The staple food is the core of the diet system. The staple food in our country is mainly rice and wheat. In addition, millet, corn, buckwheat, potatoes, sweet potatoes and various beans also occupy a place. In addition to rice, various kinds of pasta such as steamed bread, noodles, fried dough sticks, and colorful porridge, cakes and varied snacks make people's dining tables colorful.
The formation of a cuisine is inseparable from its long history and unique cooking characteristics. At the same time, it is also influenced by the natural geography, climatic conditions, resources and specialties, eating habits and so on. Some people describe the "eight major cuisines" in an anthropomorphic way: Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisines are like beautiful women in the south of the Yangtze River; Shandong and Anhui cuisine is like Gu Zhuo's simple northern healthy Han; Guangdong and Fujian cuisine are like romantic and elegant sons; Sichuan and Hunan cuisine are like celebrities with rich connotations and talents.
China has a long history and a vast territory. Due to the differences in climate, products and customs, the eating habits and tastes of different places are very different. The culinary arts with a long history have been created by people of all ages, forming a rich and colorful local cuisine. Among them, there are eight famous cuisines in Shandong, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hunan, Fujian and Anhui.
Shandong cuisine is divided into Jinan and Jiaodong schools, which are good at being rich and clear, mellow and not greasy.
Shandong cuisine, also called Shandong cuisine. It has a long history and a wide influence. As an important part of China's food culture, it has become one of the four major cuisines in China. It is famous at home and abroad for its fresh, salty, crisp and tender taste, unique flavor and fine production. As the ancient saying goes, "In the domain of the East, the place of heaven and earth was born.". The land of fish and salt, the seashore is near the water, and its people eat fish and are addicted to salt. Everything is safe and delicious. " The land of Qilu is a beautiful area with rich products and developed economy, which provides good conditions for the development of cooking culture and the formation of Shandong cuisine. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qi Huangong's favorite minister, Yi Ya, was once a famous chef known for his "kindness and five flavors"; In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Jia Sixie, the satrap of Levin, made a systematic summary of cooking in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in his book Qi Min Yao Shu, and recorded many famous dishes, reflecting the superb skills of Shandong cuisine development at that time. In the Tang Dynasty, Duan Wenchang, a native of Linzi, Shandong Province, and Mu Zong, then prime minister, were good at eating and drinking, and wrote 50 volumes of food classics, which became historical anecdotes. By the Song Dynasty, what the capital of Song Dynasty called "Northern Food", another name for Shandong cuisine, had taken shape. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it has formed its own cuisine, from Qilu to Gyeonggi, from inside Shanhaiguan to outside Shanhaiguan, and its influence has reached the Yellow River Basin and Northeast China, and it has a broad catering mass base.
Shandong was a state of Qilu in ancient times, located on the peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides, with hilly plains in the hinterland, suitable climate and distinct seasons. Seafood, aquatic animals, grain and oil animals, vegetables, fruits and insects are all available, which provides abundant material conditions for cooking. Kitchen cooking skills are comprehensive, skillful in materials, paying attention to seasoning, and wide in adaptability. Among them, "explosion, speculation, burning and collapse" are the most distinctive. As Yuan Mei said in the Qing Dynasty: "It is better to be extremely crisp when frying with oil cannon (explosion), which is also a northerner's law." Instantly completed, the nutrients are well protected, and the food is refreshing and not greasy; There are braise in soy sauce and white roast, and the famous "Jiuzhuan large intestine" is the representative of cooking; "Collapse" is a unique cooking method in Shandong Province. Its main ingredients should be pickled with seasoning in advance or sandwiched with stuffing, then stained with powder or hung, and both sides will collapse and fry until golden yellow. Add seasoning or clear soup, and simmer the soup with slow fire to soak it in the main ingredients to increase the flavor. Tofu and spinach, which are widely circulated in Shandong, are traditional famous dishes that have long been enjoyed by people.
Shandong cuisine is also good at making soup. Soup can be divided into "clear soup" and "milk soup". In Qi Min Yao Shu, there is a record of making clear soup, which was a flavoring before monosodium glutamate was produced. Commonly known as "chef's soup, singing opera cavity." After long-term practice, it has evolved into a soup with fat chicken, fat duck and fat elbow as the main ingredients. After boiling, slightly cooking and "clearing the whistle", the soup is crystal clear and delicious. Milk soup becomes milky white. Dozens of dishes made with "clear soup" and "milk soup" are mostly included in the delicacies of high-class banquets.
