When Li Hongzhang, a late Qing dynasty minister who led the foreign affairs movement, visited the United States in 1896, a joke about "Li Hongzhang's miscellaneous pieces" that was famous at home and abroad occurred.
First, Li Hongzhang eats chicken
In 1896, Li Hongzhang visited the United States on behalf of the Qing government and was warmly received by the United States. At that time, all he ate was Western food, and Li Hongzhang, as an oriental who was accustomed to chopsticks, was not accustomed to using knives and forks.
During the meal, the chef brought a whole turkey, and the American hosts politely invited Li Hongzhang to eat it. Only to see Li Hongzhang generously grab the chicken with his hand, break off a chicken leg and eat it.
Everyone was surprised by this move, and out of respect, the guests no longer made a dignified gesture and learned from Li Hongzhang's appearance. The crowd gathered around the table and ate chicken with their hands unrestrained, which was very funny. Americans no longer stick to knives and forks when they eat chicken.
During the banquet, someone asked Li Hongzhang: "Your Honor, do Orientals eat chicken with their hands?" ”
Li Hongzhang replied: "No, we use chopsticks." ”
The man didn't know what the chopsticks were and continued to ask, "Can you show us?" ”
Li Hongzhang asked his entourage to take out the chopsticks, and then explained the use of chopsticks to everyone. This use of the principle of leverage, skillfully used in the tableware of Chinese society, aroused the interest of other guests, followed By Li Hongzhang to learn to use them.
These days when Li Hongzhang came to the United States, after the propaganda of the newspapers, he quickly attracted the curiosity of the American people about the oriental food culture.
"The people take food as the sky", each country and ethnic group has its own unique food culture tradition, and there is no distinction between high and low. In front of Westerners, Li Hongzhang did not worship the foreign world and bow his knees, but promoted the traditional food culture of the Chinese nation with a casual and equal attitude.
Second, Li Hongzhang's chef group
Before Li Hongzhang visited the United States, he brought more than a dozen oriental chefs from Tianjin with him. Before the mission arrived at the U.S. port, New York Times reporters and local officials came to the port to greet them.
Everyone was puzzled to see that Li Hongzhang had brought so many chefs on his visit.
A reporter asked: "Why did the Governor-General bring so many chefs to the United States because he was worried that the food in our country was not delicious enough?" ”
When Li Hongzhang heard this question from the reporter, he pondered for a moment and said: "No, I originally brought you here across the ocean to bring the taste of the Orient to your country and invite everyone to taste it." ”
"What are the specialties of your country?" The reporter asked.
"Our country is rich in land, there are too many special things, and these chefs brought by this envoy are all skilled, and they can show their skills for everyone when the time comes." Li Hongzhang answered.
Li Hongzhang then introduced the chefs he brought to the reporters one by one.
The reporters reported on Li Hongzhang's chef group, marveling at the pomp and circumstance of this Qing Dynasty courtier, and also curious about the chef group he brought.
III. "Li Hongzhang Miscellaneous Pieces"
Li Hongzhang entertained American guests at his residence. At that time, many Westerners knew very little about Oriental cuisine. Li Hongzhang's chef cooked many famous dishes of the Qing Dynasty, including pork back, cooked goose paws, stone crab tofu, etc., the ingredients were brought from Tianjin, and American guests had never seen these court dishes from the East.
At the dinner table, everyone praised the delicious food made by the oriental cook, and soon, the delicacies on the table were swept away.
The chef saw that he was in a hurry, the prepared dishes were finished, there were not many ingredients left in the kitchen, and the guests had no intention of leaving.
The chef rushed to report the situation of Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang was in a hurry, and he asked the chef to combine the raw materials of Western food with various leftover vegetables and pork and burn them into a smorgasbord.
The chef quickly made a pot of colorful smorgasbords in the kitchen. The fragrant aroma made the American guests salivate, and Li Hongzhang signaled them to enjoy it.
When the guests tasted it, they were full of praise, and some people joked happily: "Your Honor, such a delicious dish is finally served, and I am reluctant to give it to us!" ”
Li Hongzhang smiled and said, "Haha, in our country, we like to present the best things to our guests in the finale." ”
A guest asked, "What's the name of this dish?" ”
Li Hongzhang did not understand the meaning of this sentence, and mistakenly believed that the guest was praising the chef for making this dish delicious, followed by a sentence that answered the question: "Delicious, delicious!" ”
Unexpectedly, this "delicious, delicious" is similar to the pronunciation of "Hotch-potch" in English for "miscellaneous".
The guests followed suit: "Hotch-potch, Hotch-potch."
Li Hongzhang felt very strange and asked the translator next to him: "What do they mean by that?" ”
The translator is not able to answer directly, just say that this is the meaning of "smorgasbord".
After the banquet, the guests who attended the banquet on the same day publicized the dish to media reporters, and newspapers also began to report on it.
In this way, the dish of "Li Hongzhang Miscellaneous" spread in the United States. It's just that they didn't expect that in Chinese culture, miscellaneous pieces have the meaning of cursing.