Eating in Yangzhou has long been praised by the world, and there is a saying that "eat in Yangzhou, wear in Suzhou and play in Hangzhou". It can be seen that Yangzhou people have long been famous for their exquisite diet. Yangzhou food culture is rich in regional, folk customs and social environment. It is an important part of Yangzhou's history and culture, bringing infinite glory and pride to the city, and it is a shining golden signboard. At the 200 1 Shanghai APEC meeting, the news that Bush had a special liking for "Yangzhou fried rice" suddenly appeared in the global media, which greatly improved the popularity of Yangzhou cuisine.
The formation of Yangzhou catering culture
The ancestors of Yangzhou had already got rid of the ignorance of eating animals and drinking blood as early as 4000 years ago. In 468 BC, Fu Cha, the king of Wu, destroyed the ancient Han kingdom, dug Han ditch and built Seoul, which was of epoch-making value not only to Yangzhou urban construction, but also to Yangzhou cooking. The record of "Wu Wang Guan Hu" used as a wine paddle and the "hard seal" unearthed in Jinba, northwest of the city show that Fucha introduced a whole set of dietary experience in the late Spring and Autumn Period. This is the first work that foreign food culture has influenced Yangzhou cooking. The battle between the seven heroes in the Warring States period led to the return of Yangzhou cuisine to Chu, and Yangzhou cuisine strode to the realm of civilization, winning the title of "Huaiyang cuisine in East Chu". After the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bi, the king of Wu in the Western Han Dynasty, built Guangling and Yangzhou as its capital, becoming the capital of southeast China. Because the country is strong and the people are rich, they naturally don't feel hungry, so they eat well and eat well. Lacquerware utensils such as bronze ding, bowls, plates and pots unearthed in Yangzhou are very exquisite, reflecting the exquisite diet of Yangzhou people at that time. In the Sui Dynasty, Yangzhou cooking achieved a second-to-none leap in the world! Thanks to one person-Emperor Yang Di. The ancient canal connects the five major water systems of the sea, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River and the Guizhou River, and immediately promotes Yangzhou to the position of the national hub for the exchange of cooking talents, skills and raw materials. Beans, wheat and miscellaneous grains in the north go south, and grain, tea, fruit, salt and aquatic products in the south go north, all of which will enter Yangcheng. On the other hand, Yang Di was very lucky in Jiangdu. He brought the Central Plains cuisine from Chang 'an and Luoyang to the Sui Palace in Yangcheng by dragon boat, and then spread it abroad. By the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou had developed into the southeast economic center. The bright moon is very important in the world, and Yangzhou accounts for two points! "Every businessman meets his wife at sunset, and the spring breeze and wine of a city merge." Yangzhou's food market is stimulated to be hot and its cooking skills are superb. The excavation of marine fish fossils in Yangzhou in Tang Dynasty shows that cooking materials have changed from livestock, poultry, seafood and wild vegetables to seafood! Yangzhou's delicious food has attracted great attention of the royal family and become a first-class tribute. When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei appeased An Lushan, they gave gifts to the palace, including Yangzhou's "flat-mouthed golden spoon". All these factors make Yangzhou develop to a new peak. In A.D. 1 125, Jin people invaded and fled to Yangzhou City in a hurry, and the collision between the styles of north and south cuisines finally broke out in Yangzhou. Emperor Gaozong and 40,000 members of the royal family also fled into Yangzhou City. Although Yangzhou city was plundered in the end, it is also a fact that the catering industry developed abnormally under the background of national subjugation. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the prosperous period of Kanggan, Huaiyang cuisine entered the second climax. Kangxi Qianlong's southern tour, Yangzhou cuisine is unprecedented. According to the Record of Yangzhou Painting Boat, "before and after going to the street, there are big kitchens in the hall to prevent the boss from having a hundred lawsuits for drinking." The intervention of literati was the catalyst for Yangzhou cuisine to reach its peak in the middle of Qing Dynasty. Literature has been involved in Yangzhou cuisine since Han Fu, Tang Poetry and Song Poetry, but especially in the Qing Dynasty, we can now enjoy at least 200 poems about the history of eating, picking materials, eating vegetables, banquets, cooking, restaurants, eating customs and drinking, which makes Huaiyang cuisine more elegant and greatly enhances the cultural taste. After the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up for more than 20 years, the stories of spring have been sung everywhere in Yangzhou cuisine. Contemporary Huaiyang cuisine, symbolized by A Dream of Red Mansions, has pushed food culture, food science and food art to a new commanding height with newer, greater momentum, more sophisticated skills and more beautiful pursuit!
Characteristics of Yangzhou Food Culture
Mr. Feng Qiyong, President of the Red Cross Society of China, wrote after eating Yangzhou's classic food "A Dream of Red Mansions Banquet": "The world food belongs to Yangzhou, and three sets of ducks stew silver carp heads. Last night, there was a new banquet in the Red Chamber, and Kyushu was gluttonous. " Zhang Qijun, a famous gourmet in Taiwan Province, once predicted that "1,400 years of prosperity will eventually make Yangzhou the center of life enjoyment in the south; Its dishes have become representatives of southern cuisine. " Yangzhou food is divided into two parts: Yangzhou cuisine and Yangzhou snacks.
