A few days ago, the first batch of 6 cultural relics building revitalization and utilization projects in Xicheng District of Beijing landed on the bidding results, the former site of Xidan Hotel is used to build a multi-functional composite cultural and artistic space, Jinjiang Guild Hall will be transformed into Lin Haiyin Literature Exhibition Center, Jushun and Zhannan Old Store will open a candy theme reading + candy experience space... The sweet story of Jushunhe and preserved candied fruit can be traced back to the late Qing Dynasty.
Beijing preserved fruit originated from the court snacks of the late Ming Dynasty
Preserved fruit is a special flavor snack of old Beijing, foreigners come to Beijing, always like to buy some preserved fruit to give back to relatives and friends. Folklorist Tang Lusun recalled in the book "China Eating": "In the early years, friends from the south went to Beiping for business or sightseeing, and before leaving, they always had to bring some of Beiping's special souvenirs back to send their relatives and friends... If you want to buy some delicious snacks, nine times out of ten you have to go to the dried fruit shop, buy a few preserved fruits, pack them in a box, and bring them back to your hometown to give away, which is the most popular Local Product of Beiping. ”
Some people think that preserved fruit is candied fruit, but in fact, the two are different. Candied fruit originally refers to fruit impregnated with honey, thick syrup, etc. "Rao" was originally fried, so it is also known as "honey frying".
Preserved fruit is a semi-dried fruit product made of fresh fruit peeled and pitted, cut into pieces or slices, brewed and dried by sugar. Beijingers are accustomed to calling this kind of low-moisture and unjuiced preserved fruit, such as preserved apples, pears, apricots, peaches, sand fruits, fragrant fruits, begonias, dates (also known as golden dates), green plums, red fruits and so on. The preserved fruit is brown, golden or amber in color, bright and transparent, with a dry surface, slightly sticky, and a moisture content of less than 20%. This fruit product is also known as "northern preserved fruit" or "northern honey". The winter melon strips, sugar water chestnut, sugar lotus chips, sugar ginger slices and other surface hanging a layer of powdery white sugar coating is called sugar-coated preserved fruit, also known as "nanguo preserved" or "nan honey", generally from Fujian, Guangdong, Shanghai and other places. More than a dozen preserved fruits are put together, named "assorted dried fruits", which is commonly known as "high mixed mix" or "fine mixed mix".
The production of preserved candied fruit in China can be traced back to more than 2,000 years ago, and there is a record of "taking honey-stained plums" in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". At that time, in order to solve the problem of impatience of preservation of fresh fruits, fresh fruits were immersed in honey, and honey could play a role in preserving, preserving freshness and adding sweetness, which was called "honey frying" in the Song Dynasty, and later gradually evolved into sugar instead of honey.
When it comes to the production of preserved fruits in Beijing, it began in the imperial dining room of the imperial palace at the end of the Ming Dynasty, which was originally a kind of court snack. At that time, in order to ensure that the emperor could eat fruit all year round, the chefs sorted the fruits produced in each season into honey and gradually increased the cooking process.
In the Qing Dynasty, the art of making preserved fruits was introduced from the court to the people. Jin Yi recorded the description of the preserved fruit by the palace maids around Cixi in the "Records of the Palace Women's Conversations": "The famous snacks in the palace are fragments. The candied fruit and preserved fruit in autumn and winter, and the sweet bowl in summer are simply exquisite. "At this time, the production of preserved fruits in Beijing is based on peaches, pears, apricots, dates, etc., which are more common in the north, and the production of preserved fruits in Beijing has reached its peak, and there is a strict distinction between preserved fruits and preserves.
Jushun and the World Exposition won the gold medal
Tang Lusun wrote in "Eating in China": "In addition to setting up stalls for fruit sales in Beiping, the slightly large-scale one is called 'Fruit Bureau', all the candied foods are sold by fruit bureaus, and on the long article of the fruit bureau, displayed as a sea bowl of about three feet of white ground blue flowers, covered with half a red lacquered wooden lid, half covered with glass bricks, Yin Red Soft Fu, Amber Chengxiang, casually loaded with two cans, go to relatives to see friends, bring two cans of candied fruit to welcome young and old, not rich and thrifty, solid and decent, and it is quite cheap to keep for your own use." ”
Speaking of Beijing preserved fruit can not fail to mention Jushunhe.
During the Republic of China period, it was located in The Jushun and Nan goods stores in Dashilar
Jushunhe was founded in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the founder was Ren Baichuan, who came to Beijing from Wenshui, Shanxi, as a frugal person, and the old man was heavy. Jushunhe has opened three stores in Beijing, namely Jushun and Nanzhou Store at the North West Exit of Dashilan Street Road (the second in the West Exit), Jushun hezhan at No. 144 Coal Market Street, and Jushunhe Processing Factory (with shop number) in Gulou Street East, Outside Di'anmen, of which Jushun and Nanshidian on Dashilan Street are the main stores and the most prestigious. Located on Coal Market Street, Jushun he stack is smaller, initially used as a warehouse, and later developed into a shop, it is precisely because of its less prominent location, but it is better preserved, becoming the only survivor of the three stores, that is, the former site of the Jushun and Zhannan goods old store, which was recently identified as the site of the first batch of cultural relics building revitalization and utilization projects in Xicheng District.
