However, in addition to Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou, there is also a place that many gourmets are a little strange to this year's Asian Food Festival-Hangzhou.
Besides West Lake, Longjing Tea, Silk and Alibaba, what kind of confidence can Hangzhou stand on the podium of the Asian food capital?
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The history of the integration of Hangzhou and wuyue without food.
/Hangzhou people really don't eat West Lake water shield/
Last month, a friend from Beijing came to Hangzhou for the first time and asked for "the most authentic hangzhou dishes". I chose an old brand, and ordered ham and tofu, sauced duck, smoked fish, braised pork, dried celery, fried bell and a pot of Sichuan slices.
My friend was puzzled when he saw the dishes on the table: where is the vinegar fish in the West Lake? How about the shrimp in Longjing? How about water shield soup?
I replied with a smile: Hangzhou people eat at home, never like this. No one will put tea in fried shrimp, which is "for tourists"; In addition, people in Hangzhou really don't eat the water shield of the West Lake.
The friend was so surprised that his glasses almost fell off: "What? Hangzhou people don't even eat the West Lake water shield? "
From the perspective of regional determinism, Hangzhou can only be regarded as a "little brother" compared with the surrounding Wuyue culture with a long history, such as Suzhou, Xichang, Jiahu and Ningshao. During the Spring and Autumn Period, this was the "three noes" zone at the border of wuyue. By the time of Qin Dynasty and Qin Shihuang's southern tour, Hangzhou was still a beach.
Strictly speaking, the city was really built after the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Although today's Hangzhou has become the regional center of Hangjiahu Plain and Ningshaoping Plain. But underneath, Hangzhou people are always a little uncertain about food culture: the original landmark dishes are not delicious and are not popular with the people. What ordinary people really like is the inflow of "cultural highlands" around them.
But from another perspective, this unique historical origin also makes hangzhou dishes full of inclusiveness. The table of "Hangzhou Home Cooking" I ordered earlier is actually a mixture of exquisite Huaiyang cuisine, Shanghai-Nanjing cuisine with thick oil and red sauce, Shaoxing cuisine with crispy and glutinous taste, and even the eating customs of Henan Central Plains brought by Nandu in the Song Dynasty.
Yes, the weakness of history and culture can sometimes become an all-encompassing gene in the diet. Hangzhou is undoubtedly a very typical example.
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Lake architecture, outdoor architecture, urban architecture.
/Eating disorder, regardless of north and south/
The southern crossing of the Zhao and Song royal families not only built a developed economic foundation for Hangzhou, but also brought the urban gene of leisure and enjoyment.
The so-called warmth and lust. After meeting the needs of hungry people, Hangzhou's diet has undergone earth-shaking innovation since the Southern Song Dynasty. In the works describing the scenery of the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou has almost become the food capital of the world, such as Lu and Xian Chunlin. Whether it is the mutton crisp cheese of the nomadic people in the north, the pasta, noodle soup and deep-frying of the Han people in the Central Plains, or the fish, shrimps, crabs and shellfish produced in the south of the Yangtze River, you can find traces here.
Today, the most famous Southern Song Dynasty dish "Crab Yellow" is a perfect combination of fruits from the Central Plains and southern aquatic products. It can be summed up in a sentence from Dream of Liang Lu: "The diet is chaotic, and there is no difference between North and South."
Under the influence of this atmosphere, it has also made Hangzhou people's tolerant tongue.
There is a saying in Hangzhou: "The building on the lake is outside the building, and the building in the city is fragrant". In addition to stating the qualifications of these two century-old shops as "big bosses" in this city, they also wrote two completely different schools in hangzhou dishes: "those on the lake" and "those in the city".
To sum up briefly, the fish, shrimp, poultry, fresh food and vegetables used by Shang Hu Gang are original, clear and light, which combines the fresh and elegant artistic conception of Huaiyang cuisine with the technique of cooking oil slurry in the Central Plains. For example, fried sweet beans, fish fillets, drunken shrimps and even sliced snow bamboo shoots all belong to this category.
"City School" takes meat as raw material, especially pickled sauce, which is deeply influenced by the cross-border diet represented by Shaoxing and the thick oil red sauce represented by Ningbo, Shanghai. It is full of tension, rich and long. For example, fish head tofu, Dongpo meat, steamed pork with dried plum, salted slices, salted bamboo shoots, honey-baked recipes and so on.
It looks clear and thick, quiet and moving, as if water and fire are incompatible. But in Hangzhou, they can really appear on the menu of the same restaurant and on the same table. Cause and effect each other and grow separately.
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The fastest iteration of food format
/The nightmare of the restaurant, the paradise of eating goods/
Time has come to modern times. Logistics is developed, people migrate and tastes are mixed. The first salmon caught from the North Atlantic can lie on the plates of China diners the next day.
This revolutionary new catering format, although making some urban catering cultures that respect tradition gradually decline, has achieved another rebirth in a place like Hangzhou, which is inclusive in its bones.
At the end of 20 18, according to the statistics of a portal website on the catering industry, Chengdu is the city with the largest number of people eating out, Guangzhou is the city that is most willing to spend money on food, and Hangzhou is the city with the fastest iteration of recipes.
Hangzhou people are always fascinated by the new mode, new play, new taste and new ingredients of the restaurant, which is undoubtedly the nightmare of the restaurant.
Therefore, Hangzhou has never been a paradise for dining, but has always been a paradise for eating goods. Many restaurants that can stand out from here, like grandma's house, travel all over the country, which is unfavorable.
At the same time, as a city with strong tourism attributes, Hangzhou's diet has also developed a distinct echelon. High-end Chinese food, French food and Italian food from West Lake; The affectionate Japanese cuisine of Zhongshan Road; Go to Dadou Road Alley, Shengli River Food Festival, green tea and old fried shrimp; Then go to the legendary noodle restaurant and Jianghu food stall all over the street. Hangzhou is a city where you can always find what you want to eat and eat well.
In "the legendary swordsman", Ling Huchong came to Hangzhou to eat and drink, and he used a jade cup of pear wine, which was very particular. As if in Hangzhou, food has become a etiquette.