Zhao Xinfang, whose pen name is Zhao Shi, has been engaged in various types of work and corporate management. Texts of various genres published in recent years are scattered online and in local newspapers. Member of Chongqing Nan'an Writers Association.
There are many literati in the world, and even more foodies. But in ancient China, those who were famous both as scholars and as foodies were indeed very rare. Su Dongpo in the Song Dynasty and Yuan Mei in the Qing Dynasty happened to occupy both ends. It would be doubly interesting to bring them together. (1) Both of them have a special liking for eating, and both regard eating as one of the joys of life
Su Dongpo has a good taste and has loved eating since he was a child. After entering politics, he experienced ups and downs throughout his life. He was first demoted to Huangzhou, then relegated to Huizhou, and finally exiled to Hainan Island. China has a vast territory, and the eating habits, cooking techniques, types of fruits and vegetables, etc. are very different in each place.
Everywhere Su Dongpo went, in addition to names for his political achievements and poems, he also had names for foodies. You enjoy savoring exquisite food. You can also eat simple meals such as "Three Whites", which is known as a bowl of white rice, a plate of white radish, and a spoonful of white coarse salt. You can also find fun in it, such as "Eat three hundred lychees a day and work hard for a long time." "Lingnan native" is really a famous foodie who never gets tired of both fine and coarse food.
Yuan Mei is not like Su Dongpo who eats from the sea with a ladle and a ladle. What he pursues is color, flavor and taste. He once wrote in the poem "Taste":
Tasting in life is like criticizing poetry, but there are sour and salty things that the world does not know.
The first thing to look for is good color and fragrance, when Pearl Fairy Dew is on the market.
After he resigned and settled in Suiyuan, in addition to eating a variety of delicacies cooked by his home kitchen, he also spent a lot of time out and about, looking for delicious food that he didn't know existed. After finding out the truth, in addition to tasting it, I also tried every means to ask for the recipe.
Once, a friend named Jiang invited him to eat tofu, which was fragrant, beautiful in color and tasted good. Yuan Mei was so satisfied after eating it that she immediately asked for the recipe, but Jiang remained silent. Yuan Mei was anxious and expressed her willingness to spend a lot of money to buy it, but Jiang remained silent. Yuan Mei was so anxious that she bowed respectfully to Jiang three times on the spot. When Jiang saw this, he said: "Zicai (named by Yuan Mei) has never bent his waist to serve the powerful, but now he has bent his waist to serve as tofu!" Yan Bi gave him the recipe. Everyone present couldn't help but laughed. (2) The two of them worked hard for food and made great contributions
When it comes to eating, Su Dongpo is not only easy to talk, but also very diligent in using his brain and hands. It seems that in addition to being a gourmet, he is at least a 3A or above level cook. In the third year of Yuanfeng, Su Dongpo was demoted to Huangzhou, Hubei. At that time, local pigs were rich in meat and cheap. After some observation and practice, Su Dongpo figured out a cooking method, and then wrote "Poetry on Eating Pork" to introduce it to the people: Huangzhou has good pork, but the price is cheap. The rich refuse to eat it, and the poor do not know how to cook it. Start the fire slowly and use less water. When the fire is sufficient, it will be beautiful. Get up and have a bowl every day, and you will be so full that you don’t care.
(Dongpo Elbow)
In the eighth year of Yuanfeng, Su Dongpo came back from Huangzhou, but he was squeezed out again not long after. In the fourth year of Yuanyou, he was transferred to Hangzhou as the prefect. During his tenure in Hangzhou, Su Dongpo personally planned the dredging of the West Lake and led the people to build the famous Su Causeway. The people of Hangzhou felt his kindness and sent a lot of pork and wine. He instructed the chefs to cut the pork belly into large pieces, add onion, ginger, soy sauce, cooking wine and other condiments, and simmer it carefully over slow fire to make braised pork that was crispy, fragrant, fat but not greasy, and everyone was full of praise after tasting it. From then on, the people named this braised pork Dongpo pork, and it became a famous traditional dish, which was passed down to future generations together with his moral character and poems.
In Su Dongpo's poems handed down, not only the unique cooking method of pork is recorded, but also the cooking methods of various vegetables.
For example, he wrote about three kinds of vegetables: one is cabbage, also called turnip, which can be eaten fresh or pickled in salt; the other is shepherd's purse, which is steamed white fish; the third is artemisia, which is also It is called Artemisia annua and can be used as medicine. It can be made into Artemisia annua cold cake with flour, which is smooth and delicious. Another example is the recipe of Dongpo bean sprouts, which is to pick and wash the young leaves of the bean sprouts, fry them with sesame oil, add salt, soy sauce, orange peel, ginger and chopped green onion, and it is a good dish to go with wine.
