This particularly inclusive food was "treated with courtesy" after Nanjing was "deformed"

Sausages are probably the most inclusive food on the planet. Sausages are rich in ingredients, and pork, beef, cuttlefish, and flying roe can all be coated with casings to complete the gorgeous transformation of flavor.

In the recent hit food documentary "Flavor of the World 2", there is an episode dedicated to introducing sausages from all over the world, such as Cantonese sausages and Sichuan spicy sausages in China, Mexican green sausages abroad, Mottara sausages in Italy, German white sausages, Thai sour sausages... It has aroused great public interest in sausages.

When the sausage arrived in Nanjing, it underwent "deformation" and received an unusual "courtesy".

Sausages in Nanjing butterfly become "fragrant belly"

At the earliest, the emergence of sausages was that in order to preserve the ingredients, people chose the scraps of meat, broke and recombined, and poured into the casing. The dried sausage has a charming flavor and has gradually become an indispensable universal meat in people's daily life.

Over the years, people have continuously transformed sausages, and sausages have gradually derived thousands of different categories. In the "Flavor of the World 2" program, countless novel sausages are displayed, and the "appearance and figure" are eye-opening. For example, Mexican green sausages have a unique color and texture; The Italian sausage Motta terra, which is huge, with a single length of more than two meters, is called the largest sausage in the world; and the German white sausage, with pieces of meat in the shape of milk, is thick and sticky like cream.

When the sausage came to Nanjing, it became a "fragrant belly", which was shaped like an apple, with a tight flesh and a clear red and white color.

All the specialties of this world are inseparable from the unique climate and geography, and the same is true of Nanjing belly.

Wu Pengkun, executive deputy general manager of Nanjing Xinlamei Meat Products Factory, told reporters that Nanjing fragrant belly must be made in summer, and only after entering the snow festival in winter can it start making fragrant belly. "According to the requirements of the traditional process, the production of the fragrant belly should start at the beginning of the cold weather around November, and the production will be stopped around January of the following year, so the production time is very urgent."

There are many special features of Nanjing fragrant belly, Wu Kunpeng took the example of fragrant belly wrapping, "Pig bladder to make fragrant belly coating requires more than twenty processes, the process is quite cumbersome." The general process is like this, using an inflatable cylinder to blow the pig's bladder into a ball, after three days of drying, and then cutting the "ball" into two and a half flared shapes, and finally sewing it together with cotton thread. After the late 1980s and early 1990s, many belly manufacturers chose a more convenient pig casing (a transparent film after the pig intestine was processed and scraped) as a belly coating in order to save trouble, and now there are not many companies that insist on making belly coatings with pig bladders.

Time makes a tripe unique flavor

The love of Nanjing people for fragrant belly may not be imagined by today's young people. Ma Xueren, a scholar of food culture in Nanjing, told reporters about the winter street scene of that year: "Every time around the winter and spring festival, walking in the streets and alleys, you will see the old Nanjing people hanging or homemade or purchased belly in a cool and ventilated place, row after row, the scene is quite spectacular. ”

After a day of air drying, the unique "aroma" of the sausage also comes out. Science Squirrel Club popular science writer Yun Wuxin explained in the article "The Science Behind the < Flavor World 2>" that this "fragrance" of sausages is actually a combination of various flavor substances. When you look at Sichuan sausage, it is the integration of protein and fat, coupled with the taste of hemp, spicy and sweet, which immediately produces a wonderful compound taste. Among them, the "fragrance" of sausages, the most important thing is the umami taste brought by amino acids and nucleotides. During the process of curing and drying, the proteins in the meat release umami amino acids such as glutamic acid, as well as "flavored nucleotides" such as inosine. Together, these substances make sausages "fresher" than fresh meat. The salty taste brought by salt and the umami taste will also produce synergy, making the other party's taste more intense.

Enough air drying time, giving the fragrant belly a unique flavor, but also giving the fragrant belly a chance to "change its face". "After air drying, the color of the belly will continue to evolve." Wu Kunpeng said that from the flesh color white, red to black, these stages take about a month.

Nowadays, many meat processing enterprises, in order to rush the construction period, will use modern dryers, sausages, sausages and tripe air drying period from one month to three days. However, Lamei still adheres to the ancient method of craftsmanship. "Drying is to force out the moisture in the belly a little faster, and the desire to be fast is not reached, and the dried belly often lacks a rich wax flavor." This is also the reason why many old Nanjing people like to eat natural air-dried sausages. Wu Kunpeng said.

Fragrant belly was "treated with courtesy" by the people of Nanjing

After the baptism of years, the steamed belly can be served on the table. Clip a slice, taste carefully, the entrance is fragrant, after a long time of chewing there is a sweet aftertaste, as if adding rock sugar, so the old Nanjing people used to call the belly "rock sugar belly".

However, the ingredients and curing process of Nanjing belly are not actually related to rock sugar. Wu Pengkun told reporters that the main ingredient of the fragrant belly is pork, and there are only 5 kinds of accessories - sugar, salt, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, "MSG was passed down from Japan in 1909, so in the late Qing Dynasty, the aromatic belly will not add MSG, and if you follow the ancient taste, you can not add wine." ”

The usual raw materials and condiments marinated from Nanjing's fragrant belly are still one of the earliest award-winning meat products in Nanjing. In 1910, the first large-scale exposition in Chinese history, the Nanyang Persuasion Association, was held in Nanjing, and Nanjing Fragrant Belly and Nanjing Plate Duck stood out among the millions of exhibits and won high-quality awards.

Germany, the country with the largest variety of sausages, has more than 1500 kinds of sausages. The Germans' love for sausages has even made them a "national delicacy". Although there is only one kind of sausage in Nanjing, in the food customs of the old Nanjing people, the fragrant belly is a symbol. Ma Xueren told reporters that according to the old Nanjing etiquette, where the round seat is feasted and the fragrant belly is placed, that is, the chief guest sits. Therefore, Nanjing fragrant belly is also known as "solitary residence".

There is an example of the delicacy of Nanjing's fragrant belly and the status of the feast. During the Republic of China, political dignitaries feasted on Wu Tiecheng, then mayor of Shanghai, at the "Anle Hotel" in Nanjing. The owner specially laid a plate of red and white belly as thin as a cicada's wing. It was this plate of fragrant belly that attracted the attention of Wu Tiecheng, who laughed and said to the people around him that Guangzhou's food is really a vain name, and Nanjing's fragrant belly alone is much more delicious than Guangzhou's sausage. After the meal, he filled in a song praising Nanjing's fragrant belly, two of which were: "Jasper raw flowers are full of plates, and the precious food is full of dignity." ”