When it comes to Sichuan cuisine, perhaps a mouth-watering collection of cuisines quickly emerges in everyone's mind. In addition to the well-known red oil hot pot and crispy pepper boiled fish fillets, there may also be the simplest home-cooked stir-fry on the streets and alleys - mushy and spicy kung pao chicken cubes, piping hot and tender mapo tofu and back pot meat, and even boiled water cabbage, cashew duck square, crispy fish This method of the unique classic dishes... Such a rich and specific gastronomic impression not only proves the majestic system of Sichuan cuisine, but also represents the extensive social influence of Sichuan cuisine all along.
If you want to describe the system of Sichuan cuisine in detail, the Fourth World Sichuan Cuisine Congress, which has just ended in Chengdu's Pidu District, may be a good window for observation. The conference also made the opening ceremony venue, the green city Sichuan cuisine town located in Ande Town, Pidu District, a new focus for the public to explore Sichuan cuisine culture.
The scene of the 4th Sichuan Cuisine Conference
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A "Map of Sichuan Cuisine"
The Shu diet has a long history. According to the "History of Sichuan Cuisine" compiled by the Literature and History Materials Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Sichuan cuisine can be divided into different genres such as Chengdu Gang, Chongqing Gang, Dahe Gang, Xiaohe Gang, and Zinai Gang according to the region. Qiu Kehong, a master of Sichuan cuisine and the founder of Xingyan, has done a lot of academic research on the development of Sichuan cuisine, and he introduced that in modern times, Sichuan cuisine has been divided into seven categories according to dishes. The first is the official cuisine represented by the state banquet and the Republic of China mansion, such as boiled water cabbage that tests kung fu, and the homely Gongbao chicken Ding is also included in this category because it is the family dish of Ding Baozhen, the governor of Sichuan. After that, there are banquet dishes handed down from the private seat hall, popular dishes such as boiled meat slices and fish flavored meat shreds, folk-style snacks, "three steaming and three buckles" form of local table dishes, vegetarian and medicinal food, and so on.
The poet Lu You said in "Winter Night and pu'an Lord Says Sichuan Food Drama", "Donglai sat and read the seven cold and summer, and did not try to forget Wushu", which shows his deep affection for Sichuan cuisine.
(GIF excerpt from "24 Hours in the City - Chengdu Chapter")
"We once did a survey, the country every year 280 million tourists come to Chengdu to play, of which about 30% are for food, as one of the eight major cuisines in the country, Sichuan cuisine's national popularity and popularity are very high." Fang Zhefeng, mayor of Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town, said, "Tourists come to Chengdu and definitely want to eat things that represent Chengdu, but in reality it is often difficult." An online search, only mapo tofu such a very traditional and classic thing, the legend of delicious fly restaurant, tourists really do not know where to find. ”
Fang Zhefeng's goal is to make the green city Sichuan cuisine town in Ande Town, Pidu District, a collection of Sichuan flavors. Pidu District, as the birthplace of an ancient Shu civilization on the Chengdu Plain, has laid the foundation of food represented by Pixian Douban since modern times, and it naturally has the gene of converging Sichuan cuisine culture. Ande Town is located in the western part of Pidu District, on the main road leaving Chengdu to Dujiangyan and Jiuzhaigou, "If they are foreign tourists, we hope that they can stay here for three hours on the way to Dujiangyan, or on the way back from Jiuzhaigou to the airport, or Sichuan locals come to spend a holiday on the weekend to solve the needs of guests to taste authentic food in a town-style way." ”
Pixian is located in the western Sichuan Plain, humidity and temperature under the action of the wind, and Zhao Gongshan formed a small cycle, douban sauce fermentation is needed for such a microbial flora survival, aspergillus oryzae continue to fully divide, purification environment. The Sichuan flavor glimpsed in the bean paste is also a tough and mellow taste that has been accumulated and fermented by this unique environment and a long time.