In 1915, the United States San Francisco held the "Panama Pacific International Exposition", West Four Longjing and dried fruit shop of the Shaodongjia brain melon is very smart, he wants to send the pickled fruit on his cabinet to the competition, but the old treasurer said that he is not willing, the Shaodongjia will discuss with Jushun and the dried fruit shop, jushunhe made a few pounds of preserved fruit, in the name of Jushunhe sent to the competition. The jar containing the preserved fruit is a stoneware with green glaze, which looks rustic, but the international judges have judged the results, believing that the preserved fruit is rich in fruit aroma, has the high flavor of oriental food, and leaves a fragrance on the cheeks after eating, and was awarded a gold medal by the conference, achieving a good story.
Creative comic strip ads
Xiao Fuxing described Jushunhe as follows in the "Aria of Dashilar": "What kind of scene and taste should be the same as going to Jushun and Dried Fruit Shop and Changshengkui Dried Fruit Shop to buy a little formal Beijing preserved fruit and rough mix, and to Juqing Zhai Rao Shop or Zilan Zhai Pastry Shop to buy a bag of old-fashioned pu bags and covered with a layer of oil paper and red paper. Among them, the word "formal dress" is used to describe Jushun and preserved fruits, which shows the quality and grade of Jushun and preserved fruits.
According to a surviving list of goods from the Republic of China period Jushunhe (Beijing Qianmen Dashilar Store), the main goods at that time were: Yingpankou mushroom, large flat almonds, golden dates, preserved fruit, Kanto deer tendons, poria sandwich cakes, rose cakes, Western egg cakes, Taishi palace cakes, almond shortbreads, walnut shortbreads, Gusu mooncakes, Guangdong mooncakes, Sachima cakes, fine hibiscus cakes, turned mooncakes, vegetarian bean cakes... It can be seen that during the Republic of China period, Jushunhe not only engaged in preserved fruits, but also engaged in rare goods from the north and south and pastries with north and south flavors.
Comic strip is a common painting art form in China, illustrated and textual, easy to understand, memorable, Jushun and advertising on the use of comic strips.
In the 1930s, in order to attract customers, Jushunhe Preserved Fruit Shop asked people to knead the entire production process of preserved fruit preserves, material selection, washing, and drying into clay sculptures, take photos, and mark them with concise text descriptions, such as "purchase of pure refined raw materials" and "clean washing", etc., and made a set of eight photo comic strip advertisements in the book "Beiping Travel Guide". The Jushun and Preserved Fruit Candied Comic Strip Advertisement skillfully combines clay sculpture, photography and text, and prints it in a large number of books and periodicals. Due to the rich pictures and texts, and the vivid images of clay sculptures such as villains and donkeys, it is very interesting, and the comic strip advertisement has attracted many readers at once, and Jushun and fame are even greater.
Old Beijing famous poria cake
Speaking of Jushunhe, we have to talk about the famous old Beijing spot - Poria Cake. Legend has it that once Empress Dowager Cixi fell ill and did not think about eating, the chefs racked their brains and selected the poria produced in the Yunnan-Guizhou area, with pine nuts, peach kernels, osmanthus flowers, and honey as the main raw materials, with an appropriate amount of poria powder, and then used the best starch to spread into a crust, and made a sandwich pancake. Cixi was very satisfied after eating it, and often rewarded the palace ministers with this cake. Therefore, the poria sandwich cake became a famous spot in the court at that time. Later, this kind of dim sum was introduced to the folk and became a Beijing-style snack.
During the Qing Dynasty, in addition to the Lantern Festival, moon cakes and flower cakes, there were also broken honey offerings, rose cakes, vine cakes, five poison cakes and so on. Among them, Jushunhe's Poria Cake is very famous. "Shaped like a full moon (shape), thin as a cicada wing (pin), white like the first snow (color), Gansai Gui honey (taste)" This is the beautiful description of the poria cake by the predecessors, and it is also the characteristics and technical requirements of the poria cake. The famous Qing Dynasty scholar Yu Fan once wrote in "Remembering Kyoto": "Remembering Kyoto, the refreshments are the most suitable, the two sides of the poria stalls are sliced, and a ball of radish is cut into silk." It is not like a prank here, full of sugar frosting chewing and chewing. And self-note: "Kyoto Poria cake radish cake is the best, the southern people are not good at making filling, but a mouthful of white sugar for people to chew on the ear." ”
Until the 1990s, Poria Sandwich cakes, together with preserved fruits, became a must-buy choice for travelers from all over the world to Beijing as a famous flavor of Beijing. Nowadays, it is difficult to reproduce the grand situation of people rushing to buy preserved fruits and poria cakes, but these two once very representative Beijing specialties have been completely preserved, and people also experience the taste of old Beijing culture when they taste them.
(Author Affilications:Institute of History, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences)