Chinese food has five flavors, five colors and five spices. Why are they all surnamed "Five"? It is said that this is related to China's theory of five lines. According to the theory of five elements, the world is made up of five substances: gold, wood, water, fire and earth, and everything is related to these five substances. Therefore, the color, fragrance and taste of dishes are also linked with the five elements. Its

reality, the word "five" can only be understood as diversification, not limited to these five.

"five flavors". Taste is a feeling, also known as taste. Chinese food wins by taste, and taste is the soul of China cuisine. Here, we should also point out a phenomenon: China people pay attention to taste and charm when appreciating art, and they can taste and ponder poetry, calligraphy and painting, music and dance. The ancients defined sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty as five flavors. This is < P > in terms of taste and taste, and vinegar, wine, fermented glutinous rice, ginger and salt are also regarded as five flavors, which is in terms of material.

Of course, this is only a rough division. Some people think that umami and astringency should also be classified as "basic flavors", and

others think that bitterness should not be listed among the five flavors in cooking. There are many kinds of visible flavors, and what the "five flavors" include

can be discussed. Five flavors can bring out a variety of compound flavors, which are rich in China's food culture. Such as salt and pepper, hot and sour, sweet and sour, spicy, spicy, fish flavor, strange taste and so on. The ancients said: "Food has no < P > definite taste, but it is delicious." And he said, "It's hard to adjust." Everyone has different tastes. Some people like

the original flavor of raw materials, such as chicken flavor and duck flavor, and keep the original flavor; Some people appreciate the compound flavor.

some people advocate pure taste, mainly stewed and steamed; Some people, however, have a unique style, cooking them into "chicken with a strange taste" and

"duck with a strange taste". Some people appreciate rich dishes, while others prefer light dishes, which should have an endless aftertaste like olives. In short, the so-called "harmony of five flavors" should include the following meanings: first, each dish should have its own unique flavor; For a banquet, the tastes of all kinds of dishes should be coordinated and balanced in general, and each < P > should be beautiful; The second is cooking technology, which is inseparable from condiments; The more condiments, the better, each according to his ability, the amount of < P > and the sequence of heating process can all promote the ever-changing taste of dishes. Therefore, harmonizing the taste of < P > is the key to the success or failure of cooking. Third, as a good cook, he should be good at grasping the taste habits of the eaters,

be flexible in arranging menus and cooking and seasoning, and avoid being rigid.

"five colors". China takes red, yellow, blue, white and black as primary colors, while others are intermediate colors. When eating,

you can get a sense of taste through your tongue and mouth, which has nothing to do with vision, but colorful dishes can also arouse your appetite. Because of this,

Chinese food has always paid attention to bright colors, harmony and pleasing to the eye. We can

know a little about dishes from the names given by the ancients. For example, it is recorded in "Mountain Family Qing Gong": "Pick hibiscus flowers, remove the heart and pedicel, boil them in soup, and cook them with tofu.

Red and white are staggered, like the glow of snow, and it is called' Xuexia soup'. "As you can imagine, this dish is red and white, and it must be < P > beautiful. Another example is the "Four-color Li" dish in The Complete Works of Household Necessities, which is made of eggplant, cucumber,

radish and mutton, and divided into four dishes, showing four colors and tempting to taste.

"Five Spices" usually refers to five main spices

such as fennel, pepper, aniseed, cinnamon and clove used in cooking food, that is, mango spices. Its function is to make the food with fishy smell, foul smell and unpleasant smell have no peculiar smell, and then make the food fragrant. The smell of food stimulates people's sense of smell, and those who smell it increase their appetite, while those who smell it < P > decrease their appetite. Although there are some foods like stinky tofu, they smell stinky and are delicious, but the beauty of smell and fragrance is always better. Fujian's famous dish "Buddha jumps over the wall" is famous because it is full of fragrance, which can make "Buddhism abandon Zen and jump over the wall". < P > It can be seen how important fragrance is to dishes! There are many traditional condiments in China, among which, in addition to the above five kinds of aromatic materials,

there are mugwort, cattail, honeysuckle, flower dew, osmanthus, rose, begonia, bergamot, orange wave, orange peel and so on. Color,

fragrance and taste are the essence of China's cooking, and all three of them have endless articles and secrets, all of which depend on the chef's means.