The overall living standard of the ancient Chinese people was not high. They were busy working but needed to live frugally. It is often during the holidays that we dare to be extravagant and serve all the delicacies that we are usually reluctant to eat on the table. Therefore, many delicacies have a close relationship with festivals. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festival for Chinese people. In ancient times, worshiping the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was a major event for the family. The whole family needed to worship the moon god together and share moon cakes after the moon worship ceremony to show blessings. Therefore, mooncakes have a unique status. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival arrives, Jiangxi Satellite TV's "Intangible Cultural Heritage Food" also presents mooncakes from all over the country in the program, allowing us to experience the inheritance of the intangible cultural heritage food - mooncakes.

Shenchi Mooncake: The taste of time baked in earthen stoves

In Xinzhou, Shanxi, there is a kind of mooncake baked in earthen stoves hidden among the mountains and rivers, that is Shenchi Mooncake. According to Master Lu, the inheritor of Shenchi mooncakes, the Lu family cake shop has been making Shenchi mooncakes since the Ming Dynasty, and his generation is already the 26th generation. A piece of moon cake that looks inconspicuous has been passed down from generation to generation. It must rely on the three treasures of Shenchi - the water of Shenchi, sesame oil and the hot sauce to make it taste crispy and not greasy. This also requires that Shenchi mooncakes must be made by hand and then baked in a newly built griddle, so that they can be crispy and not greasy, with a light grassy fragrance. What worries Master Lu is that in modern times, as Shenchi mooncakes enter the market, many people use mechanization to mass-produce Shenchi mooncakes, which increases production, but makes Shenchi mooncakes lose their original taste.

Beijing-style mooncakes: There are many specialties in the five-nut fillings

In the past two years, there have been many jokes on the Internet making fun of five-nut mooncakes. However, in ancient times, five-nut mooncakes were the most popular among imperial palaces and palaces. Mooncakes can only be eaten by high-ranking officials. Nowadays, the most exquisite way to make five-nut mooncakes is the Beijing-style mooncakes from Daoxiang Village. Under the explanation of Master Xing, the sixth generation inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Daoxiang Village, we learned how particular the five kernels of Beijing-style mooncakes are. In order to retain the flavor of the nuts without destroying their nutrition, the nuts in the filling are first baked at a low temperature, then mixed with the oil noodles, and then rolled and cut by hand to make a filling weighing about 25 grams. Small squares of consistent size. In terms of material selection, the walnut kernels in the filling must be the best walnuts from Fenyang, Shanxi, with thick skin and thick flesh. The green and red silk comes from Guilin, made only from ripe orange peels, and the roses are picked at four or five o'clock in Shandong. The rose...a small piece of five-nut stuffing seems to contain the taste of the whole world.

Yunnan ham mooncakes: inherited skills and conscience

There has always been a sweet-salty dispute between the north and the south, and mooncakes are no exception. Yunnan’s ham-filled mooncakes are considered salty. The best in flavored mooncakes. Master Yang, the seventh generation inheritor of Ji Qingxiang Cloud Leg Mooncake, told us that Ji Qingxiang Cloud Leg Mooncake is a must-have delicacy for every Mid-Autumn Festival for old Kunming people and is also a symbol of the taste of Yunnan. For this reason, Ji Qingxiang has been adhering to the store-in-the-factory model for thousands of years, providing the store with the freshest cloud leg mooncakes. As an inheritor, he not only inherits the craftsmanship of making mooncakes, but also the persistence and conscience of his predecessors in making mooncakes. In his opinion, a century-old store should cherish feathers even more, so he never dares to be short of weight and insists on hand-made and authentic products. This way, all customers can eat a sweet, salty, crispy, solid and chewy authentic Yunnan dish. style mooncakes.

There are many kinds of mooncakes across China. What is so special about these three kinds of mooncakes that they can be listed as intangible cultural heritage delicacies? Let's wait for Jiangxi TV's "Intangible Cultural Heritage Food" at 21:25 this Thursday night to find out.