In Wang Zengqi's "Five Flavors", I only heard Wang Lao talk about Chinese food and local snacks, not only about their practices, but also about their origins. I was amazed at his erudition, like a walking dictionary, without Baidu. In other words, there are countless lines in his mind. When the thread is pulled out, a lot of relevant knowledge is pulled out. There are many serious arguments about food, anecdotes, ancient and modern China and foreign countries.

Wang always looks like an old pedant in the textual research of food history, and is very serious. When you turn around, you will see this sentence again: "I once boasted that I ate everything, so I was teased twice. Once in my hometown, I didn't eat coriander, thinking it smelled like bedbugs. ..... The steward in the shop got a big bowl of cold coriander and said,' Don't you eat everything?' I gritted my teeth and ate. From then on, I ate coriander. "This paragraph makes people feel appreciate each other. Because I don't like coriander either, because it smells like bedbugs. A lovely and brave old man appeared in front of us. I was also surprised by his experience, eating everywhere, and explaining that he had eaten so many dishes! How dare he taste it!

Wang Lao's hometown is Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province. When talking about the food in his hometown, he is so affectionate and affectionate. How much he loves his hometown. Hometown fried rice and coke crumbs, salted duck eggs at the Dragon Boat Festival, pickled vegetable soup, tiger sharks, proud fish, clams, snails and clams, wild ducks, quails, turtledoves, mites, Artemisia selengensis, medlar, shepherd's purse and purslane are all left behind. Wild Vegetables in My Hometown describes shepherd's purse, Artemisia selengensis, purslane and shepherd's purse in detail, and also mentions Wang Pan, a Sanqu writer in my hometown in the Ming Dynasty, focusing on Wang Xilou's Wild Recipe, with pictures and poems, and writing more about people's sufferings. "The river is green and the river is green, and the daughter who picks vegetables by the river cries. My mother, my father, and my brother, while they are familiar. Stop looking after the house with my sister-Jiang Jian ","Holding Artemisia annua, firmly rooted, inseparable, like lacquer glue. Don't you see that on the passenger ship sold yesterday, the child cried and refused to let go-holding Artemisia annua. " Wang Lao said that the feelings of these poems are sincere and the reading is sour. Indeed, Wang Lao told us that there was a Sanqu writer in his hometown who recorded the sufferings of the people with wild vegetables. He brought his touch to the readers and his love for this land in his hometown. Works close to the people always have the flavor of fireworks, saying that the world is warm and cold, and that the people are suffering.

Wang Lao studied in The National SouthWest Associated University when he was young. I think he was also impressed by his time in Kunming. Otherwise, there would be no such words as "Kunming Cuisine" and "Eating in Kunming". "Eating in Kunming" describes a waiter in the restaurant "Reflecting Spring", which is full of novel characters. "This is a two-story restaurant. Seats are dismissed downstairs, cold meat dishes are sold, and hot fried dishes are sold upstairs. There are two round tables and six square tables upstairs, and the seats are always full. Greet so many guests, but there is only one waiter. This waiter is really capable. When the guest ordered the food, he remembered it clearly (the restaurant didn't remember the menu in the past) and immediately reported the name of the food to the kitchen loudly. If two tables have ordered the same dish, add a sentence loudly:' scrambled eggs with tomatoes for two' (two dishes in one pot). When I heard the sound of a spatula knocking and frying in the kitchen, I knew what food had been cooked, so I quickly went downstairs. (The kitchen was downstairs, in the shop, and the food was fried, and it was handed out from a window on the wall.) In a blink of an eye, I took another dish in one hand, flew upstairs, stepped on the stairs, and climbed up and down. He went upstairs and downstairs this day, and I don't know how many times. Altogether, he may have walked dozens of miles a day. After the guest finished eating, he had already calculated the account in his mind and loudly reported the amount of money to the downstairs account table: several people came down, dozens of yuan and tens of cents. His hands, feet, mouth and eyes never stop, but his mind is clear and sensitive, and he never makes mistakes. This is really a waiter with extraordinary energy. It is pleasant to see an energetic person. " Where can I see such a sloppy waiter now? If so, I really want to see it. It's an absolute earthly wonder!

recalling the food in my hometown and Kunming, Wang Lao said that food is the same as culture, so we should try more. As evidenced by the opening of the book "Five Flavors":

My intention in writing this essay is very clear.

First, I hope young people can accumulate more knowledge about life. The ancients said that the role of poetry: you can observe, you can group, you can complain, and you can learn more about the names of plants, insects and fish. This last point seems to be different from the previous points, but it is actually very important. Plants, insects and fish are mostly closely related to people's lives. Being interested in plants, plants, insects and fish shows that you also have extensive interest in people.

Secondly, I advise you not to be too narrow-minded. You should try everything, whether it is ancient or foreign food, such as sunflower and onion. A person who eats Chinese cabbage all year round has no luck. Many vegetables that everyone has become accustomed to, such as spinach and lettuce, are actually foreign dishes. Tomatoes and onions didn't exist in China decades ago. Many people can't get used to eating them, so they taste like it.

of course, you know that what I'm talking about here has something to do with literary and artistic creation.

Wang Lao extended his attitude towards food to his attitude towards life and literary creation. He also said something like this: "In short, a person's taste should be wider and more miscellaneous, and' sweet in the south, salty in the north, spicy in the east and sour in the west' should be tasted. This is true for food and should be true for culture. " This writer, known as "the last scholar-bureaucrat in China", I think his thoughts are much more advanced than many people now.