Xiangxiang Baked Cake: The childhood memories of countless adult Xiangxiang people

　　Xiangxiang baked cake has been developed by the county town Tianyuan Zhaizhai in the first year of Qing Yongzheng (1723) for more than 200 years. During the Xianfeng period, when Zeng Guofan led the Xiang army to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he used baked cakes as soldiers' food, which was tasted by the emperor and imperial court ministers after the war, and was highly praised and appointed as a tribute. In 1932, it was exhibited at the Chicago Exposition. In 1937, all walks of life in Hunan province went to Shanghai with baked cakes to comfort the officers of the 19th Army, and the soldiers who fought against the Japanese were greatly encouraged.

　　Baking cakes are made of high-grade white rice and sugar as raw materials, and are made by soaking rice, grinding powder, sifting powder, mixing sugar, cassette, slices, baking and other processes. Ivory color, mouth dissolving, fire incense, pure and refreshing, rich in nutrition; because it does not contain oil and salt, and it is directly roasted by fire, it is hygienic and sterile, easy to preserve, and can be used as travel dry food, but also as infant milk substitute food, especially suitable for family backup, feeding relatives and friends. In 1980, we excavated traditional crafts, improved packaging, and obtained the provincial quality product certificate.

　　Rice has been a staple food in China for hundreds of years, and people everywhere are full of fun and wisdom to create unique pastries with it, which is a story about time. Hometown calls this kind of cake with rice and sugar simple combination baked cake, which is the childhood memory of countless adult Xiangxiang people.

　　In 1723, the Xiangxiang County Town Tianyuan Zhaiguan developed baked cakes, which were undoubtedly a luxury in the era when rice was extremely precious. White rice and sugar, just two simple substances, are the raw materials needed to make baked cakes. Seemingly simple food, to go through the process of soaking rice, grinding powder, sieving powder, mixing sugar, cassette, dicing, baking and so on.

The color of white rice, after being roasted by fire, will be slightly yellow, but the production process of replacing fire roasting with electric heat after mechanized production has made it difficult to produce a natural yellow color for baking cakes. A slice of baked cake enters, and the seemingly shaped square pastry instantly turns into countless sweet powders, and childhood memories come with the taste buds. Baked cakes of yesteryear were one of the best snacks. The saying "fattening the cubs, baking the cake in a basket" proves that baking cake is a food suitable for all ages, and it is also a good taste with both nutrition and taste. In the 1980s and 1990s, baking cakes were still a relatively precious thing, generally used to send affection between relatives and friends.

　　During the Taiping Rebellion during the Xianfeng period, Zeng Guofan led thousands of Xiang army generals to travel around, military food became a big problem, he thought that the baked cakes in his hometown were easy to preserve, so he used the baked cakes as food for the army. At that time, dozens of zhaiguans in Xiangxiang rushed to make baked cakes every day and provided them for the front line to eat, and the cost of using baked cakes to make military food was much higher than that of using rice to make military food, but it still provided a stable supply to the Xiang Army and made an indelible contribution to quelling the chaos. After the rebellion was quelled, Zeng Guofan was highly praised for presenting baked cakes to the royal family and ministers, and after that, Xiangxiang baked cakes were awarded as tributes. In 1932, baked cakes were exhibited at the Chicago Exposition. "In 1937, all walks of life in Hunan went to Shanghai with baked cakes to comfort the officers of the Nineteenth Army, and the soldiers who fought against the Japanese were greatly encouraged" - "Xiangxiang in Ancient Times".

　　In the summer, he was in a tea house with the boss of a certain food processing factory, a man in his fifties, and a fellow countryman. When it comes to baking cakes in Xiangxiang, he is very touched. In the 1980s and 1990s, because baked cakes were still a good thing in household food, the market conditions were good and became the main products of food companies, but the people who could make baked cakes with traditional crafts gradually grew old, and young people were unwilling to pass on their skills in the countryside, and they could not produce baked cakes. At this time, they began to look for young people around 20 years old for training, which is "order-type" training in fashionable words. The technique of making baked cakes, from layman to basic familiarity with making, takes at least three months, which is a test for learners. "At that time, they (young people who learned to make baked cakes) were given sixty yuan a month's salary, sixty yuan, which was very high at that time!" The boss said. But less than a few years later, these young people, who had high hopes for food companies, chose to go south or north. "The old people who used traditional techniques to make cakes have passed away in recent years, and no one has done it in ancient times," he said.

　　The baking cakes we see on the market today are all made using improved technology, and in a few years, no one may know how the Xiangxiang baking cakes invented hundreds of years ago were made in the hands of the ancients. When traditional technology is confronted with industrial machines, it is so weak and drifts away. Only then did I realize that what I was eating was not baking cakes, but a kind of feeling!

Source: Boya Cultural Tourism Network

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