History and culture in Macao diet

Macao's food culture is "learning from others' strengths" and "serving the present from the past", and the dishes are unparalleled, especially the "native Portuguese dishes", and the food world is desirable.

There is an old saying that food is the most important thing for the people. But China people have never been so fond of eating and so particular about it. China's food culture and fashion are sweeping the world! In the streets and alleys of Macao, in addition to Cantonese restaurants everywhere, you can also taste Chinese and foreign delicacies such as Beijing cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, French cuisine and Portuguese cuisine, especially the "original Portuguese cuisine" improved by Macao people. Macao cuisine has become a food pedigree that can best reflect cultural tolerance and a tourism characteristic project that attracts a large number of Chinese and foreign tourists.

Integration of Chinese, Western and North-South Characteristics

Many foreigners have an evaluation of Macao people, which is called "Macao people are not afraid to treat guests", which means that Macao people never worry about what to eat when they invite guests to dinner, and ensure that you can eat special dishes that are not available elsewhere. Because Macao can be described as a gathering of Chinese, Western, North and South cuisines, where you can not only taste authentic Portuguese cuisine, but also eat Macao cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Shanghai cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Korean cuisine and Thai cuisine. If you still prefer Chinese food, many restaurants in Macau have everything, from traditional roast chicken and steamed fish to special Beijing duck stuffing, shark's fin soup, roast suckling pig, as well as shrimp dumplings, Shao Shao, fruit powder and other snacks. The Chinese restaurant located in Foley Street near Xinma Road is the most famous. If you want to find an economical place for a change, you can go to the snack bar to try all kinds of porridge, noodles, wonton jiaozi and ginger milk, and you can have a full meal at low cost. Vegetarians can also have a light vegetarian meal in Bodaiji. In the evening, many flavor shops and barbecue shops in the old city of Macao Peninsula are very popular. Beef offal soup, chicken legs, beef ribs, quail, mutton soup and so on, are full of fragrance and memorable. A few days ago, at the invitation of Mr. Lv Bo, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Macau Daily, the author specially went to Huisheng Game Hot Pot Restaurant in Cao Qing Street to taste mutton hot pot. This shop with a history of more than 20 years is very simple, but there are many diners. Its mutton hotpot is unique. It is made of Dong goat from Hainan province, with mushrooms, garlic sprouts and garlic cloves. The meat is tender and tender, and the more you drink the soup, the more you want to drink it. Even when I grew up eating mutton, I experienced this unparalleled delicacy for the first time. In recent years, most of the popular Taiwan Province-style teahouses are concentrated in Xinqiao District and Dijingyuan District of Xingang. Thai restaurants are concentrated in a street called Ermayina Road, close to Huangdu Hotel, featuring rich fish, chicken feet with pickled peppers, fried shrimp cakes and so on. If you want to bring something home, you can buy some snacks such as wonton jiaozi, almond cakes, egg rolls, crispy peanuts, egg cakes and dried meat. In the bakery from Xinma Road to Qingpingzhi Street in Central District. Do not underestimate them. These are the products of an old bakery with a history of more than half a century. They are handed down from generation to generation. They are sweet and salty, sweet and crisp, and mouth watering.

Bars, cafes or outdoor cafes are another option. After lunch, many people like to go to a coffee shop or an open-air teahouse to drink a cup of strong coffee to get rid of fatigue. It is really enviable for tourists who have time to spend a lazy afternoon drinking coffee. For example, there is a good Portuguese coffee shop in Banzhangtang Street, which has all kinds of Portuguese desserts and cakes. Or go to the famous Portuguese egg tart shop, you can often see people eating crispy Portuguese egg tarts with relish, regardless of their spicy mouths. There are many kinds of bars in Macao, including luxury bars in five-star hotels, local bars where people can enjoy themselves and music bars where guests can dance to the rhythm of African music. In recent years, Portuguese-style cafes have also become new dining places in Macao. The more famous cafes are concentrated in Banzhangtang and Matong Street in Nanwan. In these cafes, you can not only taste unique coffee, tea and wine, but also Lisbon-style snacks and desserts.

Unique dishes in the world.

