Zou Zhaotao
From mid-June to early July, it is the rainy season in the Yangtze River Delta region. The "plum" that is waiting for in the rainy season is not a yellow plum. Arbutus that is as bright as a flame and sweet in taste is a seasonal delicacy.
Water town smoke and rain pregnant red beads
In the mainland, the growth range of arbutus trees is very wide, and there are large-scale cultivations in East China, South China and even Southwest China. However, for modern diners a hundred years ago, most of the bayberry that can be "put on the table" is still produced in eastern Zhejiang and southern Jiangsu.
Yuhang Chaoshan Bayberry listed Visual China figure
The land in Zhejiang east of the Qiantang River is known as the "hometown of Yangmei". The 1939 edition of the "Provincial Geography of Zhejiang" gives the evaluation that "the bayberry juju of the counties of the old Ningshao and Shao provinces is well-known in the city", and this time Ningbo and Shao refer to Ningbo and Shaoxing (including the former Shaoxing in present-day Hangzhou Xiaoshan). The more detailed screening of the famous Yangmei production area in eastern Zhejiang can be found in the "Investigation Report on Yangmei in Eastern Zhejiang" compiled by scientists of Zhejiang Provincial Agricultural Improvement Farm in 1932: "Especially Xiaoshan, Yuyao, Cixi, Huangyan, Yongjia, etc., are more famous."
Xiaoshan bayberry is a kind of famous fruit that has won the hearts of modern Zhejiang diners. In 1936, "Zhejiang Youth" had a text praised: "The bayberry produced in Xiaoshan is the so-called 'Xianghu bayberry', which is fat and delicious, and the most prestigious." The bayberry produced in the Shaoxing area is also counterfeited as the Xianghu bayberry, and the signboard of the Hangzhou fruit shop reads 'Xianghu Bayberry'." In 1937, the "Current Affairs News" also exclaimed that "the real Xiaoshan bayberry in the local market accounts for less than two-tenths." Needless to say, the status and value of the counterfeiters are self-explanatory.
Cixi, Yuyao and Shangyu are adjacent to each other, constituting the core area of high-quality bayberry production in eastern Zhejiang in modern times and even for a long time later. In 1937, the agronomist Zeng Mian praised the scale and quality of Cixi bayberry in his survey "Bayberry in The Coastal Counties of Zhejiang": "Zhejiang Province produces bayberry, its quality is the best and the cultivation is the most prosperous, and the county is the first to be promoted." In 1932, the "Declaration" introduced cixi as "produced in Xixiang, called 'water chestnut' species, with a small and sweet core, especially famous."
The patches of arbutus trees in Lianghutou cave lake village, Fengshan Subdistrict, Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province, are full of heavy bayberry. Visual China figure
The Bayberry industry in Shangyu is also very prosperous, and the Wufu at the junction of Yuyao and Shangyu is the Yangmei Wangfa area. In 1934, the "Beijing-Shanghai-Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway Daily" recorded: "From Wufu and Yiting stations to Ningbo, and then transferred to Ningbo to ship to Shanghai." Therefore, every year in the half month of this Yangmei heyday, every bus driven by Cao (E) did not complain about the pits, and this luggage car, the zero truck, and even the livestock truck were loaded like a mountain."
In modern times, the famous production area of Yangmei in southern Jiangsu is mainly in the area of Dongting in Suzhou. A hundred years ago, Majishan, the second largest island in Taihu Lake, was a famous arbutus producer. In 1930, Wu Shouzhen compiled the "Guide to Maji Mountain" to introduce the local arbutus varieties: "The upper one is called 'Dian Shan', 'Tandong', 'Charcoal Tuan', and the second is 'Green Ying', 'Qing Tizi', 'Purple Golden Bell', a color as white as snow', known as 'Snow Peach', the local name 'White Bayberry', and the red and white ones are called 'Octagonal Bayberry'". In 1924, the suzhou literati Hua Yinshui image illustrated the magic of Guangfu yangmei: "The purple one is round and sweet, and the one produced by Guangfu wins." Placed in the purple lacquer plate, almost indistinguishable, this product is also."
