Count the beautiful meanings of winter food from Sunday to Sunday
"Different winds in ten miles, different customs in a hundred miles". Every solar term, the most interesting thing is "what does this solar term eat", and the solstice in winter is no exception. Since ancient times, Jiangsu has a tradition of "the solstice in winter is like a year", and each region has its own dietary customs. For example, Suzhou's winter brew, Suqian's jiaozi, and old Nanjing's chicken soup. These eating habits also imply people's yearning for a better life.
tangyuan
It seems that every family eats glutinous rice balls in winter. Jiaozi, also called dumplings, is popular in Jiangnan area. It is a round dessert made of glutinous rice flour, and "round" means "reunion" and "perfection", so eating jiaozi in winter solstice is also called "winter solstice jiaozi". Jiangnan is the main producing area of rice, and people in Yangzhou, Nantong, Wuxi, Zhenjiang and other places in Jiangsu have the custom of eating glutinous rice balls from winter to Sunday.
Winter brewing
There is an old saying in Suzhou, "If you don't drink winter wine on the solstice in winter, you will be frozen overnight." On the solstice of winter, mellow and delicious winter wine will inevitably appear on the table of every household in Suzhou. Suzhou people and the winter solstice always have a bowl of winter wine that they can't give up. Dongniang is a kind of low-alcohol yellow rice wine, with osmanthus and some Chinese herbal medicines. Jiangnan is a rice producing area, and people are popular in brewing rice wine. Suzhou is rich in osmanthus.
"Stewed tofu with green vegetables"
As the standard of winter solstice in Nanjing, "burning buns at nine o'clock to eat tofu", "burning buns at nine o'clock" is to worship ancestors and "counting at nine o'clock" is to welcome the new year. Vegetables and tofu are the most common vegetables in ordinary families in the past, which have the meaning of "one clean and two white" and "green vegetables and tofu keep safe" "Drink chicken soup from winter to day and eat it for one year." In addition to tofu, chicken soup is also a "standard" on the table of Nanjing people from winter to Sunday.
Bean curd with onion and carrot
On the solstice night of winter in Changzhou, you must have a bowl of "chopped green onion tofu"! Eating "chopped green onion tofu" seems to be a unique custom in Changzhou. "Du" is Changzhou dialect, which means "cooking". Why do Changzhou people eat onion tofu for the night on the solstice in winter? There is a saying that "rich" and "rotten" are homophonic, and the folk proverb "If you want to be rich, spend the night with onions and tofu on the solstice of winter" caters to people's yearning for a rich life.
Braised pork
Taizhou has a saying that it is a big winter and a small winter since ancient times. "Winter solstice" is also called "wintering"; The day of "winter solstice" is called Dadong, and the day before it is called Xiaodong. According to different customs, every family worships their ancestors in big winter or small winter. Taizhou's winter solstice family banquet also has braised pork, which means that there will be fish and meat in the coming year and a full meal; Braised silver carp means "even silver carp has been (fished) for more than a year".
pumpkin
There is a proverb in Suqian: "Take a bite of jiaozi on the solstice in winter and make good luck from now on." Families get together, including jiaozi and jiaozi. It's steaming and very enjoyable. In addition, in Suqian and Yancheng, there is a folk saying that eating pumpkins in winter will bring good luck in the coming year.
Returning home is the spiritual core of Winter Solstice.
Ancient festivals depend on agricultural society, and times have changed, so many customs are difficult to "reproduce"; But its spiritual significance can be "creatively transformed" and inherited and carried forward. China people attach importance to family reunion, and the most important spiritual "core" of the Winter Solstice Festival is reunion. In ancient poetry, many works are homesick for the winter solstice. For example, Bai Juyi wrote a poem "Homesickness on the Winter Solstice in Handan": "Sit at home late at night and talk about people who travel far away." On the solstice of winter, Bai Juyi is alone in Handan, missing his hometown; He imagined that at this time, the family should sit together in the middle of the night, and they were also thinking and talking about wanderers in different places. On the solstice of winter, we don't have to sit with our families, but can we make phone calls, send messages or video chat? In fact, on the solstice of winter, whether eating glutinous rice balls or drinking "winter wine", the greatest significance of the festival should be to remind us to love our home and family, and life also needs some "sense of ceremony".