Cooking seafood is unique. The cooking of seafood and small seafood is a must. In Shandong, ginseng, wing, swallow, shellfish, scale, medium, shrimp and crab can all be wonderful and delicious dishes cooked by local chefs. Only the flounder (commonly known as "Hemiptera" locally) growing in the coastal area of Jiaodong can be cooked into dozens of delicious dishes by using a variety of knife processing and different techniques, and its color, fragrance, taste and shape have their own characteristics, changing in every way in one fish. Little seafood-cooked "Fried Flowers in Oil", "Braised Conch" and "Fried Oyster Yellow", as well as seafood-made "Crab-yellow shark's fin", "Abalone with original shell" and "Dried scallop with hydrangea" are all unique seafood treasures.
Good at seasoning with onion fragrance. In the cooking process of dishes, whether frying, stir-frying, roasting, stir-frying or cooking soup, shredded onion (or minced onion) is used to fry the pot, that is, steaming, grilling, frying and roasting the dishes, and the flavor is also enhanced by the onion fragrance, such as "roast duck", "roast suckling pig", "pot-roasted elbow" and "fried fat cover".
With the evolution of history and the development of economy, culture and transportation, Shandong cuisine has gradually formed the local flavor of Jinan and Jiaodong, which represent the inland and coastal areas respectively.
Yantai cuisine belongs to Jiaodong flavor and is good at cooking seafood. Jiaodong cuisine originated in Fushan and has a history of more than 100 years. As the hometown of cooking, there have been many famous chefs in Fushan area. Through their efforts, Fushan cuisine has spread both inside and outside the province and contributed to the spread and development of Shandong cuisine. Yantai is a beautiful coastal city with beautiful mountains and clear waters, fruity fish and fat, and is known as the "Pearl of the Bohai Sea". "Lights everywhere, music everywhere" is a vivid portrayal of the prosperity of Yantai restaurants in history. Shandong's unique seafood dishes, represented by Yantai, are banquets made only of seafood, such as whole fish seats, shark's fin seats, sea cucumber seats, sea crab seats and small fresh seats, which constitute a variety of seafood menus. Famous flavor restaurants include Penglai Spring, Huibin Building, Songzhulin and Swan Hotel, all of which are famous for their traditional Jiaodong flavor dishes.
Qingdao has not only beautiful seaside scenery for people to visit, but also delicious food for people to taste. Qingdao is also famous for its good cooking of seafood, which basically belongs to Fushan flavor, but there is no lack of local characteristics. The taste is light, fresh and tender, and the design and color are emphasized. With the opening to the outside world and the development of tourism, a large number of hotels and restaurants in Qingdao are competing to open; Some famous historical shops and old shops have also been reborn after decoration and transformation. The famous Chunhelou Hotel, known as Qingdao Hotel, the pearl of the island, is famous for its neat and elegant equipment, fine and delicious dishes and warm and thoughtful service. The Confucian cuisine in Qufu has a long history, exquisite materials, exquisite knives and strict and complicated cooking procedures. The taste is light and tender, soft and mellow, and original. It is a leader in Shandong cuisine by making excellent dishes and always maintaining traditional flavor. Confucian cuisine, which was once enclosed in the Confucian mansion, has also entered the market since the 1980s, and Jinan and Beijing have opened "Confucius dining halls".
Egg dishes in western Shandong and northern Shandong, vegetarian dishes with bean products as the main raw materials in Tai 'an, and meat and fish dishes with the legacy of Qi in central Shandong have their own characteristics.
Shandong cuisine is a combination of the cooking skills of Shandong and the characteristics of local flavors, which has been developed and sublimated and formed through long-term historical evolution. Since the 1980s, the state and government have regarded the cooking art of Shandong cuisine as a precious national cultural heritage, and adopted the policy of inheriting and developing it. A new generation of chefs are thriving, and they are making new contributions to the continued development of Shandong cuisine.
Sichuan cuisine, known as "one dish with one style, all kinds of dishes with different flavors", is famous for its hemp, spicy and strong flavor, and it is divided into two branches: DuDu and Chongqing.
Geographically speaking, Sichuan cuisine is a local dish in Sichuan, western China. According to the administrative province, Sichuan cuisine is Sichuan cuisine. Just looking at it this way is mechanical. Sichuan cuisine has long been loved not only by Sichuanese, but also by people all over China and even many overseas countries. In this sense, Sichuan cuisine also belongs to China and the world.
