The Ming and Qing dynasties were the pinnacle of palace cuisine in the history of catering development for the following reasons: 1. Our country has begun to form early cuisines since the early Western Zhou Dynasty; during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, after the war between various countries, the food customs of various places began to merge with each other.

During the Han Dynasty, various ingredients from the Western Regions began to be introduced, but the specific cooking techniques did not mature until the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, after more than a thousand years of accumulation in the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties, my country’s real food culture did not reach its peak until the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the variety of ingredients in the Ming Dynasty was the richest in history. Our diet structure today is basically the same as that of the Ming Dynasty. established at that time.

2. "Ming Dynasty Records" records that in the 27th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Ministry of Industry to allocate funds to build ten large restaurants in the capital, and then bid for them to be operated by private businessmen. This was one of the early "official investments to stimulate domestic demand."

Lift.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was the "second wave" of food introduction in history; peppers, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, etc. were introduced, especially peppers, which had a huge impact on my country's Hunan cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. The introduction of sweet potatoes and corn has had a very positive effect on my country's population growth.

At this point, my country during the Ming Dynasty had gathered the most comprehensive range of ingredients in history, and combined with the Chinese and Western cooking techniques since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the "Jianghu Cuisine" cooking of the Ming Dynasty also began to have specialized cooking methods for various types of food.

3. The tradition of promoting both palace cuisine and folk “Jianghu cuisine” in the Ming Dynasty continued until the Qing Dynasty.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, especially the Qing Dynasty, China's court cuisine reached its peak.

During the Qianlong period, its production techniques and richness of dishes began to be greatly integrated, and finally took shape.

It can be said that the general appearance of Chinese cuisine since the Republic of China and even modern times, including cooking methods, has not been able to escape the cuisine category established in the Qing Dynasty.