On June 12, 2007, fruit farmers in Shushan Village, Suzhou High-tech Zone, were picking poplar plums. Visual China figure
Eastern Zhejiang, southern Jiangsu's arbutus must also be said, it is also known as "crystal arbutus", Shangyu erdu is a modern poplar plum area, poplar plum "fruit flat round, white with yellow color, soft core of the flesh is small, rich juice, its taste is incomparable, when the fragrance is fragrant", the form, color, taste are far better than ordinary small bayberry.
Full-cycle "laborious" bayberry
Don't be fooled by the "thorny" appearance of the bayberry fruit, the bayberry is actually a very delicate fruit tree.
Bayberry began to "pay attention" to trees. The first is the site selection, the 1951 "Bayberry Seed Law" talks about the requirements for the planting site of bayberry trees: the first is that "in the areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang where the sun is strong in summer, it is better to have less shade to the east or north, and it is not very suitable to the south or southwest", and the bayberry trees planted on the shady slopes "can have a long life and abundant yield". On the other hand, it is best to have a number of areas of open water around the Bayberry production area, and an important consideration is that "the temperature in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is low in winter, and the water near the water can avoid frostbite.".
Bayberry tree wiki commons diagram
The transformation of the arbutus tree from seedling to fruit tree is not an easy task. In 1937, the "Current Affairs News" explained the beginning and end of the cultivation of bayberry trees: "In the middle of winter, climb the branches on the ground and put on the soil. After one year, its branches can take root on their own, and after three or four years, they can produce early bayberry. However, the particles are extremely small, such as button-shaped. It is also necessary to use the method of 'picking trees' to select the best of other tree species, fold their young branches, use a knife to split their skin, and tie them on the stems of the early arbutus trees, coat the outside with fertile soil, and hide in the shade. After half a year, it can be firm and fruitful this year, and it will be fat and sweet red arbutus. ”
The fineness of bayberry picking directly determines the experience of diners. First of all, we must "seize the time" and grab the bayberry before the weather changes. In 1936, the Ta Kung Pao had a question about it, "The bayberry was originally a fruit of 'half the wind blowing and no rain falling at all', so even in the midst of a heavy thunderstorm, people had to climb on the trees and harvest the ripe bayberry." If it is left in the tree, then without a shower of rain or a wind, it will completely sweep the mature arbutus from these branches to the ground."
In sharp contrast to the haste of "grasping time", it is the "grasping caution" when picking bayberry. In 1935, Wang Chengyin published in the "Zhejiang Provincial Construction Monthly" the essentials of fruit farmers harvesting bayberry in Shangyu, Xiaoshan and other places: "Farmers in the early morning or evening, carry bamboo baskets, into the mountains to pick, picking up to three pieces per hand, too much is easy to hurt the flesh of bayberry and cause decay." Gently put it in the basket, and those who fall on the ground must not be mixed in." Fruit growers have a yardstick in their hearts about the merits of bayberry fruits. In 1927, the "News Newspaper Benbu Supplement" "leaked" a mystery: "Choosing the bayberry method, you can pick black and purple and thorny round blunt, cover sharp red, taste more sour and astringent also."
Villagers pick late rice bayberry in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, on June 23, 2021. Visual China figure
The rate at which the bayberry rots behind the tree is staggering. In the era when cold chain transportation was not yet developed, Bayberry "after harvesting under natural environmental conditions, the release time is very short, at most two or three days." Because of its delicacy, the transportation of bayberry is also very exquisite. The outgoing bayberry is usually packed into a bamboo basket, and then covered with a layer of dark green "wolf grass" to keep it fresh.
The reason why many people psychologically "resist" bayberry is that "eating bayberry is equivalent to eating insects." In 1932, a food writer gave the advice that "before raw food, add a little salt to the fruit, and the worm will withdraw on its own, the body is smaller than the ant, or white, or light red, it should be washed away with water." Once the bayberry juice is contaminated on the clothes, it is generally difficult to wash in clear water, and in 1924, the Suzhou scholar Hua Yinshui revealed what he knew: "The bayberry juice dyeing clothes is not easy to go, or it is smoked with sulfur and then washed, and its red and white fall."
