In our rural areas in the south of the Yangtze River, especially in my hometown in the mountainous area of ????Southern Anhui, villagers hold banquets at home to express their gratitude to relatives and friends from all over the country when it comes to weddings, funerals, birthdays, housewarming, and gold medals.

Friends and neighbors.

The form of the banquet is the "flowing water banquet" that has been inherited ever since.

The so-called "flowing water banquet" is a form of entertaining guests. It is most common in rural areas. It is a folk custom that has been passed down and is also a manifestation of local folk culture.

To put it simply, "flowing water banquet" is a farmhouse banquet. You set up a roof in your own large yard, build a row of pots and stoves along the corners, and invite one or two local chefs with superb skills to cook the dishes.

The characteristics of "flowing banquets", such as wedding banquets, are not like those in the city where dozens of tables are held together in a hotel. They usually hold banquets at three or four tables or five or six tables.

Each table of the "flowing water banquet" seats eight people. Guests who arrive later will be served as soon as eight people are seated.

When this group of people finish eating, they wipe their mouths and leave, and another group of people eat again. In this way, round after round, the guests eat as they come.

The skills of the invited rural chefs are no less than those of professional chefs, especially some rural dishes. Their cooking methods with local techniques produce delicious food that is more authentic than those in big hotels in the city.

A few days before the wedding banquet, the host will contact the chef and the family will be fully prepared.

According to the arrangements of the invited chef, purchase the raw materials needed for the banquet.

Of course, these raw materials are inseparable from chicken, duck and fish, among which hooves are absolutely indispensable. Regarding this requirement, I still haven’t figured out why the wedding banquet must have pig trotters?

Take away a series of side dishes such as mushrooms and fungus, seasonal vegetables and side dishes.

The affairs at the wedding banquet are complex, and all are arranged by the person in charge of entertaining the guests. Their division of labor is clear and clear: doing chores inside and outside, serving dishes, pouring tea and cigarettes, distributing cups and chopsticks, washing dishes and helping the cook, etc.

Most of these helpers, except for the cousins ????and uncles at home, are girls and boys from the village. They are purely fulfilling their obligations.

After the wedding, the host will give a symbolic red envelope, usually a hundred dollars, and then hand over a box of cigarettes. If the host is more generous, he will also give some candies to complete the gift.

Often at this time, the harmony and deep nostalgia among fellow villagers and neighbors can be better reflected.

Compared with today's cities, the relationship between people is indifferent. Even if they live in the same corridor, after a few years, they still don't know each other's names. Every house has its door closed, and there is no such cordial relationship as neighbors.

, not to mention the comfort of traveling to several houses with a job like in the countryside.

The chef will come to the host's house two days before the wedding banquet and start preparing the dishes for the wedding banquet. A large iron pot is placed on the built-in stove. The red chestnut charcoal fire is burning brightly in the stove, and the special pork belly is cooking in the pot.

; Pig's trotters are stewed in a big pot; a group of women over there are busy making and frying dumplings, preparing for the "flowing water banquet" for the wedding banquet.

The wedding banquet usually starts around one or two o'clock at noon. Those relatives and friends who arrive early can make full use of this festive time to reminisce about the past and chat about daily life together. It is like an intimate gathering of relatives and friends, thereby bringing them closer to each other.

friendship.

The deep human touch of "Flowing Water Seat" makes you feel nostalgic, and a deep nostalgia sways in the depths of your soul, making people feel extremely cordial!

On the afternoon of the day before the wedding, the groom brought a red envelope. The amount of the red envelope, depending on local standards, was generally not less than five hundred yuan, plus three or four kilograms of rib meat, commonly known as "ear meat", to Yue's hometown. Please

Yue Lao went to the host's house for dinner, and the host hosted a sumptuous banquet.

Yue Lao was respectfully placed in the upper seat, accompanied by elders beside him, showing respect for Yue Lao, and more importantly, expressing his gratitude to Yue Lao for the happy marriage!

On the sixth day of the Spring Festival this year, I was invited by my cousin from my hometown to attend my nephew’s wedding banquet.

It was a tiring drive all the way from the provincial capital, and it was already noon when we arrived at my hometown.

From afar, I saw a lot of visitors gathered in front of my cousin's house, which was very lively.

Four tables have been set up in the main hall, plus a table in the small living room, and five tables for the first banquet. The tables are already full of guests chatting and laughing. Outside, there are also guests who have not taken their seats yet, chatting and laughing together, waiting for the next round.

Seats.

In the center of each table, there are fruit plates, cakes, cigarettes and tea.

Seeing that the guests were full, the host said "Let's open the table", and then a professional staff quickly removed the fruit plate and tea on the table and brought a lit alcohol stove.

At this time, the young man who was specializing in serving dishes held up the red tray with both hands, walked to the table, and placed each steaming pot on the alcohol stove on each table.

In my memory, the original wedding banquets in the countryside always consisted of ten white porcelain seven-inch ocean bowls, and they were served together, called the "Ten Big Bowls", symbolizing perfection. How come the dishes are now served in pots?

When I was wondering, the second uncle who was sitting next to me saw that I was puzzled and said slowly and carefully: "Girl, you don't know, right? Nowadays, when weddings are held in the countryside, pots are used. Originally, the 'flowing water mat' used a large bowl.

Already an old man. "Oh!

So that's it.

The pot is much larger than the previous sea bowl. It is made of all copper materials and is shiny. There are ears on each side of the copper pot for easy carrying.

Looking at the size of the copper pot and the sincerity of the rural people, the pot is full of vegetables.