The cuisine of China's food culture refers to its own system after long-term evolution due to the differences in climate, geography, history, products and food customs in a certain area. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the flavors of northern and southern dishes in food culture showed differences. By the Tang and Song Dynasties, the southern food and the northern food formed their own systems. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the pattern of sweet in the north and salty in the south was formed. At that time, there were two main tastes in China. Northerners liked sweet food and southerners liked salty food. At that time, China didn't eat "spicy" food, because pepper had not been introduced to China.

The formation of cuisines is also related to local products. For example, there are many cattle and sheep in northern China, and they often cook with beef and mutton. South China is prolific in aquatic products and poultry, and people like to eat fish and meat. There are many seafood along the coast of China, and seafood is used for cooking. By the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine had become the most influential local cuisines at that time, and were called "four major cuisines". By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, four new local cuisines, namely Zhejiang Cuisine, Fujian Cuisine, Hunan Cuisine and Anhui Cuisine, were differentiated and formed, and * * * together constituted the "eight major cuisines" of China's traditional diet.

Shandong cuisine, which originated from Qilu flavor in Shandong, is the only self-styled cuisine among the four traditional cuisines (also the eight traditional cuisines) in China, with the longest history, the richest techniques, the highest difficulty and the most skillful skills. Some people describe the "eight major cuisines" in an anthropomorphic way: Shandong cuisine is like the northern emperor who reigns in the world; Sichuan and Hunan cuisine are like celebrities with rich connotations and talents; Guangdong and Fujian cuisine are like romantic and elegant sons; Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui cuisines are like beautiful women in the south of the Yangtze River.

In China, besides Shandong cuisine (Shandong), Sichuan cuisine (Sichuan), Guangdong cuisine (Guangdong), Jiangsu cuisine (Jiangsu), Fujian cuisine (Fujian), Zhejiang cuisine (Zhejiang), Hunan cuisine (Hunan) and Anhui cuisine (Anhui), there are also Northeast cuisine (three northeastern provinces) and Jiangxi cuisine. In the past history, Shandong cuisine has always played the role of the leader of the rivers and lakes.

Generally speaking, Shandong cuisine represents the cuisine of the whole northern region, Sichuan cuisine represents the southwest region, Guangdong cuisine represents the south China region, and Huaiyang cuisine represents the east region. Experts and scholars recognize that Shandong cuisine is the most influential. It originated in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and flourished in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is located closest to the political center of the Central Plains, and it has become a royal dish because of the convenience of going to the temple. In addition, officials, businessmen and students from all directions will bring some techniques of Shandong cuisine to their hometown after living in Beijing for a period of time. Eight major cuisines are more or less influenced by Shandong cuisine.

Qilu is known as the hometown of Confucius and Mencius, and the strength of Confucian culture makes Shandong cuisine catch the train of mainstream culture, occupying a greater advantage in communication, making its influence and communication breadth unparalleled. Shandong cuisine combines Jiaodong cuisine, jinan cuisine cuisine, Boshan cuisine, Confucian cuisine and so on, and the inheritance of Confucian cuisine is the most systematic. The reason is that Confucian cuisine, as the largest "family" in China, has been passed down for generations. Confucian cuisine is the concrete embodiment of Confucius' dietary concept of "never tire of delicacy, never tire of delicacy". It is a typical official dish, with fine selection of materials, exquisite cooking and exquisite containers, profound meaning of the name, simplicity and elegance, and solemn banquet etiquette.

Shandong cuisine is the birthplace of China's dietetic philosophy, and the Confucian philosophy of "never getting tired of eating essence" and "harmony of five flavors" laid the philosophical orientation and aesthetic standard of Chinese cuisine. Shandong cuisine is the cuisine with the most techniques, with more than 60 kinds, and it is difficult to master, which is the most test of all cuisines. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of dishes from Shandong cuisine entered the palace, reaching the peak of exquisite elegance. Shandong cuisine is still the most populous cuisine, and the home cooking in Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi and Northeast China is Shandong cuisine, which is unmatched by any cuisine.

During the Republic of China, the famous "Eight Buildings" in Beijing and now the famous Shandong cuisine restaurants in Beijing, such as Jingya, Jas Pouch Lee, Baorui, Four Seasons Chang 'an, Qilu Jingdian and Fengzeyuan, are all high-end Shandong cuisine hotels, where you can eat formal banquet-level Shandong cuisine. The famous dishes of Shandong cuisine include bird's nest in clear soup, sea cucumber roasted with onion, sweet and sour carp, nine-turn large intestine, crispy in oil, braised elbow in pot, four-eat live turtle, sliced bear's paw in cloud, three-silk shark's fin, sliced hibiscus chicken, stewed mullet eggs, fried chicken diced with sauce and grilled shark's fin ... These famous dishes are the concrete strength of Shandong cuisine as the "first of the cuisine".

But to be honest, Shandong cuisine with so many auras is declining now, and it is unfamiliar to everyone when it comes to Shandong cuisine. There are many reasons. It takes ten years to train a Shandong cuisine chef, and it takes half a month to prepare Shandong cuisine materials for a banquet. Many chefs cooperate, and the time, economy and labor costs are too high, so it can only be used for high-standard banquets. Shandong cuisine has been eating its roots, and its innovation has been suspended. In addition, Shandong cuisine is salty and does not conform to modern eating habits. Some people say that Shandong cuisine is an official dish, Sichuan cuisine is a civilian dish, Guangdong cuisine is a commercial dish, and Huaiyang cuisine is a literati dish. Others joked that Shandong cuisine was the first of the eight major cuisines, because it was in the Qing Dynasty when the eight major cuisines were evaluated, and the dishes in the palace of the Qing court were mainly Shandong cuisine, so it was natural to put Shandong cuisine in the first place.

After the reform and opening up, the spread of Sichuan cuisine is the fastest, because of its convenient materials and simple operation. The simplest couple can open a Sichuan cuisine restaurant with a pot, a table and a handful of peppers, which is difficult for Shandong cuisine to do. There is also the saying that "three years of Sichuan cuisine, ten years of Shandong cuisine", which means that it takes three years to learn to cook Sichuan cuisine, but it takes ten years to learn to cook Shandong cuisine. Today, with high labor costs, it is difficult to promote Shandong cuisine, which is one of the reasons why there are more Sichuan restaurants and fewer Shandong restaurants on the street. The spicy and fragrant taste of Sichuan cuisine is quite suitable for northerners. It can be said that Sichuan cuisine is now the first cuisine in China.