Portugal has ruled Macao for more than 400 years, and it has also left a deep mark on meals. Generally speaking, when foreign guests come to Macao for the first time, Macao people will certainly entertain guests with Macao's brand food-Portuguese food. And all foreigners who have eaten Portuguese food can accept and like it. Because the cooking methods and materials of Macau-style Portuguese cuisine are not unique, the cooking techniques of Portuguese, Indian, Malaysian and China Cantonese cuisine have been improved, which can be said to be unparalleled in the world. Some signature dishes, such as curry crab, African chicken, garlic prawns, etc., can have the characteristics of combining Chinese and western, and can also add some Nanyang flavor. In addition to Macao-style Portuguese food, Macao also retains authentic Portuguese food, such as? H Duck rice, Ma Jiexiu and grilled sardines. ? H Duck rice is a limited supply of kung fu dishes-fresh ducks are marinated, roasted for 45 minutes, boned and cooked in broth, then cooked in broth, and finally the burnt ducks are buried in the rice and served. Duck is delicious, which is very suitable for China people in Portuguese cuisine. Ma Jiexiu is the most common protagonist at the Portuguese table. It is said that it can change thousands of recipes in Portugal. In fact, Ma Jiexiu is salted cod. The more authentic a Portuguese restaurant is, the more salty it tastes. Ma Jiexiu's common menus in Macao restaurants include Ma Jiexiu meatballs, fried Ma Jiexiu with shredded potatoes, roasted Ma Jiexiu and so on. Ma Jiexiu imported from Portugal must be soaked in clean water changed twice a day for three days before it can be cooked. There are also Portuguese chicken, roast pork hands, green vegetable soup, Portuguese sausage and so on.

Portuguese food is not only delicious and unique, but also pays great attention to the mood of restaurants, most of which are simple and elegant and quite nostalgic. For example, the Portuguese restaurant in the bay near the inner harbor pier has a long history; Macau Club Restaurant, located at the top of the mountain, was built in 1873 Opera House; The military club restaurants built in 1870 are all very romantic Portuguese restaurants, which are elegant places to taste Portuguese food and culture. There are many places for ordinary people to eat, such as Xiaofeixiang Portuguese Restaurant and Xingang Portuguese Restaurant, which are often packed.

History and culture hidden in diet

If we taste Macao from the perspective of diet, we may have a more direct and vivid feeling about the intersection of Chinese and Western cultures. Compared with mainland cities, Macao has many western-style restaurants, among which the famous Portuguese casino French restaurant has world-renowned standards. Mr. Robson, who is famous for his cooking in France and is known as the "century chef", is in charge of this restaurant. His two first-class dishes, white truffle fungus and black truffle fungus, are said to be the top dishes with the highest honor in French diet, which not only perfectly retain the original umami flavor of food, but also make all kinds of flavors harmonious and unified. Another reason why this restaurant is famous is that there are thousands of hidden wines in its wine cellar. As soon as I entered the French restaurant, I saw a 24-karat gold glass wine cabinet with constant temperature and humidity facilities, which contained all kinds of famous wines and wines from France, Britain, the United States, Italy, Spain, Canada and other countries, including various collections, such as 1945, a bottle of famous French wine sold for 60 thousand Hong Kong dollars; And a bottle of French liqueur produced in 1847, the price is as high as HK$ 65,438 +0.6 million! The whole restaurant, whether it is luxurious or consumption level, shows that this is a place for upper-class people to eat.

In contrast, there are food stalls along Binjiang New Street in Macau, and the flavor is completely different. Many of these food stalls are set up in the open air on the roadside until late at night, such as Liu Yang beef offal shop, where many locals come to eat, for the purpose of being fresh, lively and approachable. Especially in winter, families sit together and eat hot pot. Although the north wind roared in their ears, they still felt warm physically and mentally. Therefore, all the guests like to talk about wine here and enjoy it before leaving. In addition, there are well-known dessert shops in Long Fu Xinjie, in front of discussion kiosks and Xinma Road, which are often crowded with people waiting in line. They don't mind how long they wait, just to eat delicious stewed eggs and double-skin stewed milk. In the sugar shop, according to different seasons, the store owner concocts various nourishing and healthy sugar water, fresh fruit horseshoe mud, white fungus stewed papaya, walnut dew, coconut almond paste and red bean paste. There are also many noodle restaurants specializing in curry food in Macao. The rich curry aroma, smooth noodles and delicious ingredients stimulate people's appetite. As overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia come to Macao to take root and live in Sandeng District, they can eat authentic Southeast Asian pasta here.

Mr. Lu Bo is obsessed with Macao's food culture and enjoys a far-reaching reputation. Over the years, he used his spare time to travel to almost all restaurants, large and small, and turned eating into a cultural pursuit. Whenever he gets something, he will write an article. His experience is that food culture can most clearly reflect the life forms of all social strata, show the colorful regional characteristics of the blending of Chinese and Western cultures, and reflect the rich pursuit of life by Macao people. Now, all the articles he has written in recent years about Macao's unique life interest have been collected into a book, reaching hundreds of thousands of words! Mr. Lu has a joke: in society, people must make two kinds of friends, one is a chef and the other is a doctor. What a true motto of life!

Excerpted from China. com