The "mystery" proposed in "Love Myth" has been revealed - the director revealed in an interview that the butterfly puff pastry bought by Teacher Bai in the movie came from The Shop of Qiqing.
A problem was solved, but the hot discussion of public netizens did not stop: which butterfly crisp in Shanghai is stronger? What are the flavor characteristics of each family? During the discussion, someone found that Lao Xiangzhai, who is famous for making Chinese refreshments, was praised by many netizens, saying that his butterfly crisp was "good in rice".
With curiosity, the reporter came to the old Xiangzhai factory located in Yanghang Town, Baoshan, Shanghai, and visited the "good taste" and "new story" of the old brand.
Fingernail-sized butterfly puff pastry that you've ever eaten
The origin of the butterfly puff pastry is still inconclusive. Some say that this kind of dim sum originated in France; some say that it was popular in Germany, Spain, and Italy early on; and some say that from the baking method, its "roots" are in the Middle East.
What is certain is that this delicate little dot shaped like a butterfly has been on fire in Shanghai for more than a hundred years. The first was the Red House Pastry to start making butterfly puff pastry, then Commander Kai.
Different from the "original" from Europe, the butterfly puff pastry made in Shanghai Pastry Room reduces the sweetness, so that it will not eat "sweet", and also appropriately adds cheese, chocolate, nuts and other accessories, increasing the taste, enriching the shape, and meeting the needs of personalized consumption.
Today, in Shanghai, the first Chinese city to contact and successfully localize Western-style butterfly puff pastry, butterfly puff pastry has become an exquisite Shanghai souvenir for many people to give to foreign relatives and friends. Local butterfly puff pastry lovers can also find their favorite one in the "various gate schools" and unique butterfly pastry products according to their own tastes.
Some people prefer butterfly crisps in international hotels and are willing to queue up in the cold winter and heat to buy freshly baked ones. Get it in your hand, smell it, the surface of the white sugar is still with a burnt aroma, bite down the taste of fluffy crisp, milky smell. Some people love the butterfly crisp produced by Harbin Food Factory, and take a bite of the full "wings", which are crispy and sweet in taste.
The butterfly crisp of the old xiangzhai tastes different from the previous two. It is characterized by exceptionally crispy. Where does pine come from? The answer is in the hands before baking. How many layers a piece of butterfly puff pastry has sandwiched as many layers of butter as there are. The butter is sandwiched in layers and melts in the oven at the high temperature, swelling into layers of crispness.
Some industry experts describe the production process of puff pastry this way: in order to make the effect of butterfly puff pastry layer by layer, the master needs to roll out, fold, roll out and fold the butter-wrapped dough, roll it out, fold it again, and sprinkle sugar over and over again. This is a very kung fu job, the dough can not be broken, the butter can not leak, each layer must be smooth and even. The butterfly puff pastry of the old fragrant house has 256 layers of puff pastry.
Anyone who has bought butterfly puff pastry knows that preservation is an issue. Normally, the butterfly puff pastry that is baked on the day tastes the best, and after a long time, the taste changes. Experienced masters will remind customers that it is best to eat within 3 days. But after all, it is a "calorie bomblet" that puts a lot of butter and sugar, and eats it all at once, which is not in line with the living habits of white-collar beauties in the magic capital.
What to do? Old Xiangzhai thought of extending the period of appreciation appropriately. After technical research, the masters of Lao Xiangzhai reduced the addition of water and reduced the water content when making butterfly crisps, so as to achieve the effect of slightly extending the shelf life, which is also the main reason why its taste is more "loose".
A small butterfly crisp, behind the efforts of the Shanghai pastry master. In order to continue to carry forward this Haipai Western Pastry, the Shanghai Food Association has held a butterfly crisp competition since 2017, with traditional standard gold medals and creative gold medals, respecting the glorious traditions of various brands and encouraging innovation.
In the competition just past December, Lao Xiangzhai won the gold again, becoming the gold medalist who won five consecutive times in one go. The theme of his award-winning work is crossing, which takes everyone to the old Xiangzhai tea shop in the Xianfeng period in one second. From a distance, there is a miniature model on the table, and if you look closely, you can see the "mystery" - a family sitting together, a mini table with a mini plate and a butterfly crisp the size of a fingernail. Pick it up, take a bite, and you can really eat it! Looking around, you can see a thumb-sized colorful butterfly, which is actually a butterfly crisp wearing a "colored dress" and can also be eaten. Even this green "lawn" is made of edible green coconut paste.
Butterfly puff pastry the size of a fingernail on a small table can be picked up and eaten. Courtesy of respondents
"Don't look at the butterfly crisps as small as they are, they actually have 256 layers of puff pastry." Xu Mingtong, director of Shanghai Lao Xiangzhai Food Co., Ltd., told reporters that the smaller the butterfly puff pastry, the more it tests the master's technology, and when rolling and folding the noodles, you can't break the noodles, you have to use the "embroidery" kung fu to do it.
In the future, this mini butterfly puff pastry is expected to meet the general public in the form of bulk weighing.
