The evolution history of Chinese food culture should be considered from several dimensions, such as tools, ingredients and manufacturing technology.

Pre-Qin: Basic way of eating

Due to the limitation of materials and tools, roasting and stewing were the main methods in this period. For example, from the pre-Qin period to the Qin and Han dynasties, the book of songs "Er Ya Shi Cao" and "Artemisia annua" in Guo Pu, Jin noted: "Today, people call the incense of Artemisia annua to be fragrant." The roast here refers to the roast to eat.

Han and Tang Dynasties: Bread and rice are the main melody melody

During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the national strength was strong. Zhang Qian and others not only introduced cucurbits, walnuts, coriander, flax, carrots, pomegranate and other products from the western regions, but also introduced peaches, plums, apricots, pears, ginger, tea and other food culture from the Central Plains to the western regions. It provides convenience for the exchange and integration of various ethnic food cultures. Great changes have taken place in the traditional dietary structure of Hu and Han nationalities, and "eating meat and drinking cheese" began to become the same dietary feature of Hu and Han nationalities in the whole northern and northwestern regions during the Han and Tang Dynasties.

during the Han and Tang dynasties, the staple food structure was mainly cakes and rice. Of the two, cake occupies the main position. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhao Lin said in "The Record of Stories Due to Words" that "the world attached great importance to cakes" at that time, which was a true reflection of the fact that most people in the Tang Dynasty ate cakes. The content of cakes mentioned in the Tang Dynasty is much broader than today. All kinds of shaped pasta except batter can be called cakes. The most representative cakes eaten by Tang people are Hu cakes, steamed cakes and soup cakes.

Song: The whole people love eating out

In the history of China cuisine, the Song Dynasty was a historic turning point, and China people's food began to transition from scarcity to abundance. The cooking techniques that any chef must be familiar with today, such as cooking, roasting, roasting, frying, frying, boiling, stewing, marinating, steaming, waxing, honey and onion pulling, were matured in the Song Dynasty. Now we can taste ham, Dongpo meat, hotpot, sashimi (called "Zuo" by the Song people), fried dough sticks, glutinous rice balls, popcorn, various cakes and other foods and snacks, which were also invented or popular in the Song Dynasty.

Like today's small white-collar workers, ordinary urban white-collar workers in the Song Dynasty were not used to cooking at home, but ate out or ordered takeout.

Yuan: Besides instant-boiled mutton or instant-boiled mutton

By the Yuan Dynasty, the territory of the empire had developed to an unprecedented extent, which also brought about a broad development of food culture. During this period, instant-boiled mutton was born under the push of Kublai Khan; Of course, the Yuan Dynasty was retrogressive in overall culture. The Mongols' Western Expedition and the Muslims of all ethnic groups who came from Persia, Central Asia and Arabia in various capacities or volunteered to come to the east during the Yuan Dynasty merged with the local ethnic groups to become a new ethnic group in the Yuan Dynasty-Hui, and created and developed muslim food culture in China with other Muslim ethnic groups.

Ming: exotic food is dominant

The Ming Dynasty created a splendid culture, one of which is the prosperity of civil economy and civil culture. This culture pays attention to pleasure, which is manifested in the coexistence of palace cuisine (official cuisine) and Jianghu cuisine.

Another major feature of Ming Dynasty diet is the appearance of many exotic ingredients, which greatly enriched the original cuisines and dishes. Tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes), corn and garlic were all introduced into China in the Ming Dynasty, especially the introduction of peppers, which was revolutionary for China's diet. Without pepper, today's Sichuan cuisine and Hunan cuisine could not be formed.

Qing dynasty: the luxury of Manchu-Han banquet

Qing dynasty, which is famous for "Manchu-Han banquet", is the most corrupt period on the tip of the tongue. Eating food in Qing dynasty is extremely luxurious and enjoying all the delicious food in the world, but they didn't expect that every gluttonous feast was followed by a growing crisis, which eventually turned into the late Qing dynasty.