Chinese food has experienced four or five thousand years of development. It is composed of imperial court cuisine, official cuisine and local cuisines, with local cuisine as the main body. Its superb cooking skills and rich cultural connotations are world-class.

China has a vast territory, and different natural conditions, people's living habits and economic and cultural development have formed different local flavors in terms of food cooking and dishes. The two major flavors, North and South, began to appear in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and fully formed in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

in the early Qing dynasty,

Shandong cuisine (including the northern regions such as Beijing and Tianjin),

Jiangsu cuisine (including the regional cuisines of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui),

Guangdong cuisine (including the regional cuisines of Fujian, Taiwan, Chaozhou and Qionglai) and

Sichuan cuisine (including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Chongqing)

With the further development of the catering industry, some local cuisines became more and more unique and formed their own factions.

In this way, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Huizhou local cuisines had become the "eight major cuisines", and then Beijing and Shanghai were added, which was called the "ten major cuisines".

despite the proliferation and development of cuisines, people are still used to using the "four major cuisines" and "eight major cuisines" to represent tens of thousands of local cuisines in China.

over the years, how many famous dishes have spread from the people to the court and flowed into the people, spreading all over the country and being famous all over the world.

such as Beijing roast duck and Mapo tofu, Hangzhou Dongpo Meat and West Lake vinegar fish, Jiangsu Crystal Meat and Braised Chicken with Yellow Mud, Shanghai Bass, Shrimp and Black Ginseng, etc.

Anhui famous dishes such as stewed horseshoe turtle and Wuwei smoked duck,

Northeast famous dishes such as braised bear's paw with red sauce, Feilong soup, Goubang smoked chicken and beef pot iron are all world-famous delicacies. Most of these famous dishes have their own development history, which not only embodies exquisite traditional skills, but also has all kinds of beautiful and touching legends or allusions, and has become an important part of Chinese food culture.

This is one thing, and there is another thing:

China cuisine is known as four major flavors and eight major cuisines.

The four major flavors are: Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong and Huaiyang.

The eight major cuisines generally refer to Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Zhejiang cuisine, anhui cuisine cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Fujian cuisine.

with Beijing cuisine and Hubei cuisine, it is the "top ten cuisines".

Shandong cuisine is the first of the eight major cuisines. The formation and development of Shandong cuisine is related to the cultural history, geographical environment, economic conditions and customs of Shandong. Shandong is one of the cradles of ancient Chinese culture. Located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the climate is mild, and the Jiaodong Peninsula protrudes between the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. The territory is criss-crossed, with rivers and lakes criss-crossing, fertile fields, rich products, convenient transportation and developed culture. There are many kinds of vegetables with excellent quality, and it is known as one of the "three major vegetable gardens in the world". For example, Jiaozhou Chinese cabbage, Zhangqiu scallion, Cangshan garlic and Laiwu ginger are well-known at home and abroad.

Cantonese cuisine consists of three local flavors: Guangzhou cuisine, Chaozhou cuisine and Dongjiang cuisine. Guangzhou cuisine includes famous foods in the Pearl River Delta, Zhaoqing, Shaoguan and Zhanjiang. It has the widest area, complicated materials, fine selection of materials, excellent skills, good at changing, exquisite flavor, clear but not light, fresh but not vulgar, tender but not raw, oily but not greasy. Summer and autumn strive to be light, winter and spring are rich, and they are good at stir-frying, which requires mastering the temperature and oil temperature just right. Chaoshan cuisine belongs to Fujian, and its language and customs are similar to those of southern Fujian.

Sichuan cuisine is also a cuisine with a long history, and its birthplace is ancient Pakistan and Shu. According to the records of Huayang National Records, Pakistan "grows five grains locally, and has six animals", and produces fish salt and tea honey; Shu is "the forest is full of fish, the garden is full of fruits and vegetables, and the four generations are ripe, and there is no ambiguity." At that time, the condiments in Pakistan and Shu had brine, rock salt, Sichuan pepper and "Yangpu Ginger". Among the cultural relics unearthed in the cemetery during the Warring States period, there have been various bronzes and pottery utensils, and the germination of Sichuan cuisine can be seen. The formation of Sichuan cuisine was roughly between the unification of Qin Shihuang and the separation of the three countries.

