Tiantai, Zhejiang, is located in the southeast coast of Zhejiang, with lush vegetation and beautiful environment. As a sacred site of Lingshan, where Buddhism and Taoism live together, and an important site of the "Road of Tang Poetry", the Tiantai, which is known as "the source of Buddhism and Taoism, the scenery is beautiful", has long been famous all over the world. The unique landscape, long history and culture, and profound Zen heritage make Zhejiang Tiantai a tourist attraction that countless tourists yearn for. At the same time, many delicious snacks with Tiantai characteristics have been born, which are not only good in color, smell and taste, but also lively and interesting.

In the fifth year of Emperor Yongping of Han Dynasty, he went to Tiantai Mountain to collect herbs. On the way to collect herbs, he got lost and met two fairies, and they became immortal companions. This is the famous story of "Liu Ruan meets an immortal", so Tiantai Mountain has become the earliest place where the story of love between man and god takes place in China. In the story, the fairy used to entertain Liu Ruan, and one of them was black rice.

On the rooftop, every household basically eats black rice and sesame paste on the eighth day of April every year, just like eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a custom. Legend has it that it was on this day that the longicorn fell to earth, and only then did the human beings have the oxen to work hard for others. People pick the leaves of Vaccinium bracteatum (scientific name: Nanzhuang), wash and mash them to get juice, soak glutinous rice in the juice for a day, then cook it into glutinous rice, and finally mash it with a mortar. When eating it, sprinkle pine pollen and dip it in brown sugar, which is sweet, smooth and refreshing, soft and tough. In the past, on the eighth day of April, all the cattle in Taizhou had a day off, and every household rewarded them with black rice and sesame seeds to show their respect for the loyal partners of mankind. However, there are fewer oxen now, but the custom of eating black rice has been passed down to this day.

Just as Deqing's mother-in-law used "three tea" to test her new son-in-law, "pasting and pulling" was a great weapon for Tiantai's mother-in-law to test her new wife's craft in her early years. From the skill of making paste jig, the mastery of temperature, the size of making paste jig, and the appearance and taste of finished products, these are the criteria for judging an excellent new wife. In Tiantai, paste-pulling is one of the most authentic snacks, and it is also a common practice of Tiantai villagers. "Hu La Tai" is also called "Hu La Tuo", which is written only because the word "Tuo" in Tiantai dialect is pronounced "Tai". In fact, it is somewhat similar to the pancake skin we usually eat, that is, the wheat flour is mixed into a uniform paste, and it is dragged into a round pancake by hand in a pot, one at a time, which is convenient and quick, and some oil, onion and garlic are wiped, which is fragrant and refreshing.

There are some "master batters" with superb skills and skillful techniques in Tiantai folk, who mix powder, try fire, paste the skin and take off the pot in one go. Moreover, the paste batters made are crispy, the stuffing is fresh and fragrant, the color is golden, and they are crispy and delicious. After the completion, the hands that paste the skin, the pots that mix the powder and the pots that peel the skin are clean and do not stick a drop of flour.

When it comes to dumpling wrappers, they are the unique and most distinctive food in Tiantai. Every year, during Qingming Festival, July 3, Winter Solstice and Chinese New Year, every household will wrap dumpling wrappers as holiday food, which is also a must-eat snack when visiting Tiantai. There is an interesting legend about its origin. It is said that when Jigong, a "living Buddha", became a monk in Tiantai kokuseiji, he saw that there was a surplus of vegetarian food in every meal, so he thought of a way to reduce waste. He wrapped the remaining vegetarian food in a paste and dragged it for the next meal. The rest of the monks tasted it and it tasted good. At that time, this new way of eating was very popular, and Jigong was promoted to be a monk in a mantle.

The method of "dumpling tube" is divided into two steps: peeling and filling. In fact, the dumpling skin is the same as the method of "pasting and dragging", but it is made in a flat pan, and it is sweet and sour. There are as many as a dozen kinds of dumpling fillings, which are generally made of sliced meat, pork liver, egg skin, fish, tofu slices, etc., which are respectively rolled on the sticky skin with lily, fungus, vermicelli, shredded bamboo shoots and vegetable stalks in a certain order. People call it "five tigers to catch sheep".

meatball paste wheat cake, also known as meatball wheat cake, is made of wheat flour and refined meat as the main ingredients, with various seasonings. It looks like a disk, golden and bright, soft outside and tender inside, and it is extremely delicious. In the rooftop powder food category, apart from the dumpling tube, meatballs are often used to entertain distinguished guests.

according to legend, a long time ago, there was a family on the rooftop begging for a daughter-in-law. One day, the woman suddenly came to visit, and there was no good food at home, so it was too late to go shopping temporarily. At this time, the owner happened to find a bowl of uneaten meatballs at home, so he used his quick wits to mash them and make them into wheat cakes. The woman's family ate them with relish and were very satisfied with the man. From then on, when the woman came to the man for blind date, she always treated him with meatballs and rice cakes and longan tea. On the fourth day after the bride's marriage, she will go into the kitchen to make meatball paste wheat cake, which is called "reunion wheat cake", to show her filial piety to her in-laws, and to show her own means. The way to eat meatballs and wheat cakes is also very special. Don't eat them with your hands, but tear them with three chopsticks. According to legend, at the beginning of Tiantai County, it was the time when the three countries stood firm, but the people dared to speak out despite the war disaster, so they regarded wheat cakes as a country and compared chopsticks to Wei, Shu and Wu, in order to condemn the war and split the country and vent their anger.