The main characteristics of Yangzhou cuisine are: strict selection of materials, meticulous knife work, prominent main ingredients, attention to original flavor, attention to pyrotechnics, good at stewing, mellow soup, thick but not greasy, light and fresh, unique shape, slightly salty and sweet, suitable for both north and south. Yangzhou chefs are good at food carving. Yangzhou cuisine is represented by Yangzhou Santou: Dream of Red Mansions Banquet, Santou Banquet and Whole Lotus Root Banquet are the three pearls of Yangzhou cuisine.
The banquet in A Dream of Red Mansions is an innovation of the dishes in A Dream of Red Mansions. The author Cao Xueqin has lived in Yangzhou for a long time, and his grandfather Cao Yin once hosted a banquet for Liu Sibai when he went to Yangzhou to meet Emperor Kangxi. Feng Qiyong, a famous redologist, said: "The red chamber cuisine is the real Yangzhou cuisine." .
Three-head banquet is a banquet developed from three famous traditional dishes in Yangzhou: braised silver carp head, stewed lion head and roasted whole pig head. Lion's head, fat and tender, not greasy; Silver carp head, mellow taste; The whole pig's head is fragrant and full of local flavor.
All-lotus banquet, known as "Water Country Zeguo" and "Lotus Country Baoying", has created more than 50 kinds of lotus root dishes according to ancestral production methods, forming a unique all-lotus root mat. This dish launched by Baoying Hotel has been well received by Chinese and foreign guests.
Yangzhou cuisine not only retains the original Huaiyang three-head banquet, Fuchun steamed stuffed bun and roasted tail banquet, but also innovates a series of dishes, such as Qionghua banquet, seafood banquet, chrysanthemum crab banquet, game banquet, eight strange banquet, court banquet, Qianlong royal banquet, vegetarian banquet and hot pot series. And its specialties such as boiled shredded pork, crossing the bridge with generals, sweet-scented osmanthus with vinegar and three sets of ducks are even more indispensable. To taste authentic specialties, it is most affordable to go to Yangzhou's time-honored brand. The taste is not only authentic, but the price is relatively moderate. You can also go to hotels and restaurants or Yangzhou food street and other places.
Let's take a look at the snacks in Yangzhou. Snacks in Yangzhou usually refer to cold dishes, stir-fried dishes, banquets, popular snacks and snacks and foods made by the people except big dishes. Yangzhou snacks are mainly tender yeast, warm dough, shortbread, noodles and seasonal snacks. Dim sum is good at thin skin and big stuffing. The combination of skin and stuffing is suitable, and the stuffing is changeable to adapt to the season. Noodles are waxy and tough, rich in soup, covered with various toppings, and delicious. Flavor snacks are mostly seasonal wild vegetables with meat and preserved fruits, which change with the seasons. Dim sum seasoning tends to be fresh and crisp, highlighting the main flavor. Salty with sweetness, fresh with sweetness; The sweetness is sticky, smooth, sweet and pure, which has the characteristics of rich and affordable snacks in the north and fine and colorful snacks in the south. The shape and quality are unified and the materials are exquisite, forming its own characteristics.
The top ten points are: Sanding Steamed Bun, Melaleuca Oil Cake, Double Sesame Cake, Emerald Steamed Bun, Dried Vegetable Steamed Bun, Wild Duck Cabbage Steamed Dumpling, Glutinous Rice Steamed Dumpling, Crab Steamed Dumpling, Cecer Steamed Dumpling and Shredded Chicken Roll.
The top ten flavor snacks are: bamboo shoot pot stickers, Yangzhou cakes, crab shell yellow, fried eggs, salty pot stickers, radish crisp cakes, shredded chicken rolls, three fresh pot stickers, sweet-scented osmanthus sugar lotus root porridge and three-color oil dumplings.
The top ten special snacks are: Sixi jiaozi, raw lotus root clip, tofu roll, bamboo shoots, red bean jiaozi, Wuren cake, scallion cake, Huangqiao biscuit, shrimp dumplings and bamboo shoot wonton.
These famous spots can be tasted in almost all food streets in Yangzhou. In addition, some time-honored brands also have various snacks.
Due to the variety and different understanding of China's culinary arts, there is still no consensus on how many cuisines there are in China. But whether it is the four major cuisines (Shandong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Huaiyang cuisine) or the eight major cuisines (Beijing cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Guangdong cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and Hubei cuisine), Huaiyang cuisine is among them, and of course Weiyang cuisine. This is enough to show the historical origin of Huaiyang cuisine and its influence in the whole country and even overseas! Huaiyang cuisine has been one of the four major cuisines for a long time, and its development process is essentially a process of continuous innovation. On the basis of excavating and developing the special dishes of this cuisine and maintaining its own traditional techniques, it also absorbs the advantages and advantages of various cuisines, and constantly improves and optimizes its cooking skills for our use, thus introducing new varieties of colors. Society is progressing, culture is developing and life is changing. Facing the increasingly fierce market competition, Huaiyang cuisine should certainly keep pace with the times. On the basis of maintaining the traditional characteristics, we will continue to intensify innovation, adapt to the colorful life, meet various needs, make contributions to the development and reconstruction of Yangzhou, and add luster to the catering industry in China.