tour, the four times the eastern tour, the food from all over the country have to be included! "Qianlong ate all say good" series. Ma Boyong drew a Qianlong lost map, we can feel, north to Heilongjiang, west to Sichuan, south to Guangzhou have left the body of Qianlong to explore the food.
Said here, we should have understood, these similar food legends as a story to listen to okay, if you seriously explore, it is full of holes.
You know, the emperor's tour is to build a palace in advance, local officials to receive, each meal is recorded. Qianlong six south of the Yangtze River, a single palace on the repair of more than thirty, not to mention the roads and bridges along the way, and Qianlong each tour with the Empress Dowager and concubines, civil and military ministers, horses and honor guards The total number of more than 2,500 people, more than 400 luxury cars, more than 6,000 sturdy horses, and more than 1,000 fine boats, which is not counting the tens of thousands of peasants with the line. Such a lineup, I am afraid that the emperor did not have the time to visit the lost and hungry.
Above just live and travel, as for eating, Qianlong is not ambiguous. According to the Qianlong imperial dietary list records, Qianlong only eat two meals a day, that is, breakfast and dinner, breakfast in the morning at six or seven o'clock in the morning, dinner in the afternoon at about two o'clock in the morning and evening meals are about ten dishes, and sometimes there will be a dowager empress, local officials and so on to send on a number of dishes. In addition, Qianlong also eat a breakfast and a late morning, breakfast in the wake up, that is, about five o'clock, generally more simple like ice sugar stewed bird's nest and so on, late in the afternoon at about six o'clock, about five kinds of dishes.
Of course, so many dishes the emperor a person may not eat it all, so the emperor often will not finish the dishes rewarded to the harem concubines, and sometimes there will be some more dishes into the table, called the amount of food, used to give the subjects. The following is an excerpt from the imperial food list of the day in Qianlong's southern tour, you can feel:
By the imperial food list can be seen, Qianlong's southern tour is no less than Jiangnan dishes, but these famous dishes are by the palace chef or temporary to the imperial kitchen to help the "Suzhou cooks," Zhang Cheng, Zhang Dongguan, Song Yuan, etc. to prepare, or to receive the driver's place! The big players such as the Governor of the two rivers Yin Jishan, salt inspector Gao Heng, Suzhou weavers Pufu and other offerings, of course, if the Qianlong particularly like a certain dish, will also be ordered, such as green leeks fried pork, from the Qianlong thirty years from March 12 to April 2, less than a month time had uploaded this dish twelve times.
Qianlong also like snacks, such as eight precious cakes, it is said that he consumed each time even if there are leftovers, but also do not share the reward, are handed over to the eunuchs to recover. And these snacks in the most favored by Qianlong is the elm cake and grind sticky, "Yang Ji Zhai Series Record" has contained: "grind sticky, elm cake, northern folk often eat. Palace also every tribute." On the way in the southern tour of Jiangnan elm cake also often appear in the meal table, such as the Qianlong thirty years on March 6, Jiangning Palace dinner on the "elm nest elm cake a product". And Qianlong himself has written poems for them many times:
At the same time, spring bamboo shoots, mutton also appeared in Qianlong poetry: "spring bamboo shoots from the south of the tribute to Beijing, sincere jade food clusters plate new." The Imperial Poetry Four Collections (Volume 11), "meal spring bamboo shoots slogan"; "a moment to think of meal sheep, asked the Shang meal cloud ......" The Imperial Poetry Two Collections (Volume 64), "meal sheep" .
In addition to chicken, duck, fish and meat, Qianlong also often eat vegetarian food during his southern tour. Because Qianlong each tour is January to May, and the eighth of April each year is the Buddhist "Bathing Buddha Festival", so on this day, the Buddhist Qianlong and the Empress Dowager will eat vegetarian, the imperial file also recorded their vegetarian menu:
Overall Qianlong's tour of the south of the river, although the meal is not expensive materials, more than a few local Specialties, cooking methods are not much more than the traditional frying and popping simmering cooking and frying and stewing, but as big as chicken, duck, fish and meat, as small as the folk snacks, are carefully prepared and cooked, handled by either the Imperial Chef or the local chef. It is hard to imagine that a person who is used to eating delicacies from the sea, and there is no shortage of high-quality savory dishes in the morning meal, will be very happy with a small amount of soy sauce big head. And the kind of people knocking on the door in the middle of the night to ask for food, open the door to find that it is the emperor of the drama about only in the drama.
So why are people still so happy with the folk food story of "Qianlong ate it"? In fact, it is very simple, free high-profile spokesperson, make up a small story can be obtained, do not use for nothing. After all, even a hamburger can be attached to a fake Qianlong food legend: