The characteristic culture of hemp sugar

Speaking of sesame candy, I think of Xiaogan, Hubei. Xiaogan sesame candy is one of the famous products in Hubei Province. As early as the end of Yuan Dynasty, it was famous for its unique flavor of fragrance, sweetness, thinness, crispness and white, and won unanimous praise from consumers. This product takes selected glutinous rice, sesame seeds and sugar as the main raw materials, with osmanthus flowers, money orange cakes and other ingredients, without any chemical pollution and additives, and is a pure natural green food. Especially, maltose is used as the main raw material, which has the effect of moistening lung and relieving asthma, and can obviously relieve the condition of patients with bronchitis, asthma and other diseases. It is a nutritional and health-care treasure with multiple functions.

Xiaogan hemp candy has a long history. According to legend, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin once ate it and praised it, so it became a royal tribute. Later, it was copied all over the country, but the taste was not as good as Xiaogan's native products, so it was not handed down. Only by boiling sugar with "Dragon Spitting Water" from Chenghuangtan outside the west gate of Xiaogan City can we make top-grade sesame candy. No wonder even the sugar makers in Xiaogan can't make the original flavor if they move to other places.

The emergence of Xiaogan sesame candy is said to be related to a greedy candy store owner. This proprietress often can't help stealing candy because of her gluttony. Once, while she was eating with relish, she saw her boss enter the room. She was so scared that she quickly threw a bowl into the sesame jar, but the boss found out. When the boss saw that the sugar was covered with raw sesame seeds, he was really distressed to throw it away, and there was no way to get rid of it. He was very angry. At this time, the greedy proprietress said aside, "Use it if you can, and bake it in a pot. Very delicious. " The boss tasted it and it was really delicious. Later, an old chef who cooked sugar was inspired by this incident and created Xiaogan sesame candy. There is a beautiful folklore about the history and development of Xiaogan sesame sugar.

Xiaogan had a dutiful son named Yong Dong, who married seven fairies. However, the queen mother was ruthless and eventually broke up the loving couple. Yong Dong and the Seven Fairies have a son named Dong Bao. When he grew up, he met the seven fairies under the guidance of the prophet Mr. Guigu, and gave him a bowl of millet, telling him that as long as he cooked one grain every day, it could be used as a daily ration. After Dong Bao came home, he cooked a bowl of millet and turned it into a Mi Shan, which pushed Dong Bao down. Later, a special kind of rice grew on the rice hill.

Because it is the fairy seed of the Heavenly Palace, it tastes especially sweet, and people use it to make all kinds of food. Xiaogan sesame candy is made of this glutinous rice. Sesame candy made from this glutinous rice is crispy and delicious, and it doesn't stick to your hands. It is very popular. As a result, this kind of sugar is widely circulated in the local area.

Tangshan hemp candy has a history of more than 400 years, which originated in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and originated in Cao Xueqin's hometown-Tangshan Qishuzhuang, which is rich in eastern Hebei. Tangshan sesame candy is shaped like a ball of flowers, as thin as cicada wings, some milky and some yellowish, soft and crisp and delicious. Guangsheng, the inventor of sesame candy, started with frying fork (sesame leaves), then developed into honey fork, and later invented Tangshan sesame candy. Sesame candy evolved from a fork in eastern Hebei Province. At that time, people liked to use sugar noodles and sesame fried pork chops as holiday food on holidays. About 100 years ago, the pastry shop "Guangsheng" put this kind of dim sum on the market, which was deeply loved by ordinary people. At that time, there were two kinds of forks on the market: one was to mix flour with sugar and then stir-fry with sesame seeds; The other is to fry it first, and then pour it with honey juice. The two kinds of forks have their own advantages and disadvantages, the fried fork is hard and crisp, and the honey fork is soft. In the course of operation, Guangsheng No.1. Combining two kinds of fork arrangement methods, it was carefully developed and absorbed the pouring method of "providing honey" for Beijing cakes to produce a famous flavor food-honey. It is impossible to prove when Guangsheng was opened by the Zhang family. The earliest record can only be found in the old accounts, which is the four years of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Jiazu lived in Jizhong Shenzhou (now Shenxian County, Hengshui City) and was forced to move to Qishuzhuang, Feng Run County, Tangshan, to continue to produce and distribute "Guangsheng" sesame candy. Although Tangshan Matang has developed many sub-brands, the most authentic one is Guangsheng. Through generation to generation, Guangsheng and other old brands of hemp sugar can be carried forward. His successor is Mr. Leslie Cheung from Qishuzhuang, Fengrun District, Tangshan City. In 2009, "Guangsheng" sesame sugar was listed as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage in Hebei Province. Sesame candy absorbed the pouring method of the famous pastry "Honey Supply", and after several improvements, it gradually formed a unique production process. Dong Shuyuan, an expert in making honey and sesame candy in Xinxin Store of tobacco and alcohol company, studied at 1963 and won the legend of "the king of sesame candy" in this city. His skill has reached the level of "shine on you is better than blue". After batching, kneading, rolling, cleaning, dicing, frying, pouring, etc., the sesame candy made is bright in color, light yellow, flower-thin, sweet and crisp, and rich in nutrition, which can be described as a unique flavor of our province. At 198 1 national food appraisal meeting, it was awarded the title of quality product by the Ministry of Commerce.