Four generations of the Zheng family have been cooks, starting with his great-grandfather. Zheng Shuguo, 37, opened an old store on Wenzheng Street in Power District four years ago. Because of the family tradition, Zheng Shuguo in several generations of cooking skills on top of the foundation of excellence, in the culinary arts has made great achievements. 2003, Zheng Shuguo by the State Economic and Trade Commission, the China Hotel Association awarded the honorary title of "Chinese culinary masters," he became China's youngest so far. "He became the youngest culinary master in China so far. Born in the 1960s, although he did not see the "Binjiang Road Department of the first chef" style, but from a young age, his father taught him the history of the culinary family firmly engraved in his heart.
According to Zheng Shuguo, Zheng's ancestral home in Jianchang County, Liaoning Province, his great-grandfather Zheng Xingwen grew up in a good family, a good family environment so that Zheng Xingwen gradually developed a strong interest in food culture, the production of dishes has also had a certain amount of research, and can be on the color of the dishes, aroma, taste, and type of comments, known as the small "gourmet! ". Zheng Xingwen came to Beijing with his father at the age of 6, and by the time he was 14, he was already extremely fond of food and cooking. Zheng Xingwen had been in Beijing an official's home to learn to do official dishes, after a few years of hard work, out of the apprentice Zheng Xingwen in 1881 (Qing Guangxu seven years) in Beijing (then known as Beiping) in a street called "real taste residence" of the mid-range restaurant. 1907, by the recommendation of a friend, Zheng Xingwen with 14 skilled In 1907, recommended by a friend, Zheng Xingwen brought 14 skilled cooks into the then Guan Daotai House as a chef, specializing in cooking for the first Daotai Du Xueying. Speaking, Zheng Shuguo took out an old yellowed photo, he pointed to an old man wearing a small melon skin hat on it and said, "This is my great-grandfather Zheng Xingwen, next to the child who is not yet as high as the table is my grandfather."
Cheng Shuguo said it was not easy to be a cook in those days, let alone cooking for officials, who were often singled out. Especially as the official residence of local governors, the rules inside the Daodai Mansion were even more surprising, usually not allowed to roam around, not to mention the lobby and the west courtyard. Great-grandfather back then the most free is when buying and serving food, you can wander around. Normally in the mansion, one must lower one's eyebrows and eyes, be doubly careful in one's demeanor and speech, and one can neither 'call for the spoon' nor 'shout for the hall' when cooking."
When talking about the delicious dishes passed down from his ancestors, Zheng Shuguo eyes full of pride and pride. Zheng Shuguo said that as the government office of the northern town at that time, Daodaifu often entertained foreign guests, especially Russians. Due to the eating habits of foreigners is like to eat sweet and sour taste, the northern salty taste of the foreign guests are very uncomfortable. In order to please the foreign envoys, Du Xueying ordered the chef to change the flavors of the dishes. After a few meditations, his great-grandfather changed the original salty flavor of "burnt meat" into a sweet and sour taste dishes, this change also appeared in the new dishes, grandfather according to the practice of dishes called it "pot popping meat", may be foreigners in the ordering of the pronunciation of the problem, and now it is called the "pot popping meat". Now it is called "pot meat". Zheng Shuguo told reporters: "Since I was a child, my father proudly told us that my great-grandfather was the founder of the current 'pot meat'."
Zheng Shuguo said, "There is no fixed cuisine in Daodaifu, mainly dishes with northern flavors. The Zheng family chefs called themselves a system after the introduction of Lu cuisine to Beijing and the development of Beijing cuisine by fusion. As Du Xueying was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, many dishes had to be changed to suit his tastes, such as the 'stewed lion's head', which was one of his great-grandfather's favorite dishes after nearly a hundred experiments. There is also 'smoked duck' and other dishes that were later developed by great-grandfather himself. They were also passed down from generation to generation and became the signature dishes of the old store he now runs." At the end of the interview, Zheng Shuguo told reporters: "Daotai House restoration is the continuation of Harbin City, a hundred years to set up the culture of governance, as a chef, I can now do is to do a good job of every dish, will be "Binjiang Road Department of the first chef," the skills of the inheritance. Because, this is also part of the culture of the Daotai House."