I came to Shanghai a hundred years ago and now take root in Baoshan
The old Xiangzhai, which meets the tastes of many Shanghainese, actually did not originate in Shanghai.
In 1851, Xu Yongxiang, a Quanzhou native who ate and prayed to the Buddha, opened an old Xiangzhai tea spot on Quanzhou Avenue, and soon the customers were endless.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Xu moved to Shanghai with the tea techniques with the characteristics of southern Fujian, welcomed guests in the Area of Tianmu Road, and gradually became a favorite pastry of business celebrities and people. Later, due to the war and various historical reasons, Lao Xiangzhai left Shanghai and returned to Quanzhou, where he also settled in Anhui.
Lao Xiangzhai returned to Shanghai in 1993. At that time, Xu Jindian, the sixth generation of the old Xiangzhai inheritor, re-ventured to the beach with traditional handicraft skills, and the old taste that many people were worried about reappeared.
According to Xu Jindian, after more than a hundred years of change and development, the old Xiangzhai that came to Shanghai for the second time did not have the strong color of southern Fujian in the past, but with the changes of the times and people's tastes, in the production technology, "take the strengths of the famous family, make up for the shortcomings of their own families".
Nowadays, in the products of Lao Xiangzhai, there is not only a mouthful of incense and chicken cakes in the memory of the older generation, but also butterfly crisps and xifanes that absorb the style characteristics of Western pastries, and you can also see moss cakes and mille-feuille cakes that integrate the taste of Suzhou and Zhejiang, and the appearance of the products is more exquisite and small, and the overall appearance is distinctive Shanghai Haipai.
The development of the times has also put forward new requirements for the brand management of traditional workshops. In 2017, Xu Jindian brought hundreds of employees to Yanghang Industrial Park to use more advanced equipment to make refreshments and pastries in a larger and higher standard factory.
Under the leadership of the staff, the reporter had the honor to enter the inside of the workshop to explore.
For food manufacturing plants, the production workshop is undoubtedly a safe place. Pull open the outermost sliding door, and after the staff enters the password, you can enter the first checkpoint in the workshop. There, the reporter had to dress up like all the employees who entered the workshop. After putting on a disposable hat, mask, disposable overalls and shoe covers, you can open the door of the dressing room and enter the disinfection room inside. After carefully washing his hands with hand sanitizer, the reporter blew his hands dry and then wondered: Where is the next door?
Disinfect before entering the workshop. Photo by Wu Yue
The staff also did not sell guanzi and led the reporter to the door of the wind shower room. However, to open this door, you must first put your hand in front of the automatically inductive alcohol sterilizer, and after disinfecting it by spraying alcohol, you must enter the air shower room. It then takes a few more seconds of blowing to prevent people from bringing in loose hair and dust stuck to the surface of the clothes before finally reaching the inside of the workshop.
The staff said that food safety is a top priority and cannot be sloppy. Everyone has to go through this process to enter the workshop, even if it is convenient to go to the next building on the way to work, if you want to come in again, you must go through this cleaning and disinfection.
In view of the relevant food safety regulations, the reporter was unable to enter the 100,000-level evolution workshop with the highest standard in the factory. But just walking around in the ordinary workshop, I felt a burst of "sweet crunch", looking around, the master worker kneaded dough, rolled dough, boiled syrup, prepared ingredients in a small compartment... The air is filled with the sweet smell of dim sum making. As I walked, I had the effect of "looking at plums to quench my thirst", as if these delicacies had been made and brought to the front.
Butterfly puff pastry making room. Photo by Wu Yue
Put on a sleeve bib and make a mille-feuille puff pastry for sixth graders
During the interview, the reporter couldn't help but stare at a pair of hands.
It was the hand of Chen Jiankang, the 67-year-old inheritor of the old Xiangzhai refreshment making skills. The fingers are clean, there is almost no extra nails, and the hands that have gone through the vicissitudes of the years are very powerful at first glance.
It is this pair of hands, in the era of advocating mechanization, still insist on making a thousand layers of pastry in a single small package, using traditional manual skills to ensure that each finished product is 27 layers. In 2019, the old Xiangzhai tea making technique represented by mille-feuille crisp was entered into the list of intangible cultural heritage protection in Baoshan District.
In 2019, the old Xiangzhai tea making technique represented by mille-feuille crisp was entered into the list of intangible cultural heritage protection in Baoshan District. Courtesy of respondents
Talking about pastry making in old Shanghai, Master Chen opened the conversation box, but as a post-90s reporter, he was busy taking notes and checking information. Some of the traditional old dim sum mentioned by Master Chen are no longer available, and most of the people who have tasted those flavors are also elderly. Some of the old food factories mentioned by Master Chen have disappeared from people's vision with the rolling torrent of the times, or re-participated in the food production industry in another form. It's hard to imagine that the bustling section of today's commercial flagship stores was home to several competing food factories in the last century.
Since his apprenticeship in 1971, Chef Chen has been making pastries for 50 years. In the first few years, I did all the hard work and dirty work, but there was no way, the industry's requirements for newcomers were to start from the most basic and grind a little. "In the past, the teachers were very face-saving, and the productions under the hands had requirements, if the apprentices did not do well, they should immediately point out and improve, otherwise they would take it out and eat the 'collapse' for the customers." Master Chen recalled.