The history of Sichuan cuisine
Generally speaking, Sichuan cuisine originated in ancient Pakistan and Shu, and it was formed in the context of Bashu culture. According to the serial number of China's historical evolution-dynasty, Sichuan cuisine had already presented its initial outline after the enlightenment period from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin Dynasty, and by the time of the Han and Jin Dynasties. Sichuan cuisine developed greatly in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. During the Song Dynasty, Sichuan cuisine had crossed the Bashu border and entered Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin 'an in the Southern Song Dynasty, which was known to outsiders in Sichuan. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Sichuan cuisine was seasoned with imported peppers, which further developed the seasoning tradition of "respecting taste" and "being spicy and fragrant" that had long been formed in Bashu. After the late Qing Dynasty, it gradually formed into a system with extremely strong local flavor, which was listed with Shandong cuisine in the Yellow River basin, Cantonese cuisine in Lingnan area and Huai Yang cuisine in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Basic characteristics of Sichuan cuisine
Since the development of Sichuan cuisine, it has three characteristics: extensive materials, diverse tastes and wide adaptability of dishes, among which it is famous for its variety of flavors and ingenious changes. "The taste is in Sichuan" is recognized by the world.
People who know how to cook have a * * * knowledge that food is based on delicacy. Delicious needs seasoning skills to create.
Sichuan cuisine is known for its spicy flavor. Let's see how Sichuan cuisine uses its spicy flavor, and we can compare its advantages with those of other places. When pepper is used together with other spicy materials or separately, there are ten different spicy flavors, such as dry spicy (dried pepper), crisp spicy (spicy shell paste), oily spicy (pepper), aromatic spicy (onion, ginger and garlic), sweet spicy (with onion or onion) and sauce spicy (Pixian douban or Yuanhong douban). There are 23 kinds of flavors commonly used in Sichuan, including 13 kinds that are closely related to spicy, such as the home-cooked flavor with salty and slightly spicy taste, the fish flavor with salty, sweet, spicy and spicy flavor, the strange flavor with harmonious sweet, salty, sour and spicy flavors, and the red oil flavor, spicy, sour and spicy flavor, burnt spicy flavor, tangerine peel flavor, pepper hemp flavor and pepper and salt flavor that show different levels of spicy.
Cooking method of Sichuan cuisine
Sichuan cuisine has more than 4000 kinds of snacks. These dishes are composed of five categories: banquet dishes, light meals, home-cooked dishes, three-steamed and nine-buckled dishes and flavor snacks. Today's popular Sichuan cuisine varieties are not only the inheritance of Sichuan cuisine varieties in past dynasties, but also the continuous development and innovation of cooking technicians.
Many varieties of Sichuan cuisine are made by various cooking methods. There are 30 kinds of commonly used cooking methods, some of which are common in the whole country and some are original in Sichuan. For example, Sichuan's original stir-frying, dry stir-frying, dry-firing and home-cooked firing are unique. The method of stir-frying, but oil, does not change the pot, temporarily to juice, anxious for short-frying, one pot into a dish, dishes from the pot to the plate, suddenly fragrant. Dry stir-frying method, using medium-hot oil, stir-fry the filamentous raw materials continuously to make them dehydrated, mature and dry. Dry burning method, slow burning with medium fire, makes the soup with strong taste penetrate into the raw materials, and naturally becomes juice with strong alcohol flavor. For home cooking, stir-fry the watercress with medium-hot oil, add the soup to boil to remove the residue, put in the material, and then slowly cook it with low fire until it is ripe and tasty. Mapo tofu, which is familiar to outsiders in Sichuan, is cooked by home cooking.
Specialty raw materials of Sichuan cuisine
Since Sichuan is called "Land of Abundance", there are certainly many and wide cooking materials. Within the territory of 560,000 square kilometers, there are thousands of miles of fertile fields, rivers and rivers, and rich products. Cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens, ducks, geese and rabbits can be described as six animals, and bamboo shoots, leeks, celery, lotus roots, pineapples and clams are evergreen all the year round. There are many good freshwater fish, such as Jiangtuan, Rock Carp, Ya Yu and Changjiang Sturgeon, among which those produced in Sichuan are precious. Even some dry sundries, such as tremella from Tongjiang and Wanyuan, dictyophora from Yibin, Leshan, Fuling and Liangshan, auricularia from Qingchuan and Guangyuan, mushrooms from Yibin, Wanxian, Fuling and Dachuan, and konjac from most places in Sichuan, are outstanding. Even white fungus, white fungus, green vegetables, lateral ear roots and purslane, which grow in fields and deep mountain valleys, have become good materials for Sichuan cuisine. There are also Cordyceps sinensis, Fritillaria cirrhosa, Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. and Gastrodia elata as traditional Chinese medicines, and they are also used as cooking materials for health care and dietotherapy. Sichuanese pay special attention to taste in diet, so they pay great attention to cultivating excellent condiments and producing and brewing high-quality condiments. Zigong Well Salt, Neijiang White Sugar, Langzhong Baoning Vinegar, Zhongba Soy Sauce, Pixian Douban, Qingxi Pepper, Yongchuan Douchi, Fuling Pickled Vegetable, Xufu Sprouting, Nanchong Winter Vegetable, Xinfan Pickle, Zhongzhou Bean Curd Milk, Wenjiang Bulbus Allii, Beibei Lettuce Ginger, Chengdu Erjin Bar Pepper, etc. are all excellent in quality. Sichuan tea and Sichuan wine, which are closely related to cooking and banquet, are also recognized by the world for their high-quality varieties.
