"Huayang Guozhi Shuzhi" says: Shu people are "still fragrant". Some people think that the history that modern Sichuanese like to eat Chili can be traced back to the "spicy" custom of ancient Shu people, which is a big misunderstanding.

Chili gourmet

Although the word "Xin" means "spicy" in today's dictionary, the so-called "Xin" taste of the ancients is not the taste of pepper. The so-called spicy taste of the ancients refers to the pungent smell of ginger and onion. The ancients had another saying of "five flavors" or "five meats", especially five spicy dishes; But there are no peppers in traditional spicy dishes in China. The origin of pepper is obviously not in China.

According to George Peter Mudak, an American anthropologist, English peppers are taken from the language of the Aztecs (a branch of North American Indians) in ancient Mexico, and their food is rich in flavor. "Especially peppers are used to make Satra spicy soy sauce or seasonings for almost every food.

Pepper is native to Central and South America. It was originally the most important condiment for Indians. At the end of15th century, it was spread to Europe by the Spanish.

/kloc-At the end of 0/6, pepper was introduced to China, and it was called "pepper". In the Ming Dynasty, Caohuapu recorded an exotic grass flower named "Fanjiao". During 159 1 year, pepper was introduced and cultivated as an ornamental flower in China, but it has not been used in diet. During the Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty, peppers were eaten as vegetables by China people. According to reports, the earliest people who ate Chili peppers in China were all in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the so-called "Xiajiang people". Because peppers originally came from overseas, Xiajiang area bears the brunt, and it is reasonable for Xiajiang people to try these new foods first. When Xiajiang people were addicted to peppers, Sichuanese didn't know what peppers were. During the Qianlong period, Li Huanan and his son Li Yuantiao compiled Fu Zi's "Wake Up the Garden", which is the earliest special work reflecting the history of Sichuan cuisine. However, the whole book does not use the shadow of pepper. During the Jiaqing period from the end of Qing Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty, records of pepper planting began to be seen in Sichuan county annals.

During the reign of Jia Dao, peppers were widely planted in western Sichuan. The "sea pepper" that people in western Sichuan often say, just like the "pepper" that people in the Ming Dynasty said, tells us that it comes from a foreign country. During the Jiaqing period, pepper has entered the circulation field as a commodity in the eastern Sichuan area with Chongqing as the center. The Selected Archives of Jiadaoba County in Qinggan compiled by the History Department of Sichuan University and the Sichuan Provincial Archives shows that Nanchuan, which is located at the junction of Sichuan and Guizhou, is rich in peppers. The fifth volume of Daoguang Nanchuan County Records Native Vegetables in the first year of Xianfeng has a name of "pepper", which should be the local people's title for pepper. The Daoguang period in Zunyi, Guizhou Province, which is adjacent to Nanchuan, was also influenced by Sichuanese, and peppers were widely planted. However, experts concluded that pepper was introduced into China not by land but by sea. No wonder Sichuanese call it "sea pepper"!

At the end of Qing Dynasty, peppers were widely planted in rural areas of Sichuan, with quite complete varieties. According to the Survey of Chengdu compiled by Fu Chongju in Xuantong Yuan, the farm plants in Chengdu are: Dahongpao sea pepper, Chaotianzi sea pepper, Niuzihai pepper, Lantern sea pepper, Horn sea pepper and Chicken Heart sea pepper. Four seasons vegetables in Chengdu: green pepper in May, red pepper and lantern pepper in June, lantern pepper in July, sea pepper and red pepper in August. Kimchi in Chengdu is made of salt water and wine, and every household has: fish pepper, pickled sea pepper, sea pepper mixed with fish, Chili sauce and bean paste.

The products displayed by foreign farmers include Yanting County Pepper, Shifang County Zhu Dinghong Pepper, Jingyan County Pepper, Nanjiang County Pepper, Bishan County Red Pepper, Xichang County Pepper, Jintang County Gaoshu Pepper, Liangshan County Honey Pepper, Xinjin County Boutique Red Pepper, Neijiang County Qixing Pepper, Hot Sauce, Douban, Pengxi County and so on. Nanbu county Horn Red Pepper, Qiongzhou Sea Pepper Seed and Bean Office, Wenjiang Bean Office and Pea Office, Wanxian Tree Pepper, Lezhi Horn Pepper, Lantern Pepper and Wuzi Pepper.

Pepper seeds in Yingjing County, line pepper and chicken heart pepper in Shuangliu County, spicy bean office in Meizhou, spicy cowpea and pickled pepper in sauce, long gold bar sea pepper and red tofu in pengshan county, sea pepper in Hezhou, sea pepper in Shizhu Hall, horn pepper in Jiangbei Hall, sea pepper seeds, pickled sea pepper and bean office in Chengdu County, and red pepper and sea pepper in Huayang County. Sea pepper in Zhongzhou, bean paste in Shehong county, pepper in Xindu county, pepper seeds and lanterns in Jianzhou, pepper species in Bazhou, sea pepper in Hejiang county, specialty in Kaixian county, pepper in Qingshen county, sea pepper seeds and hot beans, red bean paste in Pixian county, sauce pepper in guanxian, pepper in Xichong county and pepper in Aodong county.

Five products in Chengdu are: sea pepper powder and hot oil sea pepper. There are 266 kinds of "dishes", among which there are 6 kinds of chili dishes, namely, spicy sea cucumber, hot and sour squid, sliced pepper chicken, spicy chicken, chili vinegar fish and shredded pork with new peppers, accounting for only 2.25%. The vegetable prices of Chengdu South Restaurant are 480 spicy chicken, 320 spicy fish, 640 chili pepper sea cucumber and 480 pepper chicken. There are 1 13 kinds of common dishes in Chengdu, among which spicy strips are: Sichuan-style pork belly, sliced Chili meat, spicy chicken, pepper chicken, cold belly, mixed pig ears, cold tongue, cold rice noodles, cold rice noodles, cold large intestine head and fried meat with sea pepper, totaling1/kloc- At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, spicy food in Chengdu snacks increased, especially among young men and women. Young men and women in Chengdu still like to eat spicy snacks.

In Tsui Hark's Notes on Qing Dynasty, it is said that people who are addicted to food have different eating habits because they are still used to it. Take it as an example, northerners like onions and garlic, people in Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Sichuan like spicy products, Cantonese like light food, and Sioux people like sugar. Among the four spicy provinces, Hunan and Hubei have the highest enthusiasm for peppers. "People in Hunan and Hubei eat two meals a day, and they like to eat spicy products. Although they ate before the abbot, they were full of mistakes. " The eating habits in various places are so distinct that they should be gradually formed from the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Although Sichuanese love to eat sea pepper, Sichuan flavor is not the word "spicy". According to statistics, there are more than 3,000 kinds of Sichuan cuisine, among which the proportion of spicy dishes is less than 30%.