Chinese dietary culture has a long history, and traditional Chinese dietary culture is not only an important part of traditional Chinese culture, but also a branch of traditional culture with unique characteristics and personality. Starting from more than 500,000 years ago when the Beijing people barbecued food with fire, the Chinese people began the history of the evolution of food culture.
The Popularity of Stone Mills
From the Neolithic Age until the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the processing of grains was relatively primitive and simple. The pioneers roughly processed grains by means of mills, grinders, pestles and mortars, which made it difficult to provide large quantities of hulled and cleaned rice. To the Zhou Dynasty, the emergence of stone is not, is a leap in the primary processing of cereals. Shiwu, that is, stone mill. The primary processing of grains, from mainly grinding and pounding to mainly grinding. With the popularization of stone grinding, the Zhou people's diet improved greatly.
Meat Processing
Compared with grain processing, meat processing in the Zhou Dynasty was more elaborate. Moreover, the selection of cuts as the first processing of meat had the same importance as the later cooking. In particular, the Zhou royal nobles in the rituals, banquets enjoyed a variety of meat, the selection of cut and cooking, by the dedicated official office "breakfast" and "breakfast" in charge. Zhou people have fully understood the selection of disease-free, no special smell and odor and robust animals and birds, and identify the parts of the animal and poultry, and then slaughter. In eating, a variety of dishes have a fixed position, take food according to a certain procedure, these are cut into different shapes by the meat decided.
The emergence of eight treasures
The emergence of eight treasures in the Zhou Dynasty marked the formation of cooking as an important art, showing the Zhou people's exquisite skills and the science of food and drink. Cannon dolphin, for example, first of all, the pig will be washed and stripped clean, solid dates in the abdomen, wrapped in wet mud, baked dry, stripped mud out of the pig, and then coated all over the body of the pig with rice flour paste, deep-fried with oil, cut into slices, with good ingredients, and then placed in a small tripod, the tripod and put in a large wok tripod, stewed for three days and three nights over a moderate fire, and then eaten after the pot with soy sauce and vinegar seasoning. This dish has adopted three cooking methods, including baking, deep-frying and stewing, and there are more than ten procedures. "Eight treasures" created a variety of cooking methods to produce dishes precedent, later generations of dazzling variety of dishes, are based on the development of this, and even in the name of the dish is also inherited "eight treasures", and so far there are "eight treasures The four major cities of the world have been the most important ones in the world, and they are the most important ones in the world.
The birth of the four major cuisines
During the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods, the integration of various ethnic groups gradually led to the formation of the two major flavors of the north and the south in terms of food culture. In the north, the ancient Qilu food culture has a long history, cooking technology is more developed, formed the earliest local flavors in China - the prototype of Lu cuisine.
In the south, the Chu people unified the southeast half of the country, occupying today's "land of fish and rice". "Spring has the knife crabs, summer has the shad, autumn has the fat duck, winter has the vegetables". In all seasons of the year, aquatic animals, poultry, vegetables and limpets were on the market, which provided superior material conditions for the development of culinary technology. As a result of the integration of the southern many ethnic folk customs, folklore and eating habits, and gradually formed the prototype of today's Su cuisine.
In the west, the Qin Dynasty occupied the ancient countries of Ba and Shu, and then sent Li Bing to transform the flooded countryside into the "Land of Heaven", coupled with the arrival of a large number of immigrants from Hanzhong, combined with the local climate, customs, and the traditional diet of the ancient countries of Ba and Shu, resulting in the predecessor of Sichuan cuisine, which has had a great influence to this day.
The unification of the Qin state was carried out at a later stage, and at the end of the Qin Dynasty, troops were sent to annex the three counties of Guilin, Nanhai and Xiang, establishing the state of South Vietnam. In the eleventh year of Han Gaozu's reign, he was crowned King of South Vietnam. Taking advantage of Guangzhou's location on the southeastern coast, the mild climate of the Pearl River Delta, the abundance of produce, the wide variety of plants and animals available for consumption, and the accessibility of water and land transportation, the political, economic, and cultural center of Lingnan was established. Here the food is more developed, the current food culture of Guangdong, in fact, by Zhao Tuo advanced culinary arts and utensils introduced into the Central Plains Ling, combined with the local dietary resources, so that the "fly, submerged, animals, plants" are good food, and passed down to the present day, the shape of eclectic food culture, resulting in Cantonese cuisine.
So far, later known as the "four major cuisines" of the Lu Cuisine (including Beijing and Tianjin and other northern regions of the flavors of the cuisine), Su Cuisine (including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui region of the flavors of the cuisine), Cantonese Cuisine (including Fujian, Taiwan, Chao, Qiong region of the flavors of the cuisine), Sichuan Cuisine (including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan region of the flavors of the cuisine) has begun to take shape.