The above is only about four basic situations. In the process of formation, development and perfection of Sichuan cuisine, there are still some factors, such as Sichuan's traditional dietary customs that are tasteful, the cooking research of people who are enthusiastic about eating, the fusion of national tastes, and the spirit of "takenism" that is good at absorbing all aspects of cooking essence, and so on. We hope that people from outside Sichuan and overseas will visit Sichuan more often, appreciate the infinite mystery of Sichuan cuisine, and share the joy of Sichuan people's food, drink, taste and feast. Sichuan people welcome everyone.
Jiangsu cuisine pays attention to the original soup juice, which is light and palatable and moderately sweet and salty. Yangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing are divided into three major factions.
Jiangsu cuisine is Jiangsu cuisine. It is composed of four local flavors: Huaiyang, Jinling, Suzhou, Wuxi and Xuhai. Its influence covers the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. Jiangsu cuisine is characterized by: extensive materials, mainly fresh sea water in rivers and lakes; Fine knife work, diverse cooking methods, good at stewing and simmering; Pursue the original taste, fresh and peaceful, and have strong adaptability; The dishes are elegant in style and beautiful in shape and quality.
Jiangsu is a land of fish and rice, with abundant products and rich food resources. The famous aquatic products are Sanxian (sturgeon, swordfish and herring) in the Yangtze River, whitebait in Taihu Lake, clear water hairy crab in Yangcheng Lake, crucian carp in Longchi, Nanjing and many other seafood products. Excellent vegetables include Taihu water shield, Huai 'an Pu Cai, Baoying lotus root, chestnut, chicken head meat, water bamboo, winter bamboo shoots, water chestnut and so on. Famous and special products include Nanjing Lake Cooked Duck, Nantong Langshan Chicken, Yangzhou Goose, Gaoyou Ma Duck, Nanjing Xiangdu, Rugao Ham, Jingjiang Dried Meat, Wuxi Oil Gluten and so on. In addition, some rare birds and game, numerous forests and forests, have provided a solid material foundation for Jiangsu cuisine.
The style of Jiangsu cuisine is fresh and elegant, which is reflected in the fine knife work and changeable knife methods. Whether it's craft cold dishes, hot dishes with different colors, or melon and fruit carving, or deboned muddy system, or carved, it shows exquisite knife-cutting skills.
Jiangsu cuisine is famous for paying attention to cooking and paying attention to knife work, and it is especially good at stewing and simmering. The famous "Zhenyang three heads" (grilled whole pig head, stewed crab powder lion head, and stewed silver carp head), "Suzhou three chickens" (beggar chicken, watermelon boy chicken, early red orange cheese chicken) and "Jinling three forks" (fork roast duck, fork duck, etc.
Fresh and peaceful, pursuing original flavor and strong adaptability are the keynote of Jiangsu flavor. Mr. Fan Ceng's inscription for the album "China Famous Cookbook Jiangsu Flavor" is the best summary of Jiangsu Flavor. Whether it is fresh in rivers and lakes or seasonal vegetables for livestock, the word "fresh" that highlights the original flavor is emphasized. Pay attention to the change of seasoning, skillfully use Huai salt, make good use of mushroom, distiller's grains, alcoholic liquor, red yeast, shrimp seeds, and reconcile five flavors, but never leave the original color.
The combination of Jiangsu cuisine is also quite distinctive. In addition to paying attention to the collocation of dishes in daily diet and various banquets, there are also "three banquets" that are unique. One is the boat banquet, which is found in Taihu Lake, Slender West Lake and Qinhuai River. Secondly, fasting seats are found in Zhenjiang Jinshan, Jiao Shan Zhaitang, Suzhou Lingyan Zhaitang and Yangzhou daming temple Zhaitang. The third is a full banquet, such as a whole fish banquet, a whole duck banquet, an eel banquet, a whole crab banquet and so on.
