There is a Mengfeng town in Qingxu County, and Mengfeng Town has Mengfeng cake, which is fragrant, crisp, sweet and soft, and is called the delicacy in the cake. Mengfeng Town also has another delicious cake, called hollow coarse moon cake, and together with Mengfeng cake, it has become a municipal and provincial intangible cultural heritage protection project. On the wide street side of Yangfang Village in Mengfeng Town, "cake houses" are not uncommon, but it is The Haiwei Food Factory in Qingxu County that bears the responsibility for the protection of "intangible cultural heritage". Front shop, rear factory, traditional taste.
Fame has endured for a hundred years
Mengfeng cake is a unique traditional famous specialty food in Mengfeng Town, Qingxu County. Its ingredients are exquisite in production, eat sweet but not greasy, crisp but not broken, cool but not cold, put in the mouth without chewing self-chemical, eat now for a long time, the taste is often fresh, the color is tempting. According to legend, Mengfeng cake was first made in the 10th year of Qing Guangxu. At that time, there was a rich man surnamed Feng in Liwang Village in Mengfeng Town, who hired a chef Zhao Jinshan. In the month of La, Feng Cailord demanded: within one month, he suddenly asked for a change of tricks. Although Zhao Jinshan's craftsmanship is high, he was also forced to exhaust his skills, in the kitchen to think hard about what tricks to change, accidentally touched the oil basket next to the noodle case, he hurriedly received the oil into the noodle jar to add noodles to make cakes, but too much oil was too thin to form a cake shape, so he had to use a shovel to shovel the pieces on the hammer to buckle the pot to bake, it happened that Feng Rich Man went to the kitchen to inspect, saw a few pieces of knots made, and angrily asked: "What is the call to do this?" Chef Zhao said in a hurry: "This is a special pot for you." Feng Rich Man tasted it, sweet and crispy, and asked to continue baking. Zhao Jinshan repeatedly tried to determine the best formula for four oils and four sugars. Later, Zhao Jinshan opened a cake shop, which was called "Mengfeng Pot Block" at that time. Mengfeng is a necessary place for the Beijing (Beijing) West (Xi'an) Grand Official Road. North and south merchants continue, coupled with the "pot block" flavor is unique, merchants must carry away, for the convenience of the name, and because it was bought in Mengfeng, it is called "Mengfeng Cake". In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance attacked Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled to Xi'an, passing through Xugou County, Xugou County ordered local snacks to be served, including MengFeng Cake, which Empress Dowager Cixi was very appreciative after tasting, and then passed on an oral edict to take three loads of MengFeng Cake, which made MengFeng Cake famous and spread far away to Kyoto, and sold it to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shaanxi and other places. In the 1960s and 1970s, Taiyuan and Jinzhong vice food stores were mostly hung with the brand of "Mengfeng Cake", and the finished products were displayed all year round, and they could be seen everywhere in the Mid-Autumn Festival and spring festival, and their fame has not faded for a hundred years. In June 2011, Mengfeng Cake was identified as a provincial intangible cultural heritage protection project. In the production workshop of Haiwei Food Factory, I saw the master workers carrying flour, kneading the dough, cutting it in turn, smearing a handful of oil puff pastry on the cake, brushing a layer of egg liquid and sprinkling a pinch of sesame seeds, rubbing strips, applying the agent, pressing flat, wrapping the puff pastry, and the golden yellow in the oven made a cheerful sound, which made people full of thoughts. A small pie that has soaked the memories of generations.
See people see things see life
In Qingxu County, every Mid-Autumn Festival, every household has to bake mooncakes, commonly known as "mooncakes", the mooncakes are sweet, hollow and crisp, and have local characteristics. Hollow thick mooncake is not only a kind of local specialty food, but also a traditional cultural symbol and physical witness, and is an example embodiment of intangible cultural heritage "seeing people see things and seeing life". With the development of the times, fewer and fewer people are learning traditional handicrafts today, and traditional handicrafts are in danger of gradually disappearing. On the basis of the traditional cake industry, Haiwei Food Factory has always adhered to the inheritance of the production technology of Qingxu hollow thick mooncake, and has been producing, displaying and selling all year round, and has undertaken the responsibility of inheritance and protection of the project. In December 2020, the hollow thick mooncake making technique was identified as the seventh batch of intangible cultural heritage protection projects at the municipal level. Qingxu hollow thick mooncake, fine ingredients, exquisite ingredients, unique flavor. Natural white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, peanut kernels, sunflower seeds, raisins are used for filling, accompanied by white sugar, brown sugar, rose sauce and cooked flour. The preparation of the filling is an important part, when the filling is first fried with slow heat sesame seeds and flour, the peanut kernels are chopped with a knife, and then the required filling is poured into a large basin in a certain proportion, stirred evenly, and the filling is prepared. And noodles are also very exquisite, take 10 pounds of flour as an example, weigh well into the basin, open a hole in the middle, pour 3.5 pounds of hot oil, put a small amount of alkali noodles, first rub the flour oil evenly, and then add 3.2 pounds of peppercorns that are boiled in advance to cool the water times, knead the noodles to the soft and hard, evenly divide into each 65 grams of dough, knead into the dough, add 30 grams of filling to wrap well, press into the special woodcut mooncake mold, and then bump on the case. Turn on the heat, heat the special circle and the hammer, and then bake the wrapped mooncake on the mold. During the production process, the middle sugar filling melted close to the noodle layer, the steam will open the cake surface to form a hollow, eight or nine minutes later, a furnace of hollow coarse mooncakes will be baked, and now with a special oven for food, more hygienic and fast. Haiwei Food Factory formulated a five-year protection plan: in 2020, the traditional production techniques and history and culture of Qingxu Hollow Thick Mooncake will be sorted out and recorded; in 2021, the archiving work will be carried out to establish special files and display cabinets for relevant texts, pictures and traditional utensils; in 2022, representative inheritors will regularly hold inheritance training activities, establish a productive protection base, and train 2 to 3 new generation inheritors; in 2023, strengthen cooperation with the food research department to study the nutritional collocation of fillings and fabrics. On the basis of traditional formulas, a standardized ratio is formed; in 2024, we will increase the publicity in traditional media and networks, actively participate in various publicity and exhibition activities, and integrate intangible cultural heritage and products into modern life.
Source: Taiyuan Evening News Photography Zhao Shikai Text Li Xiaohe