Eating in the Han and Tang dynasties
With the complete birth of China's unification, the Han emperors had the most complete food management system in the country. Among the officials in charge of the emperor's daily affairs, those related to dietary activities were the taijun, tongjun and gujun, who were respectively the "master of meals", "master of cakes and bait" and "master of rice selection". This is a huge system of officials. The expenditure on meals for the emperor and the harem was equal to the production of 20,000 households of the middle class people in the Han Dynasty.
The spread of Chinese food culture to foreign countries intensified during this period. Zhang Qian and others not only introduced from the western region of the Hu melon, walnut, caraway, carrot, pomegranate and other products, but also the peach, plum, apricot, pear, ginger, tea and other products as well as culinary culture of the Central Plains to the western region. Today, in the original Western region of the Han tomb excavations, there are wooden chopsticks from the Central Plains. China's traditional barbecue technology has a mouthing method, but also early through the Silk Road to Central Asia and West Asia, and eventually formed in the local people like to eat kebabs.
Changan in the Tang Dynasty was the cultural center of the world at that time, which facilitated the exchange and fusion of food cultures of various ethnic groups. The traditional dietary structure of the Hu and Han peoples underwent a major change, and "eating meat and drinking cheese" began to become a ****same dietary feature of the Hu and Han peoples throughout the northern and northwestern regions of the Han and Tang dynasties.
Today, there are more than 160 kinds of vegetables. However, among the more common 100 kinds of vegetables, those native to the Han area and those introduced from outside the region each accounted for about half. During the Han and Tang dynasties, the central mainland introduced many vegetable and fruit varieties through exchanges with northwestern ethnic minorities, such as vegetables such as alfalfa, spinach, brussels sprouts, hu melon, hu beans, hu garlic, hu coriander and so on, fruits such as grapes, lentils, watermelon, and pomegranate, and condiments such as pepper, sand sugar and so on. At the same time, the cooking methods of the western regions were also introduced into the Central Plains.
The various kinds of hu food imported in the Han Dynasty were gradually popularized in the Yellow River valley by the time of the Wei, Jin and Nan Dynasties, and were favored by the majority of Han people, especially boiled or shabu-shabu and roasted whole sheep, which were the most typical.
The Han and Tang dynasties were also a period of gradual change in traditional Chinese foodways. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the hu bed was introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions as a kind of sitting utensil, and gradually came into common use. As sitting on the Hu bed must be two feet down to the ground, which changed the traditional kneeling posture of the Han Chinese. From the Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties began a new change in furniture, to the Sui and Tang dynasties also towards a climax. On the one hand, this is manifested in the traditional beds and couches continue to increase the height of the case; on the other hand, the new high-footed furniture varieties increased, chairs, tables and so on have begun to use. After the emergence of tables and chairs, people sit around a table to eat is a natural thing.
Tang Dynasty and foreign food culture exchanges are very much, people's material life have a kind of veneration of the West's atmosphere, food flavors, clothing and attire to the West for the beauty of the countries, Chongwai has become a trend of not small. At that time, Chang'an, Hu opened more hotels, and accompanied by flamboyant Hu Ji, Li Bai and other literati often into these hotels, Tang poetry in many poems mentioned these hotels and Hu Ji. Wine family Hu and Hu Ji has become an important feature of food culture in the Tang Dynasty.
Tea food in Liao and Jin
With the trade of tea, tea food also penetrated into the daily life of the Liao and Jin peoples. Jin people in the life of the major marriage ceremony, are formalized by setting out tea food. And the so-called tea food, is only advanced like the Han people often eat "cold utensils", that is, fried sesame flowers and other large soft fat, small soft fat food, the second into a plate of honey cake. Only to the end of the banquet, to attend the wedding guests, only served on the "Jianming". Tea has become a drink that only the rich can sip, and the coarse can only drink cheese.
Kublai's shabu-shabu
During the Yuan dynasty, the empire's boundaries grew to unprecedented proportions, bringing with them a vast development in food culture. During this period, shabu-shabu was born under Kublai's tutelage; mooncakes became an indispensable mid-autumn snack; the Yuan capital became the birthplace of the first ever roast duck restaurant; and a famous dish that many people are still willing to taste today - roasted whole sheep.
And the Mongol westward conquest as well as the Yuan Dynasty period in various capacities from Persia, Central Asia and Arabia and other places in a large number of issued or voluntary Muslims of various ethnic groups to the east, and the local ethnic integration of a new ethnic group in the Yuan Dynasty - Hui, and with other Muslims ethnic groups to create and develop China's halal food culture.
