Food is a symbol of a city
——Read Mr. Chen Maojun's new book "Food Talk"
Gao Renbin
Zigong in southern Sichuan is the hometown of salt gang cuisine, all kinds of food characterized by fresh and spicy are well-known Zigong reporter Mr. Chen Maojun, who has long been committed to the research and writing of local food culture, as early as 2010, he published the book "Zigong Salt Gang Cuisine", and in 2012, he co-authored "Zigong Salt Gang Cuisine Classic Recipe". On the road of exploring Zigong food culture, Mr. Maojun has worked tirelessly and persistently, trying to build a complete growth system for Zigong cuisine through cultural excavation. Compared with his earlier research, his new book "Food Talk Truth" (Sichuan Science and Technology Publishing House, April 2020) has more of a sense of narration and interpretation, all of which are food themes, writing people's notes, telling stories, and providing people with an intimate and interesting reading experience.
Memories of the past about food convey a nostalgia for looking back at home. In the 51 articles included in "Food talk", many pages are written about the life scenes of the author's youth, and whenever this is mentioned, the "mother" becomes the protagonist of these daily lives, and she weaves the dreams of ordinary life with her own diligence and maternal love. For example, in the article "Pickled Sauerkraut", "At noon, my mother took the washed vegetables home, removed the door panels or laid out bamboo mats, and spread the washed vegetables on top to dry, before putting them into the kimchi altar." The green vegetables are pressed layer by layer, put a layer of green vegetables, sprinkle a layer of artesian well coarse salt, peppercorns, put another layer of green vegetables, and then sprinkle a layer of artesian well coarse salt and peppercorns. The green vegetables soaked by the mother, from the leaves to the stalks, are yellow and brilliant, and the fragrance is fragrant. There are many similar descriptions with a sense of age, and the author is telling the process of making sauerkraut by his mother while also recalling the difficult years. The so-called food is not limited to the color and fragrance on the table, but also includes every detail that is carefully cared for from the beginning of leaving the soil. The author wrote in "Pig Killing Dish": "Master Li bit the long cold shining bull ear sharp knife in his mouth, grabbed a pig's ear in his left hand, and with his right hand, he flipped the fat pig weighing 150 or 60 kilograms on the pig killing stool and threw it up on the pig killing stool with four feet, and then one knee was against the pig's body, and the neighbors who helped stabilize the pig's four legs." Master Li recited the words in his mouth, stabbed a knife into the neck of the pig, and then pulled out in a twist, the pig's blood immediately soared out, rushed out more than a meter high, and fell back into the basin where the pig's blood was received. "Such a scene, with some thrilling implications, at first glance seems to have nothing to do with food, but in fact, this is the essence of food called food. It is precisely because of the untold stories behind the food that we have deepened our understanding of food and enhanced our love. At this point, I think that Mr. Shigeru is willing to try to explore the tiny details of the growth of food because he is full of feelings for food.
Understanding gastronomy from a historical perspective, all gastronomy has a cultural glow. Mr. Maojun is good at research, so his Zigong cuisine naturally does not lack the exploration of historical origins. Therefore, a large number of pages in "Food Talk" have the ingredient of combing the source of food, which provides readers with a richer reading experience. In particular, it is worth pointing out that mr. Mao jun's gastronomic history has inadvertently incorporated a lot of vivid but not widely known historical materials, which makes the text have a higher value. For example, in the article "Eating Lamb in Cold Winter", he specifically mentioned that Hou Hanchu's 1986 compilation of the "Sichuan Cuisine Feast Compendium" included the whole sheep table menu undertaken by Chongqing Yuexiang Village in December 1965, and recorded the full menu (including 9 cold dishes, 7 hot dishes, and 3 snacks). A short passage of text allows us to experience the evolution of food and the folk culture conveyed by food. In order to further explain the cultural attributes of Zigong cuisine, Mr. Maojun also deliberately collected and sorted out the article "Bamboo Branch Words Related to Diet a Hundred Years Ago in Artesian Well", and the bamboo branch words included reflected the strong local color of Zigong. For example: "A copper dollar to buy a circle, as thick as a baked cake is larger than the plate." The sky is sunny and the sun is shaded by rain, and the wood is used early to cook for lunch. (Cow in the Artesian Well) In the New Year's Season, the yuan lantern is on, and the green woman and the red man go to collect the green. Laughter and scolding by him in the end, for the official for the thief like a heart. Ordinary dishes in ordinary life, once they have historical precipitation, they may rise to the cultural level and form a folk food culture. It is not difficult to see that the reputation of salt dishes is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, not only in the delicious taste, but also in the widely recognized cultural background.
Mr. Maojun is passionate about Zigong cuisine and has studied its production methods in depth, although "Food Talk Truth" is a collection of essays, he also loses no time in introducing the food making process to the reader, in a sense, according to the production method he introduced, it can be fully practically operated. For example, when he introduced the "buckle meat" (salty roasted white, sweet roasted white and sand meat), he also specifically pointed out that the ingredients used in "pork belly" have "hard five flowers" and "soft five flowers", and the best material for making "buckle meat" is the fat and thin "soft five flowers". Bean blossom is a quite folk flavor of the cuisine, many places have the habit of bean blossom with meals, especially the famous Fushun bean flower, the production process is very complicated, Mr. Maojun in the "Fushun bean flower past life and present life" article, but also did not hesitate to ink from "select beans" to "point bean flower" The five processes of the five processes of fushun bean flower were introduced in detail, which is tantamount to doing a meticulous science popularization. A series of dishes about beef is also a major feature of Zigong cuisine, and the article "Zigong Especially Can Make Beef Dishes" devotes a lot of space to detailing the production methods of various beef dishes, from material selection to knife work, oil, fire... The details of the narration are tantamount to giving the reader a unique lecture on food making. I think that the author's way of writing must be out of his preference for Zigong cuisine. Probably Mr. Maojun hopes that these intangible food making processes can be continuously passed on, accepted by everyone, and loved by everyone.
Due to the influence of regional culture, it can be said that any city has its own local cuisine that it is proud of. For Zigong in southern Sichuan, the location of food has risen to the height of the city's business card, and it is one of the four city business cards of "Salt City", "City of Lights", "Town of Dragons" and "House of Food". In this sense, food has become a symbol of Zigong city culture. The "Food Talk Truth" collected by Mr. Maojun for Zigong cuisine is undoubtedly giving meaning to the city's culture, and will have a promoting effect on expanding the influence of Zigong cuisine.
July 4, 2021 at Longhu