In the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong, Yuan Mei, a famous writer and gourmet in the Qing Dynasty, published "Food List with the Garden". This book has been recognized as a "chef's classic" since its publication. 222 years later, Cao Jing, a China culinary master and winner of the China Golden Chef Award in 20 13, had a conversation with Kan Kan, who collected the Food List in the 18th year of Guangxu. His family also collected 500 jade cookbooks from different periods, of which 150 were old cookbooks of jade before 1980s and 20 were old cookbooks of Sichuan cuisine. His wish is to hold an exhibition of cookbooks.
Twenty years ago, I spent 2000 yuan to buy a "secret book" in the culinary world.
1959, Sichuan Kimchi published by Light Industry Press; 1972, Sichuan cookbook published by Chengdu Catering Company; China Cuisine Dictionary published by China Business Press 1992 ... It is Cao Jing's habit to carefully take out a cookbook from the bookcase on a sunny winter afternoon and let these "old friends" bask in the sun regularly. One of the most precious is Yuan Mei's Menu with the Garden published in the 18th year of Guangxu.
1980, Cao Jing first came into contact with the food list of Suiyuan in a cooking class, when he was only 17 years old. "When I listened to the teacher's lecture on" Menu with the Garden ",I liked it very much and decided to buy this book." After graduating from technical secondary school, he became a chef in Jinjiang Hotel. At that time, many cookbooks had been collected at home, but this "Garden Menu" could not be found for a long time. 1995 One day, Cao Jing came to an old bookstore to look for old recipes. There are some thread-bound books in the glass cabinet of the bookstore. Surprisingly, there happened to be a menu with gardens during Guangxu period. In the end, Cao Jing bought the book for 2000 yuan.
The secret of Sichuan cuisine: "Vegetarian dishes use vegetarian oil, vegetarian dishes use vegetarian oil."
Today, the pages of this "Suiyuan Food List" have already turned yellow, and the thin lines between the pages have fallen off. Even so, Cao Jing is still a "baby". "Vegetarian dishes use vegetable oil, and vegetarian dishes use vegetable oil." A sentence in the book is still the guiding light for him to cook. "Some materials are bitter, and you can hide this taste with meat oil." When cooking hairy dishes such as winter vegetables and pumpkin seedlings, Cao Jing likes to use duck oil. "Meat oil can not only pour hair on vegetables, but also make vegetarian dishes more fragrant." He said that the classic dishes in Sichuan cuisine, such as chicken oil bean sprouts and golden hook cabbage, are all cooked with meat oil. Cao Jing said that he had a small notebook with all his thoughts after reading. When he was inspired, he thought of new dishes and wrote them down. It has always been his wish to hold an exhibition of cookbooks since the collection. "Let everyone look at these old recipes and feel the development and changes of China's food culture."
Liu Yingjie, director of the Ancient Books Department of Chengdu Library, was a little surprised when he saw this "Garden Menu". "It's rare to preserve it so well." After checking the paper and words, she said: "There is a' brand record' on the second page of this book, indicating when and where the book was engraved. This is indeed an ancient book from Guangxu period. In the eighteenth year of Guangxu, 1892 has a history of 122. "