Food is the most important thing for the people, and eating is the first need in life. Without food, no one can survive, whether China or foreigners. What to eat, how to eat, every country, every nation, every family, everyone has their own way of eating. Beijing is a world-famous ancient capital and historical and cultural city with a history of more than 3,000 years. Emperors of past dynasties established Beijing as their capital, which accumulated profound contents for Beijing culture. Food culture is one of the contents of various cultures, which is extensive and profound. Just like the formation and evolution of the eight Chinese cuisines, it has gone through a long historical process. Although Beijing cuisine is not among the eight major cuisines, it is one of the major local cuisines in China.

Beijing's special political position in history makes people living in Beijing complex and diverse, which is reflected in the diet. People from all walks of life have different tastes and diets. There are eight authentic cuisines, local snacks, roast and roast of Manchu, Mongolian, Hui and Korean nationalities, and foreign fast food imported from other places. Today's catering market is unprecedentedly prosperous. Everything can relieve hunger and hunger.

I've eaten everything I need to eat. What else is delicious? People want to know what old Beijingers eat. It can be said that there were not many really rich people in old Beijing before liberation. Princes and nobles eat delicacies, while ordinary people can fill their stomachs. In case of a wedding, just eat eight bowls.

What are the "eight bowls" in old Beijing? People under 60 have never seen it, and some people have never heard of it, let alone eaten it. After eating all the "good restaurants" in Beijing, many modern people are nostalgic and miss the delicious food in old Beijing.

In fact, the "Eight Bowls" in old Beijing is an ordinary and affordable dish, that is, eight kinds of chicken, duck and fish are carefully cooked, and the delicious food on the table is held in traditional porcelain bowls. "Eight bowls", to put it bluntly, are Sanhuang chicken, yellow croaker, elbow, meatball, rice flour meat, braised pork, loose meat and ribs.

The "eight bowls" in old Beijing are indispensable delicacies in the life of old Beijingers. Birthdays, weddings, funerals and children's full moons are all indispensable. Before liberation, there were not so many restaurants and restaurants today, and most of the people were poor. In case of weddings, funerals and celebrations, greenhouses have been set up at home and in the village to entertain relatives and friends. So in those days, the chef who did this kind of food business was called "the greenhouse runner".

Usually there are four dishes, four cold dishes, four hot dishes, eight dishes and eight bowls on the banquet table. Later, restaurant dishes gradually evolved into "four cold" or "six cold", eight hot dishes, ten hot dishes and twelve hot dishes. For the sake of beauty, the bowl was changed into a dish.

Although the "eight bowls" in old Beijing are popular among the people, they were once delicious in the court. According to legend, when Empress Dowager Cixi fled, everyone had a happy family occasion and tasted the folk "eight bowls". After returning to Beijing, I asked the chef to cook according to the folk custom and entertain the civil servants.

The "eight bowls" in old Beijing were once lost, and few people can cook them so far, so people are also unpalatable. However, I heard that Impression of Old Beijing, located in Wanping Theater of Lugouqiao, was looking for the secret recipe of making "Eight Bowls" in order to promote folk food culture, and finally found an elderly chef who could make "Eight Bowls" of old Beijing. Today, the "eight bowls" in Impression of Old Beijing have developed and innovated many new varieties on the basis of traditional production, and according to the tastes of modern people, eight bowls of seafood, eight bowls of beef and mutton, eight bowls of pork, eight bowls of poultry, eight bowls of imported goods and vegetarian dishes have been successively introduced. When consumers come to "Impression of Old Beijing", they can not only eat the economical "eight bowls", but also watch the wonderful stunt performance of "Old Tianqiao Acrobatic Art Troupe", which really makes people linger.