Yangzhou is one of the ancient Kyushu in China, and is known as "the richest capital in the world, Huaizuo". Shang Gong said that "Yangzhou is the only place where the Huaihe River enters the sea", which means "Yangzhou is the place where the Huaihe River enters the sea". Zhou Li Paper Mill is also called "Southeast Yangzhou". In other words, ancient Yangzhou refers to the southeast of China or the vast area of Huaihai. According to the interpretation of Ci Hai, the ancient Yangzhou includes not only the areas south of Huaihe River and north of Yangtze River, but also the present three provinces of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian, up to the present Huangmei area in Hubei Province and the present shopping mall in Henan Province, which is a vast area. During the Western Han Dynasty, assassins in Yangzhou ruled Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian and parts of Hubei, Jiangxi and Henan. Later, the governor was in Shouchun, or Jianye, or Guangling, or Huiji. In the early years of Sui Dynasty, Fang Ding referred to Yangzhou today. Huainan was in Yangzhou in the Tang Dynasty, and Liu Xiyi's "Jiangnan Qu" in the Tang Dynasty had a poem "Look at Chu in the tide, but look at Huaiyang in the air". Later, Yangzhou was always called Huaiyang. The land of Huaiyang in A Dream of Red Mansions refers to Yangzhou House at that time.
"weeping willows continue to pick up weeds, and geese tooth Hongqiao Yanyan draws pictures. It is also a pot selling gold, so it should be called Slender West Lake. " It is not difficult to imagine that such land is naturally scattered in the suburbs, where there are elegant gardens, chess and cards, calligraphy and painting, songs and dances all over the place, and restaurants and restaurants all over the streets. However, due to the blockage of the Grand Canal, Yangzhou is declining. Even so, if you go today, you can still suddenly hear the flute of the Jade Man on the moonlit night of the Twenty-four Bridges and the laughter of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou drinking tea and talking about poetry and painting.
Yangzhou, as a prosperous metropolis attracting worldwide attention, has disappeared, but its humanistic culture still exists among the people, and Yangzhou cuisine is one of them.
There are many different schools of cooking in China, but no matter which one, there is absolutely no shortage of "Luyang". Shandong cuisine is headed by Confucius. Since Dong Zhongshu in the Western Han Dynasty put forward the idea of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", Kong Qiu has been regarded as a good teacher and friend in all previous dynasties. As a teacher, at least on the surface, you should follow suit. Therefore, the Shandong cuisine eaten by Confucius evolved into court cuisine. The food eaten by the emperor is naturally the most advanced of all dishes. On the other hand, Yangzhou cuisine is enduring because of its vast territory and the love of the broad masses of people-Yangzhou cuisine.
Just now I talked about the origin of Yangzhou cuisine, and now I talk about Yangzhou cuisine itself.
Yangzhou cuisine includes Yang cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine or Weiyang cuisine. All from "Huaihai only Yangzhou". "Yang" and "Huaiyang" here should be regional concepts, and because "Wei" and "Wei" are interlinked, Wei means self-esteem. Under normal circumstances, the three concepts of Yangzhou, Huaiyang and Weiyang can be used universally. However, when expressing local flavor names, there are some conventions that cannot be ignored. Generally speaking, Yangzhou cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine have a large coverage and can be called cuisines. Weiyang cuisine has a small coverage and cannot be called a cuisine.
Huaiyang has a developed cooking culture. Developed cooking culture has created a proud cooking history. Not to mention all the missing volumes of Old Tang Shu 120 and Huai Nan Wang Shu 13, we can get a little information only by reading the records of other documents. Ni Zan, one of the four great painters in Yuan Dynasty, wrote Yunlintang Diet System Collection, which is a model for recording Yangzhou's diet and cooking methods in ancient literature. Among them, the dish "Roasted Goose" was also listed in the Garden Food List by Yuan Mei in Qing Dynasty, and named as "Yunlin Goose". Li Dou's "Yangzhou Pictorial Record" describes a considerable number of Yangzhou foods and drinks, and even records the "Man-Han Banquet" held in Yangzhou restaurants at that time, which shows that the skill level is extraordinary.