Jiangsu cuisine has a long history. According to unearthed cultural relics, Jiangsu ancestors had cooked with pottery at the latest 6000 years ago. Chu Ci Tian Wen records the legend of Peng Keng's work as a pheasant soup for Emperor Yao. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Jiangsu had all-fish-roasted, chicken-exposed, thick soup with Wu and fish-preserved eggs with exquisite swordsmanship. According to the records in Qing Yi Lu, the cuisines in Yangzhou, Jiankang Qimiao and Suzhou Linglong Mudan Gun have the reputation of "good taste in the southeast", which shows that Jiangsu cuisine has reached a high level in the Song Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, Jiangsu cuisine had been further developed. According to the section of "Clear Barn-like Notes: Dishes with Provincial Characteristics", "Dishes have their own characteristics, such as Jingshi, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangning, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou and Huai 'an." Among the ten places listed, Jiangsu accounts for the fifth, which shows its wide influence.
Jiangsu is also a place where famous chefs come forth in large numbers: Peng Keng in the reign of Emperor Yao, Tai Gong in the Spring and Autumn Period (or Tai Lake Gong), Cao Ding in the Ming Dynasty, Wang Xiaoyu, Xiao Meiren in Yizheng, the first chef in China, and Dong Taomei, known as the "heavenly chef star".
Jiangsu is also rich in cooking literature. Famous ones are Yunlintang Food System Collection by Ni Zan, a great painter in Yuan Dynasty, Yi Ya's Legacy by Han Yi, a famous painter in Ming Dynasty, and Suiyuan Food List by Yuan Mei in Qing Dynasty. In addition, it is not uncommon to record famous Jiangsu dishes in historical books and poems.
According to its own flavor system, Jiangsu cuisine can be divided into four schools: Huaiyang flavor, Jinling flavor, Suzhou-Wuxi flavor and Xu Hai flavor.
Huaiyang's flavor is centered on Yangzhou and Huai 'an, and the dishes are light. Historically, Yangzhou is the transportation hub of China's north and south, the economic and cultural center of southeast China, and the catering market is prosperous and developed. The kitchen knife, one of the "Three Knives in Yangzhou", is famous all over the world, and Yangzhou famous chefs are all over the world. Premier Zhou Enlai used Huaiyang-style dishes at the reception in founding ceremony. The famous dishes are "Three Seasons in Zhenjiang", "Three Seasons in Zhenjiang" and "Long Fish Mat" in Huai 'an.
Jinling flavor is characterized by mild taste, mellow and palatable taste, and takes the beauty of all directions to meet the needs of all directions. Especially good at cooking duck gizzards, Jinling fork roast duck, osmanthus salted duck, Nanjing salted duck and duck blood soup are quite famous. Qingzhen cuisine is also quite distinctive in Nanjing, represented by the four famous dishes of Ma Xiangxing (squirrel fish, boiled eggs, Meiren liver and anchovies). In addition, there are many kinds of snacks in Confucius Temple, with different flavors and famous names.
Suzhou and Wuxi are the centers of Suzhou and Wuxi. Su-xi cuisine used to pay attention to sweetness, saltiness and thick red sauce, but in modern times it has developed in a fresh and elegant direction, with less sweetness, fresh and salty. Su Xi has developed rapidly in recent years. On the basis of inheriting the traditional flavor, he boldly innovated, paying attention to both taste and appreciation, forming a pattern of excellent viewing and eating. Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, mother tanker duck, Liangxi crispy eel, Changshu beggar chicken and Changzhou braised pork are all well-known delicacies. In addition, Suzhou Cake Group is unique and enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad. Suzhou Mysterious Temple and Wuxi Chong'an Temple snacks are also famous.
Xu Hai flavor refers to Xuzhou and Lianyungang. Xuhai cuisine is mainly fresh and salty, with five flavors, simple style, attention to material benefits, and unique famous dishes. Farewell My Concubine, Pei Gong Dog Meat, Mutton Tibetan Fish, Braised Shaguang Fish and other famous dishes are its representatives.
In the past ten years, Jiangsu cuisine education has developed rapidly. School education and on-the-job training for employees have greatly improved the cultural literacy and professional technical level of chefs. With the deepening of cultural exchange in cooking, Jiangsu cuisine inherits the traditional flavor, dares to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, and diligently learns the exquisite skills and flavor characteristics of its brothers' cuisines, making it more and more perfect.
Zhejiang cuisine is fresh, crisp, soft and smooth, crispy and glutinous, refreshing and not greasy. Including Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.