Like other industries, to get ahead in the food industry, you also have to use your brain. Master Chen always remembered participating in a technician examination in 1986, when the masters were asked to make almond pastry, but the formula given was much less available than normal. If you do it directly according to the requirements, it is impossible to send the dough to a standard size. Some masters look at each other, and some masters use their brains. "White sugar can't be used much, I think it can be supplemented with maltose, and it is really good to send it out in the end."
After entering the old Xiangzhai in 2007, Master Chen exerted his expertise and specialized in technology, improving the taste of various old products, and also responsible for the research and development of some new flavors and new products. "Usually, the boss will often buy food from all over the country and all over Shanghai to the factory, and we will sit together and eat, study how people do it, and learn from each other." Master Chen said.
This year, Master Chen also had a "new job" and went to school to take classes. Last week, he had just finished his semester of teaching a class on intangible cultural heritage refreshments at China Middle School in Xuhui District. Once a week, a 40-minute class, students can put down their pens and rulers, put on masks, sleeves and bibs, and accompany flour to learn the mysteries behind the food from Chef Chen.
Although there are only a few production experience classes, Lao Chen is very happy, some students listen to the lecture very seriously, do it is also a board and an eye, after a little guidance, the final mille-feuille crisp and moss cake have a look.
Students weigh the dough. Courtesy of respondents
Zhang Haoxuan, of China's secondary school (4) class, said that this was the first time he had made dim sum himself, and he felt that he had mastered a remarkable new skill, and he did not expect that the taste of pure handmade was so good. Zhuang Yilin, also from the middle (4) class, said that the happiest thing was to make moss cakes under the guidance of non-hereditary heirs, and he could also take home the fruits of his labor to taste with his parents.
"Who says kneading dough, weighing sugar and flour weight is not learning? The original intention of the school is to invite the non-legacy into the campus, so that students can not only gain knowledge, but also exercise their hands-on ability and learn to be grateful. According to Zheng Minfang, principal of China Middle School, the Lao Xiang Zhai refreshment making course is one of the 8 courses introduced by the school for sixth grade students this semester, and like other courses, it is designed to enrich students' cognition and broaden their horizons.
Students make snacks. Courtesy of respondents
It can't just be delicious, but it must also be handy in appearance
"The old brand does not mean that there are always only a few old tastes, we must constantly understand the market, we must continue to learn from the outside world."
Although Xu Mingtong, 45, has been working in Shanghai for decades, he can still hear the Quanzhou accent immediately when he speaks. From the grass-roots operation workers all the way to today's technical backbone, Xu Mingtong knows that the traditional workshop-style production and management methods no longer meet the needs of development and must be changed.
Over the years, the most significant change in Lao Xiangzhai is that its products and tastes are different. The heavy oil and heavy sugar that people liked in the past have long been out of date. Representing the product of chicken cake in the meat, must be salted, the calorie is quite high, young people do not like what to do? The technical backbone of the factory, inspired by the daily nut products that are now on fire, thought that nuts could be added to the cake instead of the original meat, which is not only more nutritious, but also richer in taste.
Chicken cake, the old taste should be innovative.
"No nuts for meat, nuts are not added casually." Xu Mingtong told reporters that every idea from the emergence to the final embodiment of the product, the middle must go through a complex process. Generally speaking, they will first ask someone to do market research, and then establish different programs according to the results of the survey, and then gradually implement it and then the technical staff will carry out multiple rounds of tasting, discussion and improvement, which will take several months before and after. Other flavor improvements, such as the addition of matcha, sea salt cheese, and spicy products that young people love, go through this process.
A variety of new flavors.
The inside has changed, and the outside must keep up. In recent years, Lao Xiangzhai has participated in the evaluation of Shanghai special souvenirs organized by the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission for many times, won the honor of Shanghai characteristic souvenirs, and appeared at the venue, transportation hub and the hotel where the guests stayed during the Expo.
"Since it is a souvenir, it can't just be delicious, but also have to be able to take it and give it away." Shen Daisi, sales director of Lao Xiang zhai, said. In order to reflect the characteristics of Shanghai, Lao Xiangzhai chose the iconic image of magnolia on the food gift box, so that customers can know that this gift comes from Shanghai at a glance. At the same time, in view of the problem that the surface of the gift box was too much color and the elements were not uniform in the past, some flowers and green patterns were cut off to make the box surface look more exquisite, elegant and attractive. In 2021, Lao Xiangzhai also made a durable handbag made a popular PVC material for the gift box, hoping that people would not throw away the bag after eating food, but use it many times.
Elegant new packaging. Courtesy of respondents
"Although the industry has become more and more 'volume' over the years, we still have our own perseverance. For example, paying attention to the beauty of packaging and developing in the direction of cultural creation does not mean that it is necessary to over-package, and consumers buy food after all, rather than a bunch of complicated packaging. Shen Daisy said.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Zhou Nan Text Editor: Wu Yue Title Map Source: Douban
Source: Author: Wu Yue