Xinjiang has the soil to produce this kind of mixed and diverse food culture, which is mainly the result of Xinjiang's unique geographical location and the mutual exchange, communication and tolerance between ethnic groups from ancient times to the present. Because Xinjiang is the only big passage from the Central Plains to Persia, West Asia and even Europe on the ancient Silk Road.
As we all know, Muslim food culture has been loved by people of all ethnic groups for a long historical period. Muslim food culture, after thousands of years of evolution, has become a wonderful flower in the garden of Chinese food culture.
In order to understand the development status of Xinjiang's characteristic catering culture, the reporter interviewed Zhang Songyuan, a China culinary master and president of Urumqi Catering Service Industry Association. Zhang recalled that he came to Altay from his hometown Jiangsu branch in the 1960s. At that time, no matter where he went, he could eat mixed noodles. At that time, the noodles were very simple, mainly potatoes, cabbage and radishes. At that time, being able to eat oil-sprinkled noodles was not only a luxury, but also a symbol of status.
"To talk about the development of Xinjiang's characteristic catering industry, we can only talk about it after the reform and opening up. After the 1980s, all the development of Xinjiang has entered a peak period, and more and more people have participated in the construction of Xinjiang. People from all corners of the country not only tasted the local food in Xinjiang, but also brought the catering culture of their hometown to Xinjiang. Therefore, in addition to Muslim restaurants, restaurants with different flavors, such as Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Shandong jiaozi, Hebei donkey meat pie and Guizhou crossing the bridge rice noodles, have appeared in the north and south of Tianshan Mountain. It can be said that the reform and opening up has not only brought rapid changes to the people in Xinjiang, but also enriched the food culture in Xinjiang. In Urumqi, you can find traces of eight Chinese cuisines, and you can also find ethnic cuisine in Xinjiang. From this point of view, food culture, like other cultures, influences, permeates and tolerates each other in the process of gradual development, thus forming Xinjiang cuisine with Xinjiang flavor. " When talking about the development of catering industry in Xinjiang, Zhang Songyuan gives some examples from time to time.
Anyone who has eaten pilaf knows that pilaf is a traditional Uygur food. However, to trace the history of pilaf, we should start with the food culture in the Central Plains and the food culture in the Western Regions. According to research, wheat is mainly produced in the north of China, but few people know that wheat was originally a food crop planted in Persia, Central Asia and the Western Regions, while rice was only planted in the south of China. In the long history, with the development of society, merchants from the Central Plains brought rice to the Western Regions, while merchants from the Western Regions brought wheat seeds to the mainland. Therefore, Uighurs put raisins, almonds, walnuts, carrots, onions and delicious mutton together to make pilaf with high nutritional value.
Bird Song said that at present, it can be said that Xinjiang has become the window of China and even the world's food culture, not to mention the local ethnic food culture has spread all over the northern and southern Tianshan Mountains, and western food, Chinese food, halal food and even Russian and Korean restaurants can be seen everywhere in Urumqi. To say the development characteristics of each cuisine, it is that each cuisine has changed its taste in Xinjiang. The unique spicy taste of Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine has been improved by the chef, and it has become spicy after being imported. Tourists from all walks of life in Xinjiang feel that the taste is better than that in the mainland after tasting different foods.
For many years, Zhang Songyuan has been devoted to the study of Xinjiang's characteristic food culture. He said that Xinjiang's special dishes after the fusion of various catering cultures not only won praises from guests from all over the world and foreign tourists visiting Xinjiang, but also became the mainstream catering culture of Xinjiang people.