1949: the first banquet of People's Republic of China (PRC).
194910/founding ceremony, after the ceremony, in order to entertain representatives from all walks of life, the newly established People's Republic of China (PRC) (PRC) government will hold a banquet in the most luxurious Beijing Hotel at that time, which is called "The First Banquet for the Founding of People's Republic of China (PRC)". More than 600 founding fathers of New China, representatives from all walks of life and guests attended.
This super-large banquet attracted great attention in that year. Even the prime minister personally asked, and the director of the Ceremony Bureau of the Special Council personally took charge. After many investigations and studies, it is believed that Huaiyang cuisine has a long history, outstanding characteristics, rich dishes, impartiality, sweetness and saltiness, and the widest acceptance, so this feast is mainly Huaiyang cuisine.
▲ Beijing Hotel
Because the Chinese kitchen in Beijing Hotel was established soon, the conditions are still relatively poor. After many considerations, we temporarily hired various culinary elites from Yuhuatai Restaurant, such as Zhu Dianrong, Sun Jiufu, Wang Dukun, Yang Qirong and other famous chefs who participated in this task. The chef of the banquet is Zhu Dianrong. He was born in a family in Zhong Ding. He studied under a famous chef at the age of 14, and he has excellent skills in cooking and hosting banquets. Several other chefs are also skilled and unique.
The menu of this banquet is as follows:
There are four kinds of cold dishes: crispy grilled crucian carp, fried diced chicken, fried cucumber strips and crystal yaorou.
First course: Chae Yeon soup.
Eight kinds of hot dishes: braised shark's fin, roasted four treasures, dry braised prawns, roast chicken, fresh mushroom cabbage, braised autumn duck, braised carp and braised lion's head.
There are four kinds of snacks between two or three hot dishes, and the salty ones are: steamed dumplings with vegetable meat and Huaiyang spring rolls. Desserts include: bean paste buns and thousand-layer oil cakes.
Judging from the dishes, such as lion's head and crystal meat, they are all classic representatives of Huaiyang cuisine, especially the four-flavor dim sum, which has a strong Yangzhou style. For more exciting content, please pay attention to the official account of WeChat WeChat: Kitchen Shadow Food. But the flavor exchange in those days was far worse than today, and the logistics conditions were even worse. On the basis of Huaiyang cuisine, some Shandong dishes, such as braised carp, are mixed, but this is probably the most Huaiyang-style banquet you can eat in Beijing 80 years ago. Naturally, the banquet was well received by the Prime Minister himself, and it was also because of the first banquet after the founding of the People's Republic of China that the keynote of the state banquet was basically set on Huaiyang cuisine.
1959: reception for the 10th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC).
The 10th anniversary celebration was held in the Great Hall of the People on September 28th and 29th, respectively. 1959. The reception for the 10th anniversary of the National Day will be held in the banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People from 7: 00 to 9: 00 pm on September 30th. 1959. The menu standard is 5 yuan/person. More than 5000 people attended the National Day reception, and the scene was very grand.
After much discussion, the chefs decided on the menu and submitted it to the Prime Minister for approval. Adhering to the consistent characteristics of state banquet dishes, this dish is mainly light, soft, mellow and mild. Due to the limited processing capacity of the hall, most of the dishes are cold dishes, only two hot dishes are served, and snacks, fruits and drinks are available for guests to enjoy.
Cold dishes: osmanthus duck, roast chicken, barbecued pork, braised duck, anchovies, beef sauce, coral cabbage, stewed cucumber, lentils with ginger sauce, braised bamboo shoots, mushrooms and abalone.
Hot dishes: roasted Four Treasures of the Study and stewed chicken with mushrooms.
Others: snacks, seasonal fruits.
In China from 65438 to 0959, the National Day reception attended by 5,000 people was undoubtedly a shocking feast. Since then, state banquets for thousands or even tens of thousands of people have appeared frequently. In people's minds, the state banquet seems to be a large-scale and high-standard symbol.
1972: Nixon's visit to China
1972 In February, American President Nixon arrived in Beijing and was warmly welcomed by China. This is a historic moment, symbolizing that Sino-US relations have turned a new page. At 7 o'clock that night, a grand state banquet was held for Nixon and his wife in the brightly lit banquet hall of the Great Hall of the People.
In order to entertain the distinguished guests from the other side of the ocean, China made meticulous and thoughtful arrangements for the banquet process, with dozens of dishes, which is rare in terms of specifications after the founding of New China. Including: 9 cold dishes, 6 hot dishes, 7 snacks and desserts, fruits, drinks and so on. The United States has also made comprehensive preparations for this banquet. For example, Nixon practiced his chopstick skills for more than a month before his visit, so that he could easily use China chopsticks at the banquet.
Cold dish platter: cucumber mixed with tomato, salted chicken, vegetarian ham, crispy crucian carp, pineapple duck slices, Guangdong bacon, preserved duck, sausage and three-color eggs.
Hot dishes: hibiscus bamboo sun soup, three-shredded shark's fin, two-eaten prawns, covered vegetables with straw mushrooms and steamed chicken with coconut almond cheese.
Dim sum: pea yellow, fried spring rolls, plum blossom jiaozi, fried rice cake, bread, butter and assorted fried rice.
In order to prepare all kinds of ingredients for the banquet, the food preparation staff almost traveled all over China. As early as before Nixon's visit to China, the relevant parties heard that Americans like seafood, so they decided to prepare 1000 kg of fresh abalone as a substitute. The order to catch abalone is given at different levels. The members of the abalone diving team braved the cold of MINUS 20℃ and risked being attacked by sharks. After hundreds of deep-sea fishing, they finally successfully completed this political task.
There is another dish that needs fresh broad beans, but it is difficult to find fresh broad beans in January and February. At that time, it was the Spring Festival holiday, and most of the comrades in the supply group in Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province were temporarily called back. Finally, they found a good-growing broad bean field in Zangqian Town, Pingyang County. According to local people, this is the broad bean known as "Cang Qian Jujube" in agriculture. Because the broad beans were still relatively small at that time, the working group repeatedly asked local experienced old farmers to calculate and predict how big the broad beans could grow on the day of transportation. When it was learned that the bean meat of broad beans on the day of transportation was ready for cooking, the staff reported it to Beijing. In this way, after many efforts, this batch of fresh broad beans was finally sent to Beijing before Nixon arrived.
1997: hong kong's return to the state banquet
On July 1997 and 1 Sunday, a state banquet was held in the Great Hall of the People to celebrate the return of Hong Kong. The dishes in this state banquet are very simple and are often described as "generous and affordable".
Menu: Cold cuts, seafood with thick sauce, steamed prawns, canned beef, straw mushrooms and cauliflower, snacks and fruits.
2008: Olympic State Banquet
On August 8, 2008, 12: 30, a grand banquet was held in the banquet hall on the second floor of the Great Hall of the People to warmly welcome the distinguished guests from home and abroad who came to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. The gathering of heads of state from more than 80 countries at a state banquet is unprecedented not only in China, but also rare in the world.
There are nine tables in the state banquet, and each table is named after flowers, namely peony, jasmine, orchid, rose, cuckoo, lotus, camellia, osmanthus and hibiscus. The state banquet named the dining table with flowers symbolizes the prosperity of the people all over the world, and also reflects the etiquette for foreign guests. You won't feel embarrassed because of the number of seats, but you can also feel in the fragrant sea of flowers.