Yangzhou cuisine, as a representative of Huaiyang cuisine, is as famous as Beijing cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, and enjoys the title of "Southeast Cuisine". There are more unique requirements for the production of dishes: "strict selection of materials, fine knife work, mellow soup color, thick but not greasy, light and tender, suitable for both north and south." The Records of Yangzhou, compiled during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, has the following statement about Yangzhou cuisine: "Yangzhou has a luxurious diet and exquisite production. The city is full of products and praises river watches. " Because Yangzhou cuisine itself has not been discussed in depth, we know that Yangzhou cuisine has the characteristics of elegance, beauty, precision, ingenuity and abundance, and is well-known overseas.
Yangzhou cuisine is famous for many reasons, besides historical reasons, there are the following aspects:
First, Yangzhou's advantages in weather, geography, products and humanities have formed a folk custom that pays attention to diet.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Yangzhou belonged to the State of Wu. The more Wu was destroyed, the more Chu died and returned to Chu. At that time, the economic and cultural level of Chu was the highest among all countries, and the level of food was also very high. A famous dish in "Songs of the South" includes Yangzhou flavor, such as "turtle" and "Ganlu chicken", which have obvious origins with the famous dishes stewed fish and braised chicken in Yangzhou today. By the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou had to "treat 152 wild animals" every year, including Beijing swans, live deer, geese, pheasants, quails and roe deer. In the Qing Dynasty, Cao Yin was the salt supervisor in Yangzhou. He paid tribute to Kangxi every year, such as "Yanlai Bamboo Shoots". As the saying goes, "Fish and shrimp are always full of water, and the lake is full of lotus seeds without paying any money". It is precisely because it is a land of fish and rice that Yangzhou cuisine has more aquatic products than food and more poultry than features. There are many aquatic geese, geese, ducks and pheasants, and fresh seafood. Shrimp, crab, fish and turtle are common foods on the table. There are more special pork than cattle, sheep, dogs and horses, and rice and flour are the staple foods.
Besides all kinds of dishes originated from nature, there are many snacks in Yangzhou. Su Shi's "Yangzhou Send a Small Tour with Local Products" was given to Qin Guan because he was from Yangzhou. There are pickled crucian carp, drunken crab, dried salted duck eggs and ginger sprouts in the poem. Except what "dried salted duck eggs" are, the rest are still the services of Yangzhou people.
Second, Yangzhou's economy is unprecedentedly prosperous
Yangzhou is located between the river, the Huaihe River, the lake and the sea, with both plains and mountains, rich products and solid material foundation for cooking. This can also be seen from the tributes of past dynasties. According to Shang Yu Shu Gong, "Yangzhou Jue orange pomelo, Huai fish." In the thirty-fourth year of Zhou Dynasty (486 BC), the communication between Wu Chengyong and Jianghuai greatly promoted the economic development of Yangzhou. At the beginning of the fourth year, Jiangdu King was established in Han Jing, and Yangzhou became an important town in the southeast. Sui and Tang dynasties became the hub of land and sea transportation between north and south, where sea salt, brown rice and tea were distributed, and they were important merchants in foreign trade. Song Hong Mai called the cities other than Chang 'an and Luoyang "Yangyi Yi Er". During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yangzhou was a charming place where merchants gathered, goods flowed, streets flourished and businesses flourished. "Two dikes of flowers and willows all depend on water, and all the way up the mountain" and "as rich as an enemy, riding a crane down Yangzhou" were the true portrayal of Yangzhou at that time. Many stories about princes and grandchildren, courtiers, literati and dusty heroes gathered in Yangzhou are based on this background. Therefore, it further promoted the rapid development of Yangzhou cuisine.
Third, the uniqueness of cooking skills.
The choice and materials of Yangzhou cuisine are also very particular. Yangzhou enjoys superior geographical conditions, with rivers and lakes criss-crossing. In addition, Yangzhou has four distinct seasons, abundant rainfall, suitable climate and rich products, which also provides a strong backing for the development of Yangzhou cuisine.