In order to gather the cuisines of 183 counties and cities in Sichuan on the 30,000-square-meter experience street of Sichuan Cuisine Town, the master studio and private dishes represented by the apricot banquet founded by Sichuan cuisine master Qiu Kehong, the traditional old shop represented by Chen Ma Po Tofu Shop and other local Sichuan cuisines are gathered here to jointly spell out this "Sichuan Cuisine Map", which is convenient for tourists to "follow Tu Suo Ji" and taste the rich and authentic Sichuan cuisine in one stop.
Qiu Kehong, the founder of Apricot Feast, and his Sichuan cuisine works
"We went to see a lot of urban cultural tourism blocks, what fire sells what, and when we walked in, a lot of things were repetitive. We hope that after the introduction of catering, each one is unique, such as hot pot, we now have only two, one represents the traditional hot pot in Sichuan, and the other is partial to health care. "The layout of the town's formats is as much as possible without similarity, but also covers the consumption of different grades of high, medium and low grades, hoping to ensure that more than 50% of them are more close to the people's diet."
In addition to the "philatelic" of Sichuan cuisine, it is also very important to create fireworks in the city to show the true appearance of Sichuan cuisine, which is much more difficult than the layout of the town. "First of all, we require each store to be freshly made, so that guests can see the production process and experience the hot feeling, just like walking into the life of local people." Fang Zhefeng believes that the presentation of the green city Sichuan cuisine town must be able to impress people.
Fireworks are hidden in every most ordinary corner of the streets and alleys of Sichuan
At the just-concluded World Sichuan Cuisine Congress, the China Sichuan Cuisine Expo Center in Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town was officially opened. In this expo hall, there is not only the history of Sichuan cuisine since the pre-Qin Dynasty, but also the scene experience of 24 flavor types of Sichuan cuisine, as well as the cultural display of the organic integration of Sichuan cuisine with poetry, literature, stories and cultural relics. "There is no wall between the Sichuan Cuisine Expo Center and the town, because sichuan cuisine culture is part of the green city sichuan cuisine town." After visiting the Expo Center, visitors can also visit the Pixian Douban Factory, which is only 200 meters away from the town, to experience the production process of douban sauce, or to have a pastoral experience in the ecological park and enjoy the parent-child time in nature freely. From taste, vision to touch, the feelings of those who come here will become three-dimensional and rich.
China Sichuan Cuisine Expo
The cultural experience of "coming alive"
To create the fireworks of an entire town, diet alone is not enough. The attraction of Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town is not only limited to its rich Sichuan cuisine culture, but also many intangible cultural heritage items unique to Shudi.
In the green city of Sichuan cuisine town, the Xiangshan Gang, which has traditional garden architecture construction techniques, has built a unique Chinese-style building with profound experience as a pen and hand polishing according to ancient methods. When visitors take a leisurely walk and watch the scenery, they can feel the oriental architectural culture inherited by ingenuity.
Greentown Spring Breeze, we follow the traditional process and carve each craft
"In the process of looking for food clues, we wondered if we could make the town a platform to help more intangible cultural heritage projects develop, so that we could also enrich the life of the town, so that tourists can eat and live and play." Fang Zhefeng also mentioned that some non-genetic heirs are facing the dilemma of no successor, and many people are not good at management, and the town hopes to invite them to help them build a good storefront, and can also help them promote. "It's not easy. First of all, we must choose the intangible cultural heritage handicrafts that are more suitable for the town, which can ensure that they can better operate in the future. Secondly, the willingness of the inheritors is also very important, some people are used to the original environment is not willing to come, or really lack the ability to operate, we really need to invest a lot of energy. ”
Although the implementation of these plans is still in its infancy, it has already shown its attractiveness in cultural tourism. Meng Dezhi, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage Shu embroidery, is very optimistic about the prospects of the Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town. One of the main reasons that attracted her was that the preferential policies offered here can greatly support the development of traditional handicrafts. The non-hereditary heirs who come here are basically "moving in with their bags", and they only need a small operating cost to have their own studio or storefront in the town.