Hunan cuisine, that is, Hunan cuisine, is developed from local cuisines such as Xiangjiang River Basin, Dongting Lake area and mountainous areas in western Hunan. The dishes in Xiangjiang River Basin are centered on Changsha, Hengyang and Xiangtan, and are the main representatives of Hunan cuisine. Its production is fine, the materials are extensive, and there are many varieties. Its characteristics are rich in oil, strong in color and practical. Pay attention to crispy, hot and sour, soft and tender taste. Xiangxi cuisine is good at being fragrant, sour and spicy, and has a strong mountain flavor. Hunan cuisine has a long history. As early as the Han Dynasty, it has formed a cuisine, and its cooking skills have reached a fairly high level.

Fujian cuisine has always been famous for its meticulous selection of ingredients, rigorous knife work, stress on cooking, soup mixing and seasoning, and winning by taste. Its cooking skills have four distinct characteristics. First, it uses meticulous slicing, cutting and cutting to make raw materials with different textures taste thoroughly. Therefore, the knife maker of Fujian cuisine has the reputation of "cutting flowers like plums, shredding them like hair, and making them as thin as paper". For example, in the cold dish "Radish sting", the thin jellyfish skin is cut into 2 ~ 3 pieces each, and then cut into extremely thin shreds, then cooked with shredded radish with the same thickness, cooled and served with seasoning.

the southern cuisine, represented by Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing, became famous earlier. Zhejiang cuisine has a long history. People in the capital opened restaurants in the south, using northern cooking methods to make the rich raw materials in the south delicious, and "cooking in the south and cooking in the north" became a major feature of Zhejiang cuisine. For example, in the past, the taste of southerners was not sweet, but after northerners went south, it affected the taste of southerners, and sugar was also put in the dishes. After Bianjing famous dish "Sweet and Sour Yellow River Carp" arrived in Lin 'an, it was cooked into Zhejiang famous dish "West Lake Vinegar Fish" with fish as raw material.

Jiangsu cuisine is the local flavor of Jiangsu. Jiangsu is a place where famous chefs gather. The first professional chef named after Chinese classics and the first city named after the chef's surname are here. Making pheasant soup for Emperor Yao, it was named Da Peng Guo, which is today's Xuzhou, hence the name Peng Keng, also known as Peng Zu. In the Xia and Yu dynasties, "Huai Yi Gong Yu" and Huai Bai Yu were all tributes until the Ming and Qing Dynasties. "The person with beautiful dishes has the beauty of the region", and the leek flower, a beautiful vegetable in Taihu Lake in Shang Tang's time, has become an elegant hall. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Yi Ya of Qi once taught in Xuzhou, and his creation of "mutton with fish belly hidden" has been passed down through the ages, which is the origin of the word "fresh" ...

Huizhou cuisine in southern Anhui is the main representative of Huizhou cuisine, which originated in Shexian County at the foot of Huangshan Mountain, that is, Huizhou in ancient times. Later, Tunxi Town on Xin 'an River became the distribution center of famous teas such as "Qihong" and "Tunlu" and local products such as Huimo and Sheyan, and the catering industry was developed. The focus of Huizhou cuisine gradually shifted to Tunxi, where it was further developed. Song Gaozong once asked Wang Zao, who was a bachelor, and Wang Zao cited Mei Shengyu's poems to answer "Oxtail Beaver in Snow, Horseshoe Turtle in Sand". Cowtail civet is civet, also known as white forehead. Huizhou cuisine is good at cooking, stewing and steaming, while frying and frying are less, with heavy oil, heavy color and heavy fire.

relying on Hubei's unique freshwater fishery resources, "Hubei cuisine" has become a "dark horse" in China's catering industry with its growing reputation and market share.

The 5th National Cooking Technology Competition and Wuhan Food Culture Festival held a press conference. According to reports, the market share of "Hubei cuisine" in the catering industry in Hubei only accounts for 61%. At that time, many Hubei people did not like to eat "Hubei cuisine". Since then, Hubei has begun to implement the plan to revitalize Hubei cuisine: first, evaluate 11 Hubei cuisine masters, improve the popularity of famous chefs, and encourage them to run their own hotels, or be technical consultants of famous hotels, or take apprentices to pass on their skills; The second is to select 111 famous flavor shops in the province to attract foreign customers; The third is to select 111 famous "Hubei cuisine" and standardize its technological operation process.

"Food is the most important thing for the people", and the prosperity of a society is based on adequate food and clothing. China's food culture is profound and exquisite, and it is an important part of national traditional culture.