"Every time I bow my head and indulge in weeds, I can pull away from my thoughts, and the soil escapes to another time and space, where the wind is mighty, the Tianhe River is boiling, the stars are scattered, volcanoes collide with glaciers, and the past and the present are twisted into a ball, silent and eternal, and endless freedom." After reading this paragraph, can you imagine sweating and pulling weeds desperately? Cai Zhuer is the only one who is afraid that hard work can be so "shocking".
? The first time I read Cai Zhuer's prose, I fell in love with her involuntarily and couldn't wait to read all her words. When I hold the book "Farming" in my hand, I have an indescribable sense of satisfaction, just like I am about to meet a confidant I have liked for a long time.
This female writer, who has a high degree in the Department of Cultural Studies at Birmingham University, England, has always disliked dancing and writing, but likes wandering in the vegetable market and fields. She looks like a housewife who washes her hands to make soup and sweats to grow vegetables in the fields. It happened that such a writer's style of writing was so neat, just like the words "like a plate of jade pouring beads" smashed into the reader's heart. I love Cai Zhuer's writing very much, as if there is a kind of magic that always captures people's hearts.
As far as women writers who are good at food writing are concerned, the food works of Cai Zhuer and Japanese woman writer Kuniko Mukoda are different. The food written by Cai Zhuer is direct, crisp and neat, emitting a warm aroma, and behind this enthusiasm is an optimistic and positive attitude towards life, which has a subtle function of soul repair. On the other hand, Kuniko Mukoda cuisine has a Japanese-style implicit and lyrical healing effect, which is slow, light and delicious. Both have their own advantages.
The Book of Farming mainly records that after Cai Zhuer moved to an area in Lantau Island, Hong Kong, she had a piece of land that she dreamed of, and she could play freely in this open space and grow her favorite vegetables. This is the happiest thing of "eating food" and can be self-sufficient. However, as we all know, farming is a very hard thing, and besides the weather and natural environment, it is more physical consumption. But in Cai Zhuer's article, I don't see any negative and pessimistic mood. She is more frustrated and braver to grow vegetables. If she can't plant them well, she will come back and she will never get tired of it.
Cai Zhuer not only digs for vegetables and weeds to catch insects, but also pays great attention to the vegetables she grows and the weeds and insects around her. For example, when facing all kinds of weeds in the garden, she will carefully read ancient books, plant series and so on to carefully study these plants, and know their habits like the back of her hand, knowing that citronella and centipede are herbs for diminishing inflammation and removing blood stasis; Weeds such as a column of incense and pueraria lobata can clear away heat and benefit people. Another example is Bite a Little (a kind of blood-sucking flying insects called sand flies) written by her, but it originated from Zhang Ailing's Love of the Whole City. The writing style is fragrant and touching, with some ambiguous emotions. Such an annoying bug has become lively and fragrant in Cai Zhuer's pen, which is really interesting.
After reading Cai Zhuer's Agricultural Books, I really feel that she not only loves to eat, but also knows how to eat. By writing about the process of growing vegetables, she deepened the interpretation of "eating" and exuded a passion for life. Although the process of growing vegetables is hard, the harvest is very attractive. Every time I see her make the harvested vegetables into various delicacies, or stir-fry, or cold, or steam, people can't help but swallow saliva, hoping that the words will immediately become delicacies prepared by her own hands and be swallowed in one gulp. These foods she wrote are simple and easy to operate, as long as the ingredients are slightly processed, just to highlight the original flavor of the food, just like her attitude towards life. "Things in spring and summer are known for clarity, some are beautiful in sweetness, some are wonderful in bitterness, sweet and sour, implicit in implication, dialectical and mutual learning, and tongue and teeth are also the meaning of life."
? Cai Zhuer's pleasure in farming is to plant land, food and an attitude towards life.
? At the same time, I look forward to the upcoming publication of Cai Zhuer's other new book, Braised Cook ~