Meng Dezhi, the inheritor of Shu embroidery at the national level, and his Shu embroidery works
After the Wenchuan earthquake, many local governments and women's federations in Sichuan have been actively arranging for women to work flexibly at home. In the past ten years, Shu embroidery has cultivated a large number of talents, and has also greatly increased the market's recognition and love for Shu embroidery products, and now many young people are eager to enter this industry. Meng Dezhi hopes that in the future, the green city Sichuan cuisine town can also cultivate more descendants who inherit the Culture of Shu embroidery.
For the local residents of Ender, the town that is starting over has also made them feel the changes in all aspects of life. "A local resident told me that I felt that the town had become alive." Fang Zhefeng said. Before this, Ande Town was a relatively backward township with poor supporting facilities and low consumption levels in the surrounding areas. The completion of the town has undoubtedly brought vitality and vitality, there are more opportunities, attracting the corresponding professional talents, the local population and talent structure has also been significantly improved, while affecting the development of other industries in the surrounding areas. Taking eating as a starting point, in the future, there will be cinemas, hospitals, schools, and more local people's residences, so as to truly become a green city and Sichuan cuisine town full of life.
An industry, but also a life
The development of Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town also proves from the side that under the background of the current rural revitalization policy, industrial prosperity is still the premise for solving rural problems. Zhao Dong, director of the Management Committee of Sichuan Cuisine Industry City in Pidu District, recalled that because of the origin of Pixian Douban and the fact that Ande Town has an industrial park specializing in the processing and production of condiments, the local government has always taken the food industry as the development direction. Although there have been some attempts similar to food streets and pastoral complexes before, because the industrial form is relatively single, the driving effect on the local area is not obvious.
The attempt of Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town was jointly initiated by the local government and the Greentown Town Group. Greentown Town Group drives rural revitalization with industrial operation, focusing on core industries such as health care, science and technology innovation, cultural tourism, education, and agriculture. Jiang Anqiu, general manager of Greentown Town Group, said that Greentown Town Group has always adhered to the sixteen-character policy of town construction: that is, the government is the leader, the content is king, the industry is the foundation, and the team is the foundation. After 18 years of hard work, the footprint of Greentown Town has spread across more than 20 cities across the country, with more than 30 towns, and each town has introduced characteristic industries according to local conditions to form a characteristic industrial pattern.
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As an industrial comprehensive service provider, Greentown Town Group hopes to bring the town experience accumulated in the past 18 years to Chengdu and create a characteristic rural revitalization model. The local government is also looking forward to completely changing the backward appearance of local townships through this cooperation and introducing Sichuan cuisine culture to more people who like it.
Greentown Sichuan cuisine town
Compared with other health and resort towns, the food town is actually a project that breaks the convention and needs to be redefined. For Chinese, eating is undoubtedly one of the most ways to pull into each other's relationships. In the era of digital life, where people's real interactive space is severely squeezed by the Internet and e-commerce, it is particularly precious to taste and exchange food face-to-face. Food is often inversely proportional to physical distance, and if you want to eat good and authentic things, you must come to the local area to experience it for yourself. Returning to the most authentic sensory and emotional experience is perhaps the most unique value of a food town.
On the other hand, although food is the core of the Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town, it is obviously not enough to use it as a place to eat. British writer Fuxia Dunlop wrote in her new work "Sichuan Cuisine": "When you taste Sichuan cuisine, you also taste life. "Even if it is as refreshing and unrestrained as Sichuan, it also pursues a light and plain taste." Just as life is not full of exciting challenges all the time, a moment of calm and calm will also bring a certain stability and stability to the body and mind - these are the beautiful revelations about life that food brings to us.
What we feel through the green city Sichuan cuisine town should be the unique wisdom of this Sichuan flavor life.
Welcome you who love food and come to Greentown Sichuan Cuisine Town to experience the unique Sichuan flavor life
(Some of the pictures are from Greentown Town Group, Visual China, Unsplash)
Planner: Triptych. CREATIVE
Producer: Shen Yichao
WeChat Editor/Design Typography: Han Bing
Author: Liv