Generally speaking, Zigong cuisine is called Xiaohebang Sichuan cuisine among Sichuan cuisine factions. Its history embodies an extreme style, a sense of urgency that can't wait, a courage to refuse stereotypes and dare to be original, supplemented by a strong flavor sprint, which suddenly rises, but hangs in the air. ...
In recent years, restaurants in the name of Zigong cuisine have been set up in various places, and foreigners have begun to have a strong interest in these restaurants in the name of salt-helped cuisine, salt-merchants cuisine and Xiaohebang Sichuan cuisine. The food from Zigong, the ancient salt capital, is easy to be thought to be salty. After careful consideration, it is somewhat heretical, which reminds people of the turbulent rivers and lakes and some metaphors of Qiu Guang on rainy nights.
People who have never been to Zigong will never forget Zigong cuisine as long as they have read the famous novel "The Old Site" or "The Story of Silver City" by the writer Li Rui. Li Rui's ancestral home is Da 'an District, Zigong. Therefore, The Story of Silver City elaborately carves the custom of pushing braised cattle to feed in Zigong Salt Field, allowing readers to experience the inside story of beef and beef soup pot by the fireside in a thrilling process. But I found that the local official website also said that the fireside was made of beef. This common-sense mistake is inevitable.
When it comes to Zigong cuisine, we can't help but mention the customs of cattle and saltworks. In fact, these are not the essence of the problem, just like the salty taste of deep wells. Diet is a concrete reflection of people's physiological desires. Therefore, due to the attraction of salt stove profits, it constitutes a complex local geo-culture. Jiangxi people's tenacity, Qin people's dryness, Xiajiang people's stubbornness, Fujian people's interests, local people's slipperiness, and Hakka people's fortitude and frankness, so the black that permeates those rolling black bittern is not only the black in the heart, but also the black like bittern, which shows black weight in the cut darkness; Thick is not just playing dumb, it needs to be as thick as bamboo boiled with medicine, and it needs to be invincible to be undefended. As Mr. Li Zongwu said, whenever I talk about these things, I "deeply understand the principle of melodramatic things here". This "melodramatic principle" is very suitable for Zigong cuisine. That is to say, local dishes embody an extreme style.
Among the "spicy" folk flavors of Sichuan people, before the introduction of pepper, the "authentic" spicy flavor was Cornus officinalis, which was used for a long time and was also called "Sanxiang" with ginger and pepper. Sichuan people do not have the tradition of eating "tree pepper", and there is no "tree pepper" growing along the coast in the local area. After the early or middle Qing dynasty, the things that further implemented these styles were sea pepper and tender ginger. The local peppers are much hotter than those in other parts of Sichuan.
In the early years, with a large number of Weiyuan people entering the salt field from Gaodong and Leigongtan, Chaotian sea pepper originated from Weiyuan Xindianzi entered artesian well and Gongjing. Seven-star sea pepper is often named after seven as one pinch. Because the soil in Zigong is rich in potassium, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, iron and other elements, this has created a deep, lasting and distinctive style of sea pepper. Zigong Qixing Chaotian pepper has a feature unknown to outsiders, that is, the appearance of sea pepper is not long or sharp, but the tail is recessed into a small pit, which is the most powerful. Later, it was transplanted on a large scale in areas with similar land conditions such as Rongxian, Da 'an and Fushun, which was enough for local people to have a full meal, but it was bitter for foreigners who did not know how to eat Zigong cuisine. As soon as they eat it, they shout that it is delicious, and the more they eat, the more fragrant they become. But the spicy energy goes deep into the internal organs and even abdominal pain and diarrhea.
In the 1920s, catering in Zigong was divided into banquet and wine and food. Bao Xiye worships "Wang Zhan" and is mainly engaged in various banquets and catering businesses; The wine and food industry worships the "Lei clan" and deals in all kinds of stir-fried dishes, cold dishes, soup dishes, rice, pasta, snacks and so on. 1875, the circular harem, has always accepted the incense of the Tugu world. By the time of the Anti-Japanese War, the local catering industry had achieved greater integration, operating five major cuisines: Sichuan cuisine, Beijing cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Guangdong cuisine and Jiangsu cuisine. At that time, the famous restaurants were Tiandeyuan, Minjiang, Jinguyuan, Lumingchun, North China Dining Hall, Jiang Chun and Diaohuanglou.
In ancient times, it was said that Zigong Salt Field was: "The bull's head is opposite to Maling, and the salt well does not produce nobles." Then, all kinds of banquets around the Millennium Salt Field, on the birthday of Niu Wang at the beginning of October every year (from the first day to the seventh day, people who spread beef soup pots are forbidden to enter the door), salt merchants from all walks of life become absolute protagonists. On May 23rd of the lunar calendar, a "one-knife meeting" was held at the Wu Wen Temple Fair on the left upper bridge. The whole table of beef banquet was hosted by the ox, which constituted another scene that matched the flavor of buffalo series. And if you meet the birthday of a big salt merchant, it is a grand festival in the saltworks. Birthdays can be divided into "idle life" and "full ten". At that time, it was called "Birthday" to entertain guests and accept congratulations from relatives and friends. "Idle life" is mostly a simple reunion with family. "Ten" is very grand. The local people are ashamed of their hospitality. Generally, there are eight bowls, nine bowls and ten bowls. Ordinary banquets must have Baba meat, stewed chicken soup, salted boiled water, bacon, Sichuan-style pork, roe and so on. High-class banquet can only be enjoyed by salt merchants. Later, it gradually developed into a "super saltworks mat" (a traditional famous mat). There are not only hundreds of complicated dishes, but more importantly, they strangely show the pride of the owner, which will be mentioned later. This reminds me of the monograph "Ancient and Modern Diet" by the late famous writer Levin of Taiwan Province Province, in which there is a chapter "River workers and salt merchants", which explains the close relationship between the formation of Huaiyang cuisine and extravagant banquets with a lot of historical materials, and in this respect, "River workers" is more amazing than salt merchants. It is mentioned in the book that the Huai 'an Governor's Office has 4.5 million taels of silver a year, up to 1/3, and the remaining huge sum is just "squandering". This is the only official government that publicly "consumes public funds", which is by no means comparable to private salt merchants. Eating and drinking should be both rich and leisure, while river workers are only busy for one season every year. A river worker's banquet takes three days and three nights, and diners "can't finish the banquet." From this, Levin put forward a big proposition: "I think the so-called' full banquet' probably evolved from a river banquet that took three days and three nights to finish." In contrast, salt merchants in Zigong do not have this luxury, because they are often poor, begging in blood basins since childhood, and it is impossible to squander their blood and sweat.