The formation of cuisines is also related to local products. For example, there are many cattle and sheep in northern China, and they often cook with beef and mutton. South China is rich in aquatic products and poultry, and people like to eat fish and meat. There are many seafood along the coast of China. Seafood is used for cooking. By the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine had become the most influential local cuisines at that time, and were called "four major cuisines". By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, four new local cuisines, namely, Zhejiang Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine and Anhui Cuisine, were differentiated and formed, which together constituted the "eight major cuisines" of China's traditional diet.
Shandong cuisine, which originated from Qilu flavor in Shandong, is the only one with its own system among the four traditional cuisines (also known as the eight traditional cuisines) in China, with the longest history, the richest techniques, the highest difficulty and the most skillful skills. Some people personify the "eight major cuisines": Shandong cuisine is like the northern emperor who rules the world; Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine are like rich and talented celebrities; Cantonese cuisine and Fujian cuisine are like romantic and elegant sons; Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui cuisine are like beautiful women in the south of the Yangtze River.
In China, besides Shandong cuisine (Shandong), Sichuan cuisine (Sichuan), Guangdong cuisine (Guangdong), Jiangsu cuisine (Jiangsu), Fujian cuisine (Fujian), Zhejiang cuisine (Zhejiang), Hunan cuisine (Hunan) and Anhui cuisine, there are also Northeast cuisine (three northeastern provinces) and Jiangxi cuisine. In the past history, Shandong cuisine has always played the role of the leader of rivers and lakes.
Generally speaking, Shandong cuisine represents the cuisine of the whole northern region, Sichuan cuisine represents the southwest region, Guangdong cuisine represents South China, and Huaiyang cuisine represents the eastern region. Experts and scholars recognize that Shandong cuisine is the most influential. It originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and flourished in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Located in the nearest place to the political center of the Central Plains, it has become a royal dish because it is convenient to go to the temple. In addition, officials, businessmen and students from all directions will bring some techniques of Shandong cuisine back to their hometown after living in Beijing for a period of time. The eight major cuisines are more or less influenced by Shandong cuisine.
Qilu is known as the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and the strength of Confucian culture makes Shandong cuisine catch the train of mainstream culture, occupying a greater advantage in communication, making its influence and communication breadth unparalleled. Shandong cuisine combines Jiaodong cuisine, jinan cuisine cuisine, Boshan cuisine, Confucian cuisine and so on, and the inheritance of Confucian cuisine is the most systematic. The reason is that Confucian cuisine, as the largest "family" in China, has been handed down from generation to generation. Confucian cuisine is the concrete embodiment of Confucius' dietary concept of "not eating too much essence, not eating too much essence". It is a typical official dish, with fine ingredients, exquisite cooking, exquisite container, profound name, simple and elegant, and solemn banquet etiquette.
Shandong cuisine is the birthplace of China's dietary philosophy, and the Confucian philosophy of "never getting tired of essence" and "harmony of five flavors" laid the philosophical orientation and aesthetic standard of China's cooking. Shandong cuisine is the cuisine with the most techniques, with more than 60 kinds, which is difficult to master and the most challenging of all cuisines. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, a large number of dishes from Shandong cuisine entered the palace, reaching the peak of exquisiteness and elegance. Shandong cuisine is still the most populous cuisine, and home cooking in Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi and Northeast China is Shandong cuisine, which is unmatched by any cuisine.
The famous "Eight Buildings" in Beijing during the Republic of China and the famous Shandong cuisine restaurants in Beijing now, such as Jingya, Jas Pouch Lee, Baorui, Four Seasons Chang 'an, Qilu Classic, Fengzeyuan, etc., are all high-grade Shandong cuisine hotels, where you can eat Shandong cuisine at the formal banquet level. The famous dishes of Shandong cuisine include bird's nest in clear soup, sea cucumber roasted with onion, sweet and sour carp, nine-turn large intestine, crispy elbow, pot-roasted elbow, four-eat live soft-shelled turtle, wonton bear's paw slices, three-silk shark's fin, hibiscus chicken slices, braised mullet eggs, diced chicken with soy sauce and roasted wings ... These famous dishes are the specific strength of Shandong cuisine as the "head of the cuisine".
But to be honest, so many halo Shandong dishes are declining now, and everyone is very strange when it comes to Shandong cuisine. There are many reasons. It takes ten years to train a Shandong cuisine chef and half a month to prepare a table of Shandong cuisine materials. Many chefs cooperate, and the time, economy and labor costs are too high, so they can only be used for high-standard banquets. Shandong cuisine has been eating roots and innovation has been suspended. In addition, Shandong cuisine is salty and does not conform to modern eating habits. Some people say that Shandong cuisine is an official dish, Sichuan cuisine is a civilian dish, Guangdong cuisine is a commercial dish, and Huaiyang cuisine is a literati dish. Others joked that Shandong cuisine was the first of the eight major cuisines, because it was in the Qing Dynasty, and all the cuisines in the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty were mainly Shandong cuisine, so it was natural to put Shandong cuisine in the first place.
After the reform and opening up, the spread of Sichuan cuisine is the fastest, because it is convenient to obtain materials and easy to operate. The simplest couple, a pot, a table and a handful of peppers, can open a Sichuan restaurant, which is difficult for Shandong cuisine to do. There is also a saying that "three years of Sichuan cuisine and ten years of Shandong cuisine", which means that it takes three years to learn to cook Sichuan cuisine and ten years to learn to cook Shandong cuisine. Today, with high labor costs, it is difficult to promote Shandong cuisine, which is one of the reasons why there are many Sichuan restaurants and few Shandong restaurants on the street. Sichuan food is spicy and fragrant, which is quite suitable for northerners. It can be said that Sichuan cuisine is now the first cuisine in China.