Palace extravagance
The Ming dynasty's palace food extravagance. Palace dishes and vegetables are Yunnan's chicken fir, Wutai Mountain's smallpox goat maw vegetables, the East China Sea's stone flower sea cabbages, dragon's beard, kelp, antlers, seaweed and other sea plants; Artemisia shoots, bad bamboo shoots and so on, Liaodong's pinecones, artichoke north of the yellow flowers, golden needles, the middle of the capital of the yam, potatoes, the south of the mossy vegetables, the Wudang warbler bamboo shoots, yellow essence, black essence. Walnuts, jujube, magnolia, trailing green, ferns, etc. of the northern mountains, and various other vegetables and dried fruits, local specialties, etc., are available.
Beijing's Palace Cuisine
Flavorful dishes from all over the country have been brought together, fused and developed in Beijing over the years to form a unique Beijing cuisine. In the past, there were royals, princes and nobles, dignitaries, merchants and literati in Beijing. Due to the needs of social interaction, rituals, festivals and daily meals, restaurants of all colors came into being, and chefs were employed in the palace, government offices and mansions. These chefs come from all directions, the Chinese food culture and culinary skills to fully play. Palace cuisine refers to the Qing Dynasty Palace in the Imperial Cuisine dishes, but also absorbed many dishes of the Ming Dynasty Palace Cuisine, especially Kangxi, Qianlong two emperors many times to the South, the South meal is very appreciated, so the Qing Dynasty Palace Cuisine, has absorbed many of the flavors of the dishes around the country, and Mongolia, Hui, Manchu and other ethnic groups of the flavor of the meal. Palace cuisine has been renowned at home and abroad, the world's first flavor of the reputation. Peking duck, is one of the palace dishes, unique flavor, famous all over the world.
The Evolution of Official Cuisine
Official cuisine is one of the special flavors of Beijing cuisine. In the past, there were many government offices in Beijing, and the government offices were full of gourmet food, and each of them had its own unique flavor. The Pan fish, Kung Pao Pork Dumpling, Li Hongzhang Chowder, Groupan Shark's Fin, Zuo Gongjian, Sister Sung's Fish Soup, and Peking White Meat that have been passed down to this day are all from the government offices. Beijing Tanjia Cuisine is quite representative of the Hanlin Tan Zongjun's family in the late Qing Dynasty, and was later introduced into the restaurant by his family chef, known as "Tanjia Cuisine". In recent years, there has been an emergence of Red Mansion Cuisine, which is also governmental cuisine. Beijing cuisine fusion of eight flavors, so cooking techniques are extremely rich, such as roasted and stir-fried, fried and fried fire leaning, grilled and stir-fried, steamed and boiled blanch and braised, simmered and stewed stir-fry boil, collapsed casserole salted and smoked, brined and mixed with choking and bubbling, as well as baking and plucking, and so on.
Manchurian feast
Manchurian feast is a grand feast of Manchu and Han flavor dishes. Is the Qing Dynasty royalty, the government can only be organized by the banquet, the general folk rare. The scale of the grand and noble, complex program, Manchu and Han food treasures, both North and South flavors, dishes up to more than 300 kinds of ancient Chinese banquets of the most reputation. Beijing Imperial Cuisine Hotel has been divided into six kinds of Manchu feast: Mongolia pro Pan Banquet, court ministers feast, ten thousand birthday feast, a thousand old man feast, nine white feast, seasonal feast.
Man Han feast gathered the essence of the world, the material does not distinguish between east and west, north and south, birds and animals, mountain treasures, sea food, as much as in the mouth, the Qing dynasty, the Manchu feast, there are so-called mountains, the sea, poultry, grass, "four eight treasures". "Mountain eight treasures" refers to camel's hump, bear's paw, scarlet lip, monkey brain, scarlet lip, elephant trunk, leopard fetus, rhinoceros tail, deer tendon; "sea eight treasures" refers to bird's nest, shark's fin, large ginseng, fish maw, fish bone, abalone, seal, dogfish (salamanders); "poultry Eight treasures" refers to the red swallow, flying dragon, quail, swan, partridge, colorful finches, turtledoves, red-headed eagle; "grass eight treasures" refers to the monkey head, fungus, bamboo fungus, donkey's nest mushrooms, goat's belly mushrooms, mushrooms, yellow cauliflower, Yun Xiangxin.
Between the years of Qianlong Jiashen (1746 AD), Jiangsu Province, Yizheng County, a man named Li Dou, wrote a book "Yangzhou Boat Record", which recorded a full Manchu feast food list.
The Manchurian banquet is the fruit of thousands of years of totalitarian-guided dietary culture in China, reaching the peak of human enjoyment in terms of mouth happiness.
In January 2005, a businessman in Xi'an threw away thousands of dollars and paid 366,000 yuan to eat the Manchurian banquet made by a hotel. In fact, that so-called full banquet was certainly not a real full banquet, because some things, such as bear's paw and scarlet lips, are unlikely to be available. This shows how much a real full banquet should be worth.
================= food: full-han banquet