Zhejiang cuisine has a long history. Based on "Land of Fish and Rice, Country of Culture", it combines the beauty of southern rivers and mountains, is watered by the culture of the Central Plains, and has gradually formed into a mellow, fresh, delicate and elegant dish pattern thanks to the cooking skills and unswerving pioneering and innovation of famous chefs in previous dynasties. Zhejiang cuisine has a wide range of ingredients and exquisite cooking, especially its delicate flavor. It is one of the eight famous cuisines in China and a treasure in the splendid cultural treasure house of the Chinese nation.
Zhejiang Province, referred to as Zhejiang for short, lives in the northern margin of the ancient Chinese land and is close to the East China Sea. The province has a mild climate, rich products, convenient transportation and prosperous culture. The northern half of the territory is located in the Yangtze River Delta plain, which is rich in southeast China. The land is fertile, the branches are dense, and rice, wheat, millet, beans, fruits and vegetables are abundant, and the aquatic products are abundant, and the four seasons are fresh. The southwest is a hilly area, where trees are trimmed with bamboo and slopes are covered, which is rich in delicacies and game, with flocks of chickens and ducks, fat cows and rich cows. In the southeast coastal area, with vast beaches and scattered islands, there is the most famous Zhoushan fish farm in China, which produces more than 500 kinds of economic fish and shell aquatic products, ranking first in the country in terms of total output value. For a long time, the working people engaged in cooking have made extensive use of rich food resources in the production struggle and social life practice, and created many famous points. It implies a kind of culture and art, embodies the crystallization of the wisdom of the vast number of chefs, and reflects the civilization and progress of human history.
Zhejiang cuisine has a history of thousands of years. Huangdi's "Neijing Su Wen Yi Fang Lun" said: "The territory of the East, the beginning of heaven and earth, is also a land of fishing and salt, and the seaside is near the water. Its people are addicted to salty fish, so they are safe and beautiful." There is a record of "the land of Chu and Yue ... rice, rice, soup and fish" in Historical Records and Biography of Huo Zhi.
1973, Chinese archaeologists excavated an early Neolithic cultural site in Hemudu, Yuyao, Zhejiang Province. Among the unearthed cultural relics, there are a large number of indica rice, chaff, seeds of water chestnut, gourd and jujube, as well as pigs, deer, tigers, elk (four unlike), rhinoceros, geese, crows, eagles, fish, turtles and crocodiles. According to scientific research, these cultural relics have a history of about 7000 years ago, and they are one of the earliest Neolithic strata found in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the southeast coast.
Facts show that as early as ancient times, the working people in Zhejiang began to use natural resources to make a simple cooking and eating life, creating a rich and splendid primitive culture in the Yangtze River basin. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Yue made its capital "Huiji" (now Shaoxing City). It is located on the seashore, with fertile land, suitable for agriculture and the benefits of fishing and salt. Under the influence of the economy, culture and production technology of the Central Plains countries, after "ten years of reunion and ten years of lessons", the Qiantang River Basin has laid a solid foundation and developed rapidly. After the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Jiangnan was spared from war for hundreds of years, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was opened in Sui and Tang Dynasties. The shipping industry in Ningbo and Wenzhou expanded, and foreign economic and trade exchanges were frequent. Especially in the Five Dynasties (AD 907), Wu Yueqian (LIU Liu) built Hangzhou as its capital, with a developed economy and culture, a sharp increase in population and a prosperous business. It was once known as "a 20-mile parallel wall with 430,000 rooms". All these have all affected the rise and development of cooking. At that time, cooking skills such as palace dishes and folk diets have made great progress. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang called Hangzhou "the heavenly palace on the ground". During the second great migration of the Chinese nation, a large number of celebrities, giants and working people in the north moved southward and settled in Zhejiang, which brought the culinary culture of Beijing. On the land of the south of the Yangtze River, economy and urban construction go hand in hand, foreign trade and tourism are in the ascendant, and the cooking skills between the north and the south are widely exchanged, which promotes the innovation and development of southern cuisine centered on Hangzhou. [Song] Wu Zimu's "Dream of Liang Lu", Volume 16, "Divide Tea Shops", recorded that there were as many as 280 kinds of colorful dishes in Hangzhou at that time, and various cooking techniques reached more than 15. There were many exquisite and luxurious restaurants, and ordinary food shops were "everywhere", with both cooking flavors in the north and the south, and the food market was prosperous.
For hundreds of years since the Southern Song Dynasty, although the political center is in the north, Zhejiang is bound to be one of the rich in words and materials, developed in culture and prosperous in industry and commerce.
