Huaiyang cuisine is one of the four traditional cuisines in China, which originated from Yangzhou and Huai 'an. The dishes are full of Huaiyang characteristics. Most of the raw materials are aquatic products. Huaiyang cuisine is based on rivers and lakes, supported by top cooking skills, with original flavor as the top priority, pursuing wonderful harmony, appealing to both refined and popular tastes without losing elegance, especially the unique concept of "harmony, precision, clarity and novelty".

2/ The history of Huaiyang cuisine

Huaiyang cuisine began in the Spring and Autumn Period, flourished in Sui and Tang Dynasties, and flourished in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

As early as about 4,000 years ago, the ancestors of Yangzhou had already got rid of the ignorance of eating animals and drinking blood, and surpassed the primitive budding era of Fuxi burning meat and Shennong burning valley, and cooked food on the fire with ceramic cookers. Yangzhou entered the ancient Han Dynasty, that is, the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties in the Central Plains. Copper Ding, Wei, Ding Boiled Meat and Wei Boiled Vegetables belong to this period, and they were unearthed in the broken mountain pass in Yizheng. This should be the origin of Huaiyang cuisine.

Western Han Huaiyang cuisine

Mei Cheng, a Ci-Fu writer in Huai 'an, wrote Seven Hairs, with Eating and Banquet taking the second place. The recipes he described at the luxurious banquet at that time were fried, boiled, roasted and stewed, and the five flavors were harmonized as the standard. They are made of rotten bear's paw with sauce, thin brand roast animal loin, fresh shredded carp and fresh vegetables, and gargle luxuriously with topaz, perilla and orchids. Therefore, seventy cents is not so much irony as first thought.

Huaiyang cuisine in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were many descriptions of white fish dishes and eel dishes. For example, there is a record of "cooking and roasting white fish" in the Book of Qi Yaomin. Besides, white fish is also used in dishes such as "grilled fish", "steamed fish with wool" and "thick soup". The origin of the "white fish" here is not clear, but it is estimated that it may be produced in the Huaihe River. In particular, the white fish in the "brewed white fish" is "two feet long", which is more likely to be "pregnant white fish".

Huaiyang Cuisine in Sui and Tang Dynasties

Yang Di brought Central Plains cuisine from Chang 'an and Luoyang to the Sui Palace in Yangcheng by dragon boat, and then spread it to foreign folk restaurants. What's more, in the place where the sail wall suddenly passes, "a hundred sheep are cooked for wine at night", and the prefectures and counties pay tribute to delicacies, and the chefs deliberately fight. It is reported that the food paid at that time was fish, crab and honey ginger; In history, local officials gave a banquet to present treasures, and Zhao Yuankai was favored by his peculiar smell, so he was promoted to Jiangdu County Chief. The economic development in the Tang Dynasty stimulated the prosperity of the catering industry.

Huaiyang cuisine in Song Dynasty

In the spring of Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu, a great literary master, brought the gospel to Yangzhou cuisine. This drunkard often holds banquets with guests in Pingshan Hall. His articles are too defensive and full of words. From then on, Su Li also learned about Yangzhou, where the Four Bachelor's degree cooked fish maw with flying snow and the head of a chicken with pearls, creating a precedent for Huaiyang cuisine to inject fresh blood. From then on, the court favored Yang, and Yangzhou became the crossroads of the Song and Jin regimes. There is confrontation and docking between north and south food cultures. Yangzhou, a city full of delicious food and wine, set up the "Koryo Pavilion" and set up nine dishes according to the system of the imperial banquet in Lin 'an.

Huaiyang cuisine in yuan dynasty

There are not many words directly describing Huai 'an diet in Yuan Dynasty, but some materials still have certain reference value. For example, in Chapter 66 of Kyle Polo's Italian Travels, Huai 'an House wrote: "Huai 'an House is a distribution center for a large number of commodities. Transport the goods across the river to the farm. The salt production here is extremely rich, which can not only supply the consumption of the city, but also be sold far and near. It goes without saying that the catering industry, as an important "distribution center of a large number of commodities", is bound to be very prosperous.

Huaiyang cuisine in Ming dynasty

The Annals of Huai 'an recorded in the Wanli period of Ming Dynasty: "Huai 'an has a luxurious diet, sophisticated system, full of goods in the market, and praised the river table. This "system" includes the norms and rules of catering.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, had a special liking for Huaiyang cuisine and ordered Chu Yang to specialize in internal meals. This is the official record of Huaiyang cuisine taking root in Beijing; Emperor Zhengde's southern tour of Yangzhou, the prince and the geisha, of course, did not forget Huaiyang cuisine, and everything could not be left behind. Their favorite foods are shad, saury and squid, which are all specialties in Yangzhou area and are called the Three Immortals of the Yangtze River. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Records of Yangzhou recorded: "Yangzhou's diet was extravagant, its system was exquisite, its products were common, and it boasted of its river surface ..." It showed that Yangzhou's diet at that time was ostentatious, exquisite and rich, and it was already proud of Jiangnan.

Huaiyang cuisine in Qing dynasty

The intervention of literati was the catalyst for Huaiyang cuisine to reach its peak in the middle of Qing Dynasty. At present, we can enjoy at least more than 200 poems about food history, material selection, dishes, banquets, cooking, restaurants, food customs and drinking, which makes Huaiyang cuisine more elegant and greatly enhances its cultural taste. In the Records of Huai 'an Prefecture during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, it was recorded: "To the north of the Suijiang River, the feast was full of delicacies, and Huai 'an was the best.

Huaiyang cuisine after the reform and opening up.

State banquets are mainly based on Huaiyang cuisine, especially in modern times. Exquisite, full of color and fragrance, mellow and elegant, which makes people's forefinger move greatly, and the China culture contained in it is also fascinating.