The multiple experiences of a single fruit
Bayberry not only makes people eat well, but also makes people have fun. Whenever the yangmei fruit hangs on the branches, the people of Jiangsu and Zhejiang will usher in a "rural tour" comparable to stepping on the green. In 1937, the "Current Affairs New Newspaper" said that Shaoxing "has a custom in the mountain towns, when the bayberry is ripe, they must invite relatives and friends to come, called 'playing the bayberry mountain', let the guests try to eat, but are not allowed to forcibly climb, when picking, only by the root of the bayberry tree, shake it by hand, so that the bayberry mature, automatically fall to the ground, this is a forbidden case." Similar activities are also a tradition in Changshu. In 1947, a reporter from The Flying News reported that "yushan customs, there is a kind of spring program called 'watching bayberry', the time is about the same as the end of the festival, and the bayberry has been ripe." Yushan people often help the old and the young to go to the shore of Shanghu Lake to see the bayberry." At that time, there were even families who picked bayberry instead of Visiting the Tomb of Qingming. In 1948, an author of the Oriental Daily wrote: "My family's ancestral grave, on the Yang Mountain in Hushuguan, Suzhou, is full of bayberry trees, and the bayberry in Hushuguan is also quite famous, so we must go to the grave five or six days after the summer solstice every year." Because our grave does not make paper ingots, does not provide sacrificial dishes, and does not carry out tomb sweeping, it is just a tomb visit, nothing more than exploring the tomb while eating bayberry", this is really an "ecological burial".
Modern Shanghai is one of the main markets for bayberry in eastern Zhejiang. In modern times, most of the bayberry in eastern Zhejiang uses railways and "iron-sea combined transport" to deliver. In 1948, the main writer of the "Little Daily" news described the export of Xiaoshan bayberry as grand: "Every year when the bayberry is, the shipment on the train is almost all bayberry." The bayberry in season has also become a particularly eye-catching street scene in Shanghai during the rainy season. Of course, due to the difficulty of preservation, it is difficult for modern Shanghainese to eat real high-quality bayberry. In 1937, when describing the fruits produced in Dongting Xishan, the "Declaration" mentioned: "Although there are also bay bayberry in Shanghai, it is not 'bayberry on the mountain'", which is ultimately missing the word "fresh".
In the 1930s, the basket arrived in Shanghai in the East Zhejiang Bayberry
The ancestors were naturally reluctant to cramp the bayberry season in ten or twenty days. So one trick after another to retain the taste of bayberry came into being.
Bayberry can be made into preserves. In 1937, the "Declaration" introduced that dongting sugar bayberry "is divided into dry and wet, dry into white sugar balls, wet is made of osmanthus and honey juice, the taste is extremely sweet and fragrant." In 1923, Tong Yumin's article published in the "Chinese Agricultural Society Newspaper" recorded the traditional method of pickling bayberry: "Three pounds of bayberry, one or two pounds of salt, half a day of salt, boiling soup soaked overnight, control drying, two pounds of sugar, a handful of mint leaves, mixed with hands, dried in the sun", presumably the mint added to the bayberry is a pleasant summer "finishing touch"! There is also a more complex sugar bayberry process. In 1958, the experience collected by the processing department of Shanghai Sugar Industry Pastry Company said that the dried bayberry made of sugar was only a semi-finished product, and the dried bayberry called "embryo" in these local words needed to be "put into the cylinder, seal the cylinder head, do not let the air circulate, and then add cotton sugar to mix" when selling" So "sweet and sweet", and today's ordinary diners are afraid that it is difficult to accept.
In modern times, many institutions have tried to brew liquor with bayberry juice, and it is said that its distilled taste is indeed OK. However, the so-called "bayberry wine" of the people at that time mainly refers to the liquor soaked in bayberry. The zhejiang scholar Yu Dafu's short story "Bayberry Shochu" vividly depicts the scene of friends soaking bayberry and drinking bayberry wine in Futian.
Bayberry shochu from the Shanghai Kailin Canned Food Factory in the 1940s
The wine-soaked bayberry can not only clear the heat and relieve the heat, but also play a good role in the slow release of some acute gastrointestinal symptoms in summer. In the early years, the old saying in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions had mistakenly believed that swallowing bayberry nuclei could "kill belly worms", which obviously lacked scientific basis. But the efficacy of wine bubble bayberry is a folk wisdom that has been witnessed by generations of people.
Editor-in-charge: Zhu Zhe
Proofreader: Shi Gong