Food is famous at home and abroad for its distinctive local characteristics and outstanding features of "clearness, lightness, cleverness and elegance".
China cuisine is called four flavors and eight cuisines. These four flavors are: Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine. The eight major cuisines generally refer to Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, Anhui cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Fujian cuisine.
Shandong cuisine is the first of the eight major cuisines. The formation and development of Shandong cuisine is related to Shandong's cultural history, geographical environment, economic conditions and customs. Shandong is one of the cradles of ancient culture in China. Located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the climate is mild, and the Jiaodong Peninsula protrudes between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. The territory is criss-crossed, with rivers and lakes criss-crossing, fertile fields, rich products, convenient transportation and developed culture. Its grain output ranks third in the country; There are many kinds of vegetables with excellent quality, and they are known as one of the "three major vegetable gardens in the world". For example, Jiaozhou Chinese cabbage, Zhangqiu scallion, Cangshan garlic and Laiwu ginger are famous at home and abroad.
Cantonese cuisine consists of three local flavors: Guangzhou cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine and Dongjiang cuisine. Guangzhou cuisine includes famous foods in the Pearl River Delta, Zhaoqing, Shaoguan and Zhanjiang. It has the widest area, complicated materials, fine selection of materials, exquisite skills, good at changing, delicate flavor, clear but not light, fresh but not vulgar, tender but not raw, oily but not greasy. Try to be light in summer and autumn, rich in winter and spring, good at stir-frying, and need to master the heat and oil temperature just right. Chaoshan cuisine belongs to Fujian, and its language and customs are similar to those of southern Fujian.
Sichuan cuisine is also a kind of cuisine with a long history, and its birthplace is ancient Bashu. According to the records of Huayang National Records, Pakistan "locally grows five grains and has six livestock", and produces fish salt and tea honey; Shu land is "the forest is full of fish, the garden is full of fruits and vegetables, and four generations are familiar with each other." At that time, the condiments in Bashu area included brine, rock salt, Sichuan pepper and "Yangpu ginger". Among the cultural relics of the Warring States period unearthed in the cemetery, various bronzes and pottery utensils have appeared, which shows the germination of Sichuan cuisine. The formation of Sichuan cuisine was roughly between the unification of Qin Shihuang and the division of the Three Kingdoms.
Hunan cuisine, that is, Hunan cuisine, is developed from local dishes such as Xiangjiang River valley, Dongting Lake area and Xiangxi mountain area. The dishes in Xiangjiang River Basin are centered on Changsha, Hengyang and Xiangtan, and are the main representatives of Hunan cuisine. It is well-made, widely used and varied. It is characterized by rich oil, strong color and strong practicability. Pay attention to crispy, sour and tender taste. Xiangxi cuisine is famous for its fragrance, sour and spicy taste, and has a strong Shan Ye flavor. Hunan cuisine has a long history. As early as the Han Dynasty, it has formed a kind of delicious food, and its cooking skills have reached a fairly high level.
Fujian cuisine has always been famous for its fine selection of materials, rigorous knife work, exquisite cooking, seasoning with soup and winning by taste. Its cooking skills have four distinct characteristics. First of all, it uses careful slicing, cutting and cutting to make raw materials with different textures taste thoroughly. Therefore, the Fujian vegetable knife maker has the reputation of "cutting flowers like plums, shredding like hair, and cutting knives as thin as paper". For example, in the cold dish "radish thorn", the thin jellyfish skin is cut into 2 ~ 3 pieces, then cut into extremely fine shreds, then cooked with shredded radish with the same thickness, cooled and eaten with seasoning.
Southern cuisines represented by Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing became famous earlier. Zhejiang cuisine has a long history. People in the capital open restaurants in the south, and use northern cooking methods to make the rich raw materials in the south delicious. "Cooking in the south and cooking in the north" has become a major feature of Zhejiang cuisine. For example, in the past, the taste of southerners was not sweet, but after northerners went south, it affected the taste of southerners, and sugar was also put in the dishes. After arriving in Lin 'an, Bianjing famous dish "Sweet and Sour Yellow River Carp" was cooked into Zhejiang famous dish "West Lake Vinegar Fish" with fish as raw material.
Jiangsu cuisine is a local flavor dish in Jiangsu. Jiangsu is a place where famous chefs gather. The first professional chef named after the China classic and the first city named after the chef's surname are both here. Make wild chicken soup for Emperor Yao, named Guo, today's Xuzhou, hence the name Peng Keng, also known as Peng Zu. In the Xia and Yu dynasties, "Huaiyi" and Huai were tributes until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "People with beautiful dishes have regional beauty", and the beautiful vegetable leek flower in Taihu Lake in Shang Tang era has become an elegant temple. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Yiya of Qi taught in Xuzhou, and his creation of "Fish Belly Mutton" spread through the ages, which is the origin of the word "fresh". ......
Anhui Anhui cuisine is the main representative of Anhui cuisine, which originated in Shexian county at the foot of Huangshan Mountain, namely ancient Huizhou. Later, Tunxi Town near Xin 'an River became a distribution center for famous teas such as "Qi Hong" and "Tunlu" and local products such as Huimo and She Yan, and the catering industry was developed. The focus of Anhui cuisine gradually shifted to Tunxi, where it was further developed. On one occasion, Song Gaozong asked Wang Zao that Wang Zao was a bachelor, and Wang Zao quoted Mei's poem to answer "Oxtail Beaver in Snow, Horseshoe Turtle in Sand". Cowtail civet is civet, also known as white-fronted civet. Anhui cuisine is good at boiling, stewing and steaming, while frying and frying are less, with heavy oil, heavy color and heavy fire.