After the founding of New China, the catering industry in Zhejiang has developed rapidly, with numerous restaurants and restaurants, dazzling array of dishes, and increasingly complete service categories. It has established a backbone team of well-trained senior chefs, which has become an important sector of the tertiary industry of the national economy and an indispensable industry in people's lives. With the improvement of social material and culture, people's lifestyle and dietary structure have undergone profound changes. Eating nutrition, hygiene and diversified tastes have become the general requirements of urban and rural people. In the production practice, the vast number of chefs have used their unique dietary resources and exerted superb skills to cook more than 3,000 delicious dishes with different tastes, which have added countless exotic flowers to the food market in Zhejiang. Famous chefs and gourmets in Zhejiang have made great contributions to the development of the cooking industry in the motherland.
As early as the Song Dynasty, Chen Renyu, a native of Taizhou, and Zanning, a native of Deqing, summed up the cooking experience of using local specialties. In the Southern Song Dynasty, two female cooking experts, Wu of Pujiang, wrote Zhong Fu Lu, which collected 76 kinds of cooking methods in southwestern Zhejiang, and the other was Song Wusao, whose name and "Song Saoyu Soup" were immortal. [Ming] Pan Qingqu, a famous chef in Cixi, wrote the "Gluttony Spectrum", which recorded in detail 4 12 kinds of exquisite dishes in Zhejiang and other places. Up to the Qing Dynasty, more books were written, especially "Tiaodingji", a cookbook recommended by Yue Jian, a Shaoxing boy, and "Suiyuan Food List" by Yuan Mei, a famous writer, which brought together many flavor dishes in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, combined the cooking experience of ancient China with the chef's practical activities, systematically sorted them out and rose to theory. These documents have had a long-lasting impact on the culinary world of later generations, and many of them can still be seen in restaurants and restaurants all over Zhejiang today. Contemporary chefs critically study and inherit this cultural heritage, bringing forth the old and bringing forth the new, further enriching and enriching the cooking treasure house of "Zhejiang cuisine". Feng Yuesheng, a famous chef in Hangzhou, was sent to Czechoslovakia by the state as a cooking expert in the 1950s to teach the cooking techniques of China cuisine. After returning to China, he has been devoted to the research and innovation of Hangzhou cuisine. Jin Cifan, a master cook in southern Zhejiang, studied cooking theory hard, paid attention to practice and had a deep foundation. 1983 participated in the national technical performance appraisal meeting of famous chefs and won the title of "National Excellent Chef". Wu Guoliang, a famous chef in Tianxianglou, Hangzhou, was invited to Philadelphia, USA, to teach cooking skills and enjoyed a good reputation across the ocean. There are also many famous chefs who have their own unique skills. For example, Jiang Shuigen is good at cooking "West Lake Vinegar Fish" and is known as "Contemporary Sister-in-law". Ding Meixuan is good at knife work, making traditional delicacies and having a unique style. Chen Ada's skills are comprehensive, sophisticated, clean and neat, and the dishes are good in color, flavor and style. Xu Xianglin is good at food carving and cold meat craft platter, which is unique and vivid, harmonious and pleasing to the eye.
Zhejiang cuisine has experienced a long history of development, especially in modern times, when culinary workers carefully studied, explored and improved it, which made the system of "Zhejiang cuisine" complete and unified day by day. It was composed of four local schools represented by Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Wenzhou. Since the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou has been an important economic and cultural center in Southeast China. Its cooking skills are in the same strain, and its dishes are exquisite, fresh, crisp, elegant and delicate, which are the mainstream of Zhejiang cuisine, such as Dongpo meat, sliced ham, vinegar fish from West Lake, shrimp with Longjing in Song Saoyu soup, braised bamboo shoots in oil, bean curd with eight treasures, and water shield soup from West Lake, all of which reflect the flavor characteristics of "Hangzhou cuisine". Ningbo and Shaoxing are close to the East China Sea and have the advantages of fishing and salt plains. The unique taste of "fresh and salty" is more common, and the dishes are informative, with strong color and taste. In terms of ingredients, most of the "Ning dishes" are seafood, such as Ningbo Xuecai soup with yellow croaker, pot-cooked eel, yellow croaker soup, three-silk mixed clams, and Fenghua shake clams. "Shaocai" is famous for its seafood poultry, which is rich in rural flavor. The waste vegetables and tofu dishes cooked with Shaoxing distiller's grains are full of pastoral flavor, such as braised pork with dried vegetables, chicken with white buttons, shrimp with bad sauce, fish with tofu, clear soup and fish balls. Wenzhou, known as "Ou" in ancient times, is located in the south coast of Zhejiang Province. The language, customs, diet and daily life of local residents are all self-contained, and it is known as "the famous town of Dongou". "Oucai" is mainly seafood, with fresh taste, light but not thin. Cooking pays attention to "two light and one heavy" (light oil, light thicken and heavy knife work). The representative dishes are three-silk fish, fried cuttlefish flower, splendid shredded fish, yellow croaker with two flavors, orange fish brain and orange fish brain.
