We can speculate that at that time, the southern part of Chu State formed a food pattern with five flavors of sour, salty, sweet, bitter and spicy, and its cooking skills were complete, which was a typical food style in southern China.
During the period of 1972, a large number of utensils and catering documents were unearthed during the excavation of Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha. More than half of the unearthed 3 10 bamboo slips recorded food and tableware. The records of fruits, vegetables, rice, meat and other agricultural products are very detailed, including wine and drinks.
There are 48 pieces of bamboo barnacles unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb, of which 30 pieces contain food and many meat products, mainly including cow shoulders, dog shoulders and sheep shoulders. In addition, a large number of condiments, such as ginger and lobster sauce, were found on the spot.
The Song Dynasty was the beginning of the differentiation of cuisines in China. Zhou Ping Cotan wrote:
It can be seen that people in Song Dynasty had a hobby of eating frogs, while Huxiang diet belonged to the south.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, peppers, tomatoes, peanuts, sweet potatoes, potatoes, sunflowers, corn, bitter gourd and other ingredients were introduced into China. Thanks to Hunan's subtropical climate, all these ingredients have taken root in Hunan, and because of Hunan's hot and humid climate, pepper is one of the representatives and has become an important ingredient in Huxiang cuisine.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi failed to resist the Qing Dynasty and returned to his hometown to concentrate on his studies, which laid the foundation for the development and growth of Hunan Daoism. Most importantly, his return to his hometown to study directly influenced the Huxiang forces represented by Zeng Guofan and indirectly promoted the development and growth of Hunan cuisine.
In the third year of Yongzheng (1725), Hunan was established as a province and entered the period of Huxiang culture revival. A large number of bureaucrats who were in politics and came out of Hunan competed to hire Hunan chefs to take charge of family banquets, and Hunan cuisine began to have a systematic reputation.
In the middle of Qing Dynasty, Hunan cuisine began to develop in the direction of high specification, etiquette and luxury, and gradually formed an "official dish". It is characterized by expensive tableware, large seats, long chopsticks and many dishes, ranging from 50 to hundreds.
"Clear barnyard grass notes" records:
Traditional Hunan cuisine is mainly Changsha cuisine. In the middle of Qing Dynasty, two major businesses, namely "Xuanbang" and "Tangbang", were formed. The catering development in Changsha is unprecedentedly prosperous, especially the rise of "Tang Gang", which has injected unprecedented vitality into the development of Hunan cuisine.
Xuanbang is characterized by carrying door-to-door service and catering. The famous Xuanbang includes Changshengxuan, Ziyunxuan and Giant South Array. On the other hand, Tangshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. took a fixed shop as the venue and operated by the pavilion, and there appeared a menu hall, a banquet hall and a first wall hall. Ten famous shops, such as Caixiangtang, Jiabinle, Xiangju, Tongchun Garden, Liuxiang Garden, Qingxing Garden and Caigenxiang, are known as the "Ten Columns" of Hunan cuisine.
Since then, Hunan cuisine has entered a period of rapid development, and the cooking skills of Hunan cuisine have become more and more mature, gradually becoming its own system.
With the "Xiang Army" led by Zeng Guofan, and the growth of a large number of Hunan officials, a large number of skilled folk chefs of Hunan cuisine entered the government as family chefs and private chefs. Government-run dishes, once "officials don't enter the people", ushered in an unprecedented opportunity for improvement and innovation, and government-run Hunan cuisine began to rise.
Private chefs who entered the official garden followed officials from all over the country to take up their new jobs, and gained an eye-opening opportunity, enriched the use of raw materials and seasonings, and chefs from all over the country also had the opportunity to learn and learn from local cooking techniques. This period has become an important period for Hunan cuisine to integrate many families. The cooking skills of Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Sichuan, Fujian, Anhui and other places have enriched the cooking skills of Hunan cuisine.
At the end of Xianfeng, Hunan official chefs from all over the country entered the peak period of returning home, which provided opportunities for official dishes to enter restaurants later. When he entered the official career in Tan, the development of Hunan official cuisine reached its peak.
Tan Zi Zuan, a native of Chaling, Hunan Province, served as governor of Hunan Province for three times, and later served as chairman of the government of the Republic of China and president of the Executive Yuan. He is very insightful in cooking. Under his training, the first-hand dish cooked by chef Cao was called "Anzu Hunan cuisine". At that time, all the literati were proud of tasting Anzu Hunan cuisine.
This is a family dinner menu for Tan guests:
The composition of Hunan cuisine pays attention to the word "luxury" and "essence" in cooking. Boiled tender, stewed soft rotten, baked crisp, stewed mellow, cooked fresh and thick.
Take "boiled cabbage" in the menu as an example. In order to make a boiled cabbage, you should take two loads of Chinese cabbage harvested at night, and take the tender heart from the side to burn it, which is soft, rotten and fresh. According to legend, whether the Tan family has eaten this dish can be known from the garbage outside the door. If the garbage dump outside the door is full of Chinese cabbage leaves, then the Tan family cooked with salted egg yolk, but the poor people nearby were very happy and didn't have to buy side dishes that day.
Liang Shiqiu wrote in "Ya She Tan Chi":
Tan is a good roast suckling pig, and it is best to choose it from Guidong County, Hunan Province, so there is this narrative of Liang Shiqiu.
In the cooking of Tuan 'an Hunan cuisine, hairy soup, clear soup, milk soup and broth are arbitrarily classified for soup use. Don Sun Lu wrote in "Human Interest":
And the method of making fish soup in the group temple is:
Let's take a look at the shark fin in the temple:
The finished product of this dish "sees that the needle is long and the lips are thick, and it is all shark's fin without miscellaneous vegetables." The taste is thick and juicy, rich and dripping, and the lips and teeth are condensed. "At that time, Cao followed his father Tan as a chef in Guangdong for many years, and later worked in Nanjing for many years. Therefore, Cao's shark fin practice not only has the flavor of Hunan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, but also has the exquisiteness of Huaiyang cuisine.
Not only that, the "sugar-hearted carp" in the Hunan cuisine of the group is a must. According to legend, carp must be planted with local carp, and the whole piece must be stewed in a casserole for four hours. You can't row the whole fish with a knife except the head and tail. Because the fish is iron-free and fishy, it is stewed thoroughly in the casserole, with uniform heat transfer and strong heat, and the fish is fat, tender and smooth. Tang's description is:
Tang's evaluation of group Hunan cuisine is:
At the beginning of the 20th century, Hunan cuisine officially became one of the representative cuisines in China.
Hunan is not only a land of plenty, but also a "lowly place" recorded in ancient books. Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate Hunan people's eating habits of spicy and recalculation, which is helpful to sweat and eliminate dampness. Nie, the first person in China's culinary raw materials science under the pen name Gongsun, commented on Hunan cuisine like this:
Finally, only by looking back at Hunan cuisine in the eyes of people who ate in the Republic of China can we have a more accurate description and understanding of Hunan cuisine.
Liang Shiqiu talked about Hunan bacon like this:
Talking about lotus seeds:
Talking about young pigeons:
On fried spicy chicken:
Chicken slices with hibiscus;
Wang Zengqi is also a fan of Hunan cuisine. He wrote in "Carnivores are not contemptuous":
"Radish" has:
Is bitter gourd a melon? 》:
Tofu: