One table for 20 years.
At the end of April this year, I personally tasted Shi Zhengliang's "food culture" at the Wenchang banquet designed and produced by him. The names of the dishes "Qiqu Su Zhen" and "Damiao Ground Silkworm" make people curious. With the appearance of a series of dishes, the mystery in my heart is more intense-the dishes on the dining table are "not amazing", and even a radish carving we usually see is not seen. How can it be a good feast? Shi Zhengliang, who walked from the kitchen to the stage, said with a smile, "The food is really beautiful, but beauty is the artistic conception. If there are more decorations than dishes, diners will not have enough to eat and there will be too many tables. "
The "Eight Golden Lions" on the dining table makes people feel like meatballs they usually eat, but Shi Zhengliang has his explanation, which is actually a portrayal of the eight local landscapes. "Don't look down upon these dishes. I studied Wenchang culture for more than 20 years before I designed today's dishes and came up with the names of these dishes. " Shi Zhengliang said that there were few cooking materials about Wenchang, and all the recorded allusions and county records were invited home and entered his mind. After 20 years of accumulation, he finally got the inspiration of cooking from a cultural perspective, combined local culture, legends and dishes, and endowed dishes with the concept of medical health preservation. The dish "steamed chicken with sprouts" comes from the local legends of "lame mat" and "field mat" Legend has it that at that time, the local people had to catch meetings twice a month, and everyone pooled their spare money for dinner, among which pork, beef and other' big five meats and small five meats' could not be eaten, so he made this' chicken dish' that did not include' fasting'. I think of Zhang Yazi's treatment of poverty, and he doesn't accept money after seeing a doctor for the poor ... "
Shi Zhengliang said that as long as you have a general understanding of Wenchang culture, every dish will be associated with many names. "Legend, story, the most important thing is to have some historical facts, not far-fetched, cooking is to do culture. It takes decades to express the cultural connotation of dishes through the form of dishes. I have been designing menus for more than two months. " Shi Zhengliang said that his cooking is like a play, a cultural play.
interview
Reading notes
Interviewing Shi Zhengliang is a very accidental opportunity. The first person to meet the reporter was not himself, but the "Wenchang Banquet" he designed. At the banquet, every dish was endowed with a strong cultural atmosphere. How can ordinary tofu cabbage be associated with Qiqushan Zhang Fei? Shi Zhengliang, the "hero behind the scenes", spoke in front of his finished product, giving reporters the impression of a literate person.
The chef in my impression should be chubby and good at making pots. Shi Zhengliang's image surprised the reporter a little. He was thin and didn't take the initiative to say anything about knives and spoons during the whole interview. Culture is the most talked about, and he repeatedly said that "cooking is doing culture".
Poets love to say that "Kung Fu is beyond poetry", and Shi Zhengliang said that the kung fu of famous chefs is beyond knives and spoons. Knife skill and delicacy are only the basic skills of a chef, and it is the job of a chef to make dishes as artistic as poems, books and paintings. Design and create new dishes and banquets with connotation, and inherit the Millennium food culture. Although the kitchen is a small art, it actually contains a big "Tao".
The interview with Shi Zhengliang started in Zitong, but ended in Mianyang, because it was his "studio". Going to Mianyang is Shi Zhengliang's "strong" demand. He wants to show his talents in the kitchen where he often works and make a table of "photogenic" food for our photographer. It was also at this time that we realized that the master was very picky when he first started working. He has to run a "studio" with a lot of space to set off the colors of dishes and the utensils of food culture. ...
In the kitchen, we saw Shi Zhengliang's skillful cooking skills. Every stroke and every style were in place accurately. The technology honed for decades made us feel like watching a movie. When the dishes were served, Shi Zhengliang's words "Cooking is doing culture" came to life.
This is Shi Zhengliang's lunch, which is displayed in a room with classical charm. Each dish has a different "prop"-a utensil that sets off the food culture. A green vegetable and a ruddy pork are placed in a shell-shaped tray with flounces and a white porcelain bottom, which highlights the green color of vegetables and the red color of meat ... When saying goodbye to Shi Zhengliang, he was surrounded by Qiu Wei, and the young man won the gold medal in the world cooking competition. Shi Zhengliang said with a smile that in July, he will accept an apprentice, and someone will take over the work of cooking cultural dishes.