"Zhejiang cuisine" is based on the above four schools. On the whole, it has obvious characteristic style. In a word, it has the following four aspects:
First, the selection of materials should be "fine, special, fresh and tender". The four seasons in Zhejiang are rich in natural products, such as the sea, rivers, lakes, plains, hills, mountains and various farms, which provide inexhaustible material resources for the four seasons' dishes to meet the market in turn.
First, the selection of "Zhejiang cuisine" should be meticulous, and the essence of the materials should be used to make the dishes elegant and superior;
Second, special products are used to make the dishes have obvious local characteristics;
Third, stress freshness, so that the dishes keep pure taste;
Fourth, seek tenderness, so that the dishes are fresh and crisp. Where seafood is fresh, it must be fresh and delicious, especially in the season; All poultry and livestock are specialties, such as Xiaoshan chicken, Fenghua goose, Shaoxing duck, Jinhua ham, Hu sheep, South meat, etc. All fruits and vegetables are based on freshness, and the so-called "four seasons' order, the winners retreat, the essence has been exhausted, and the clothes are removed."
Second, cooking is good at frying, frying, stewing, slipping, steaming and burning. Haicuo river fresh cooking has a unique side. "The method of cooking is the most important thing." There are more than 30 kinds of cooking methods commonly used in Zhejiang cuisine. Because of the skill of materials and varied tastes, they are especially good at six kinds:
Stir-frying is good at frying, and strives to cook quickly; Fried vegetables are soft and tender outside, just right; Stewed vegetables are tender and mellow, and the soup has a unique flavor; Slippery vegetables are crisp (slippery), tender and moist, and the marinade is fragrant; Steamed vegetables pay attention to heat and ingredients, and the main ingredients need fresh and delicious products; The cooked dishes are soft and tasty, and the aroma is palatable.
Most of these cooking methods are in line with the characteristics of raw materials and are suitable for the people in the south of the Yangtze River to enjoy the light and tender eating customs. The famous chefs in Zhejiang province also have a unique skill in cooking seafood, which is significantly different from cooking fish in the north. Most of the fish cooked in Zhejiang are cooked in water, and about 2/3 of the fish dishes are cooked with water as a heat transfer medium, which highlights the tenderness of the fish and maintains its original taste. For example, the famous West Lake vinegar fish, which is killed by live fish, is cooked in boiling water and made soft, without any oil star. It is smooth, tender and delicious.
Third, the taste pays attention to freshness and crispness, and maintains the true color and true taste of the main ingredients. This is a comprehensive reflection of the objective characteristics of food raw materials, cooking methods and people's eating habits. In summing up his cooking experience, Li Yu, a native of Hangzhou, thinks that "the good things in the world are going their own way" ("Casual Love Story"), which means to eat the original flavor of raw materials, but modern cooking exhibitions show that everything cooked must be assisted in order to achieve "harmony and harmony". "Zhejiang cuisine" is mostly supplemented by fresh and fragrant things such as fresh bamboo shoots, ham, winter mushrooms, hemp mushrooms and seasonal vegetables with green leaves. At the same time, it is very particular about seasoning with Shao wine, onion, ginger, sugar and vinegar, so as to remove fishy smell, stop being tired, hang fresh and smell fragrant. For example, Dongpo meat is stewed with Shao wine instead of water, which is mellow and sweet. The clear soup of Yue chicken is steamed with ham, tender bamboo shoots and mushrooms, and the original soup is fragrant. Sauerkraut soup Yellow croaker is made of pickled mustard and bamboo shoots, and the soup is rich in fragrance. Seafood dishes such as steamed mandarin fish, hibiscus salamander, Zhijiang perch soup and so on are famous for their outstanding main ingredients and pure taste.
Fourth, the form is exquisite and delicate, delicate and elegant. The style of "Zhejiang cuisine" can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty. The Dream of Liang Lu says: "Hang Cheng customs, people who sell food in department stores mostly decorate car covers and dish utensils, so as to show off people's eyes and ears ...".
Nowadays, famous chefs in Zhejiang are good at using a variety of cooking skills and aesthetics, such as knife cutting, color matching, maturity, plate loading, etc., and organically combining essence and beauty, delicacy and cleverness to form a series of delicacies. For example, the thin slices of ham, a traditional famous dish, are uniform in thickness, length and uniformity, and each slice is red and white, which is especially like a river.