I remember watching a TV drama "Little Nyonya" the year before, which told the story of the enmity and hatred of a family in Malacca, Southeast Asia, integrating the essence of Nyonya culture, and the industrious and virtuous character of Nyonya was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Among them, Nyonya dishes are more representative: the selection of ingredients, processing, cooking techniques, and the storytelling of the dishes all show the unusual side of Nyonya.
Back in China, in the village of Lin'an, there is also a name that arouses my curiosity and association: the village kitchen lady. Different countries, but with the same deeply rooted role, just through the upcoming village family banquet in Lin'an in late November, I decided to have an in-depth interaction with the kitchen ladies in Xiaocun.
When I proposed to Secretary Shen the idea of leading the xiaocun kitchen lady to participate in this competition, on the same night, there were four more women in our conference room, the first feeling: the overall good youth; the second feeling: there is talking and laughing, the atmosphere is good; the third feeling: very united. This is the first impression that Chef Takamura gave me.
I put forward the need for them to have a video shooting, they are slightly shy, I expect that there will be a live atmosphere to drive the process, but the result is beyond my imagination, in the early morning of October 21, we carried out the first video recording of the preparation of ingredients, just walked to the meeting point, I heard the laughter of the four kitchen ladies, I wanted to drive the atmosphere, but I was driven by them.
I first asked them about their understanding of the word kitchen lady, Aunt Shen smiled and said to me: Simply put, it is a woman who can cook, but in Xiaocun, the kitchen lady must not only be able to cook, but also know how to run the family, filial piety to the elderly, many of our cooking methods are also handed down from the older generation, and they will also do some improvements and updates! The water organ on the side added: The dumplings I made are very good, and I will show it to you next time...
Yan Hong is a woman who married into Xiaocun, but she is full of love for Xiaocun, and looks forward to Xiaocun being known by more people in her words.
Our first stop came to the poultry circle of Yanhong Gonggong's family, the chickens, ducks and geese inside are all bred by themselves, the kitchen ladies discussed the division of labor to catch poultry, Shen Dabo stood on the terrace and said humorously, do you want me to come down to help, boy, do you want to try?
As soon as the words stopped, Red Moon grabbed a big white goose and said to me: How? Is this goose fat? Looking at her happy smile, I feel that happiness is so simple and simple.
After the poultry was ready, I began to go to the vegetable garden, to tell the truth, in the city for a long time, in addition to cabbage, lettuce, other is not cooked, the kitchen ladies began to give me lessons: this is ginger, this is pumpkin vine, this is used for winemaking, and then took me to the Shangxiao Village Mouth Grandma's wine shop, although in different homes, but feel like a big family, the villagers can be very polite, very emotional to share the food resources of each family, this phenomenon is not all villages can achieve.
Grandma's winery is not large, but the sales are good, the water source is taken from the mountain spring, she is very enthusiastic to let me taste it, this taste is three or two, it should be just brewed for the sake, the taste is not bad, with the red face, the kitchen ladies look at me all laughing, suddenly let me feel a little embarrassed.
On the way to Xiaocun Lake, all the way is the fragrance of osmanthus flowers, coupled with the liquor you have just drunk, this feeling, you can come to experience it. On the way, we met an 80-year-old village elderly, and the kitchen ladies greeted each other warmly, which was not deliberate, it was a habit. I hope that they will take a group photo, although it is only a moment, but it can make us feel a lifetime.
This is not so much a collection of ingredients for a family banquet, but rather a display of the village culture brought to us by the kitchen lady, which makes me feel that the kitchen lady may be the most distinctive existence in a village.
Source: Takashi Tsuyama
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