In addition, there are Dongpo fish, Dongpo tofu, Dongpo jade grits soup...
The delicacies described by Su Dongpo have a distinctive feature, that is, the materials are popular, the processing is not complicated, and the roughness is delicate. , transforming vulgarity into elegance, and coupled with his exquisite poetry and prose narrative, it adds even more interest.
Yuan Mei is different from Su Dongpo. He does not operate it himself, but works as a Bole, writing a masterpiece on food. There is a chef named Wang Xiaoyu in Suiyuan. Needless to say, he is good at cooking. Yuan Mei especially loves to eat his cooking. No matter how much someone paid to poach Wang Xiaoyu, he was unwilling to leave Suiyuan.
When someone asked the reason, Wang Xiaoyu replied that there are very few people who can understand themselves, and even fewer people understand taste. That means that Yuan Mei understands him very well and can taste the food he cooks. The deeper meaning can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words. Yuan Mei is a man of integrity. When he was an official in the past, he would not bend his waist for five and a half meters. Even though I am a craftsman, I will not leave a person who knows me and my taste just because I am greedy for money!
(Tea Eggs)
Yuan Mei spent a lot of effort to compile the famous delicacies collected over the years into a book, named "Suiyuan Food List".
There are as many as 326 kinds of dishes, meals, tea and wine described in "Suiyuan Food List". After foodies study it carefully and understand it deeply, they will surely improve their self-cultivation in taste, obtain at least a college degree or above in gastronomy, and transform from pure foodies into gourmets.
However, if you want to be able to cook delicious food according to the methods described in the book, you need to be as willing to use your brain and hands as Su Dongpo, and at least obtain a diploma from a college in culinary arts. Take the popular food tea eggs as an example. The book says that processing takes "two sticks of incense". Just reading the book must be confusing.
(Salted Duck Egg)
At that time, some good scholars repeatedly speculated and inquired, and found out that the time for burning two sticks of incense in the temple was about 4 hours. A good scholar followed the law and boiled the tea eggs for 4 hours before they had the taste described in the book. (3) Two foodies, apart from their natural hobbies, the most important thing is their attitude towards life
Su Shi, also known as Zizhan, also named Hezhong, also known as Dongpo Jushi, lived in Meishan, Meizhou (now Sichuan) Meishan County) people. He, his father Su Xun, and his younger brother Su Zhe are all famous for their literature, and are known as "Three Sus" in the world; their prose is also known as "Ou Su" with Ouyang Xiu; his poems are known as "Su Huang" with Huang Tingjian; and his poetry is known as "Su Huang" with Xin Qiji. Su Xin"; his calligraphy ranks among the four major calligraphers of the Northern Song Dynasty: "Su, Huang, Mi and Cai"; his paintings created the Huzhou School of Painting. In a word, Su Dongpo was a man of many talents, rare in human history. But he has a characteristic. Although his career has been ups and downs, he has worked hard throughout his life and is unwilling to go ashore.
,
(muffin)
How to relieve depression? Then start from your special hobbies and strive to become a gourmet and cook besides working hard on writing and painting. To put it in layman's terms, he mainly does it to "relieve boredom"!
Yuan Mei is a child prodigy who has been extremely smart since he was a child and has a reputation for talent. At the age of 23, he was named a gold medalist, high school Jinshi, and was selected as a Shujishi. He is a promising new political star. During the Qianlong period, there was the theory of Northern Chronicle and Nan Yuan. Northern Chronicle refers to Ji Xiaolan, the editor-in-chief of Sikuquanshu; Nan Yuan refers to Yuan Mei.
Because Yuan Mei relied on his talent and arrogance and was unable to integrate into the corrupt officialdom, his official career was not prosperous. He served as a commoner for three years and was sent to Jiangsu. He successively served as county magistrate of Lishui, Jiangning (today's Nanjing), Shuyang and other places. They are all seventh-grade sesame officials. When Yuan Mei was 33 years old, her father died of illness and she followed the routine of observing filial piety.
(Wafen Tangyuan)
After returning from the term, he went to Shaanxi to work as a minor official. He knew very well that due to his personality, he could not stay in the officialdom. "If you can't afford to offend, you can afford to hide." Before the age of 40, he resigned and returned home on the pretext of supporting his mother, and would never be an official again. In addition to writing books and speaking out, I also strive to continuously improve the quality of my life. Becoming a gourmet is a goal!
Su Dongpo was 64 years old when he was alive, and Yuan Mei gave birth to a youngest son when he was 63 years old. He died at the age of 82. Comparing achievements in all aspects, Su Dongpo is definitely great. But just looking at his age, Yuan Meiqi is one step ahead. No matter how you analyze it, the author believes that both of them are worthy of learning from future generations.