"East is spicy and west is sour, south is sweet and north is salty" and the geographical environment are interesting

China has the highest population flavor in the world, but there are certain rules to follow. Some people say that sweet in the south and salty in the north, spicy in the east and sour in the west, to a certain extent, reflect the regional differences of Chinese food culture, and at the same time, it also reflects that people's tastes are related to the geographical environment.

This point can also be seen from the structure of staple food. The climate in southern China is hot and humid, and rice is abundant. Therefore, rice is the staple food. The climate in the north is relatively dry and cold, which is suitable for the growth of crops such as wheat. Therefore, flour is the staple food.

Shanxi people can be jealous, which is the first of the "western acid". Before they eat, they often bring the vinegar bottle first, and each person drinks three spoonfuls of vinegar to "satisfy their cravings". Before the reform and opening up, every Spring Festival, some good wine was supplied elsewhere, but the oil and salt shops in Taiyuan posted a note: "Supply old vinegar, one catty for each household." Someone came to propose marriage to the girl, and the mother first asked, "How many sauerkraut jars does he have at home?" There are many sauerkraut jars, indicating that the family is thick. In addition, Fujian people and Guangxi people like to eat sour bamboo shoots, and the more sour they are, the more they can show the level of the producers. Dai people also love sour, and stewed chicken with sour bamboo shoots is a traditional dish.

why do "westerners" in Shanxi and other places like to be sour? Open the map of China, we can know that the soil and water in these areas, especially the Loess Plateau, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and its surrounding areas contain a lot of calcium. Therefore, their food contains more calcium. In this way, through diet, it is easy to cause calcium deposition in the body and form stones. Working people in this area, after long-term practical experience, found that eating more acidic food is conducive to reducing diseases such as stones. Over time, they gradually formed the habit of eating sour.

Residents in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and the Korean people in Northeast China like spicy food. There is a saying in China that "Guizhou people are not afraid of spicy food, Hunan people are not afraid of spicy food, and Sichuan people are afraid of spicy food". People in Guizhou have eaten a lot of peppers all their lives, including morning pepper and wild pepper. In northern Sichuan, I heard that there is a kind of chili that cannot be eaten by itself. It is hung on the stove with a thread. When the soup is cooked, the chili is rinsed in the soup, and it is extremely spicy. Therefore, it is called "Shuan Shua Spicy". If Sichuan's "Mala Tang" is famous all over the country, it can be said that there is no famous Sichuan food that is not spicy, and it is not a "famous food". Nowadays, in addition to calling Sichuan women "Sichuan sisters", people also call them "hot girls", which is probably based on this.

spicy food customs are mostly related to the humid geographical environment. The eastern part of our country is located in the coastal area, and the local climate of Korean in the northeast is wet and rainy, wet and cold in spring. Although Sichuan is not in the east, it is located in a basin, which is humid and foggy, and the sun is rare all year round, so it is called "Shu is too barking at the sun". This kind of climate makes people's body surface humidity equal to the air saturation humidity, making it difficult to discharge sweat, which makes people feel bored and uneasy. After a long time, it is easy to cause people to suffer from rheumatism, cold evil and spleen and stomach weakness. Eating Chili peppers makes you sweat all over, of course, sweat can be easily discharged. Eating Chili peppers often can dispel cold and dampness, nourish the spleen and strengthen the stomach, which is extremely beneficial to health (for local people). In addition, eating spicy food in Northeast China is also related to the cold climate. Eating spicy food can drive away the cold. When studying abroad, Lu Xun also had the habit of eating spicy food to keep out the cold.

The northern part of China is the Inner Mongolia Plateau. In the past, fresh vegetables were rare for northerners. Mr. Lu Xun said, "Cabbages in Jiaodong were shipped to Beijing, so they tied their roots with red ropes and hung upside down at the head of the fruit shop, which is called" plastic vegetables ". The northern part of China is located in the warm and humid zone, with many cold and dry seasons, mild and rainy summers and high temperatures in annual range. In the past, even a small amount of vegetables were difficult to spend the winter, and at the same time, they were unwilling to "squander" the vegetables for a while, so northerners pickled them and "enjoyed" them slowly. As a result, most people in the north also developed the habit of eating salty food.

People say Suzhou food is sweet, but in fact, compared with Wuxi food, Suzhou food is just bland. There is a lot of sugar in Wuxi fried eel paste, and there is also a lot of sugar in the meat stuffing of steamed buns, which is simply impossible for northerners to eat. Most residents in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Yunnan also like sweets. The south is rainy, with good light and heat conditions, and is rich in sugar cane. Compared with the north, vegetables are more than a few crops a year. Southerners are surrounded by sugar, and naturally they have developed the habit of eating sweet. It's not that northerners don't like sweet food. It's just that sugar was rare in the past, so they had to substitute "salty" for "sweet" to adjust their taste. Although there is no shortage of "sugar" in the north now, once the taste is formed, it cannot be changed overnight. I believe that with the development of society and the continuation of time, this relative trend of salty and sweet will weaken.

Of course, "sweet in the south and salty in the north, spicy in the east and sour in the west" is just a general and relative statement. China is vast in territory and abundant in resources, and its eating habits vary greatly, even in some areas, which is also closely related to the economic development, national customs and personal habits of various places.