The texture of Yangzhou cuisine is quite rich. Through exquisite processing, reasonable collocation and accurate use of fire, the effect of "smooth, tender and crisp without losing its taste, crisp without losing its shape" can be achieved. The texture of dishes mainly includes fresh and tender, crisp, crisp, soft, waxy, flexible, crisp outside and tender inside. There are many dishes with Yangzhou cuisine characteristics, such as crystal pig's feet, salted shrimp, Yangzhou old goose, tianxiang lotus root, bergamot bud ginger, pagoda pickles, crab powder lion's head, red sandalwood tiger's tail, boiled dried silk, golden onion Gaoyou duck, Yangzhou fried rice and so on. There are nearly 30 cooking methods used in the production of Yangzhou cuisine, and there are more than 20 commonly used methods, mainly including steaming, frying, roasting, frying, boiling, stewing, frying, stewing, honey juice, mixing, freezing, frying, pot stickers, frying, boiling and simmering.
The materials of Yangzhou cuisine are mostly collected from fields and branches of rivers, and they advocate nature; Although the raw materials are rich, the compatibility is simple, for freshness; Knife work is extremely exquisite to complement the sense of simplicity; Accurately grasping the temperature is just seeking heaven and earth; Processing has continued for thousands of years of inheritance and innovation, and then blended with the essence of local dishes such as Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Guangdong cuisine, thus making Yangzhou cuisine have the highest realm of "appealing to both refined and popular tastes and being suitable for all ages".
Fourth, salt merchants promote.
Yangzhou has been the economic and cultural center of southeast China for thousands of years. It is a "good cemetery on Zhishan Mountain" and a place to enjoy. "If you are rich, you can ride a crane to Yangzhou." Jia colluded with princes and nobles for profit, and paid attention to ostentation and extravagance and diet. Some salt merchants write their own recipes. For example, during the Qianlong period, Jian Yue, a Huiji person, worked as a salt merchant in Yangzhou. He wrote a book called Children's Food Cases, also known as Beiyan Food List. In addition, the famous diet cookbook Tiaoding Collection recorded nearly 2,000 kinds of restaurants in Yangzhou at that time, which was a rare food book and a secret treasure of chefs. This kind of harvest is rare in the world. The summarized experience has a great influence on Yangzhou cooking.
Five, peer competition
Take the Qing Dynasty as an example. There were many restaurants in Yangzhou at that time, and there were more than 40 famous restaurants. Famous chefs such as Kong An and Tian Yanmen come forth in large numbers, and the bakers outside the south gate of Yizheng, such as Xiao Ren Mei, Xiao Monk and Si Wen Monk, all have exquisite cooking skills. A family has a new dish, and colleagues compete to copy and create new dishes, and "strive for innovation and beauty", each according to its own side. In addition to the kitchen, there is a kitchen; In addition to the vulgar kitchen, there are temples that manage food. Everyone competed with each other to show their magical powers and attract customers, which greatly promoted the improvement of cooking skills.
Sixth, the promotion of scholar-officials.
Taking the Qing Dynasty as an example, Zhu Yizun, who had been to Yangzhou in the early Qing Dynasty, wrote The Secret Record of Fresh Food. Yuan Mei, a writer, wrote "Menu with the Garden", which collected and evaluated the cuisines of Yangzhou, Jiangsu, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, and systematically summarized the positive and negative experiences of cooking in various places. Li Dou's "Yangzhou Picturesque" also recorded the famous dishes of famous chefs and famous shops in Yangzhou. Gentry's family is proud of their kitchen food, and the chefs attach great importance to recording. Once a master writes a book title, it is worth a hundred times, and this promotion is immeasurable.
Seven, the government advocates
Zhao Yuankai, the magistrate of Liyang county in Sui Dynasty, was promoted to Jiangdu county magistrate because of his bad smell. The Ming and Qing emperors "made a southern tour", and the ministers took over, hoping to invite pets. Big banquets are popular, especially for wealthy businessmen. At the same time, these grand ceremonies are related to the lives of chefs, who dare not make any efforts to improve their cooking skills, which is also a great stimulus.
On the Slender West Lake, it is very convenient for the boatswain to cook and banquet in Sha Fei. Yangzhou is all the rage, and its prosperity is back. Over time, who can say that Yangzhou will not reproduce its past prosperity with Yangzhou cuisine?