What traditional cakes are there in Chongqing?

According to archaeological findings, as early as the Warring States period, Cubans had invented candied fruit, preserved fruit and kitchen candy with caramel, honey and sugar coating. In the Han Dynasty, you could make steamed bread, steamed buns and other foods. In the Song Dynasty, cakes with high sugar and oil, fatty and sweet, soft, waxy and crisp were made. In the Ming Dynasty, you can make rock candy and cast a "sugar knife". By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, unique Bayu cakes had been formed in category, variety and scale, with numerous workshops and varieties. The most representative ones are the "Huashan Jade" series of cakes, such as white jade cakes, Hechuan peach slices, white orange sugar, Jiangjin crispy sugar, Baxian Mudong candied fruit, orange cakes and longevity cakes.

After the opening of Chongqing, a large number of foreigners poured in, and western sweets and snacks gradually entered people's lives. In A.D. 1930, Yang Ziyao, a Shanghainese, opened a "Sullivan" western restaurant and his own bakery. "Laihongshun" western restaurant and "Kangyuan" food factory appeared one after another, and began to mass produce western-style cakes.

Pastry in China has sprung up suddenly in local workshops, mainly including crispy wax gourd cakes and fingered citron cakes, sugary sesame cakes, crisp and sweet peach cakes and almond cakes, and cake-eating rushes and mung bean cakes. The most representative is miscellaneous sugar, which has dozens of varieties, such as Guo Jing, Guo Ming, Hongyuan, hemp chips, cowhide candy, etc., and its crisp and sweet aftertaste is endless.

According to the old man's memory, at that time, candy and cakes were essential for holidays or visiting relatives and friends. In addition to traditional melon seeds, peanuts, green beans and dried sweet potatoes, the host family will also bring snacks such as mung bean cakes and sesame chips as usual.

Benefits are like spring tides that bring rain.

With the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, mainstream candy manufacturers all over the country moved to Chongqing, which promoted the rapid development of local candy manufacturing industry.

1938, Hankou "Zhenxing" Candy & Biscuit Factory and Shanghai "Guanshengyuan" Food Factory, which were first moved to Chongqing, both made western pastry bread and attached western food department. COFCO established Chongqing Grain Store in Toutang, Jiangbei to produce and sell biscuits. Kangyuan, Luo Hui, Youth, Zhongxing and Sheng Da bakeries bake western-style cakes and bread. More than 30 biscuit factories, such as Chunmao, Daxin and Huafeng, have been set up in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, focusing on biscuits and increasing varieties such as sandwich and wafer.

1940 There are 1 1 kinds of sweets produced in Chongqing, including hard candy, soft candy, milk candy, cream candy, protein candy, sandwich candy, polishing candy, chewing gum candy, chocolate candy, powdered sugar and tea candy. There are hundreds of varieties, which are enough to compete with those imported from Hong Kong and the West. 1942, "Xinji Flower Orchard" launched a cake decorated with flowers, which was gorgeous and popular.

As for Chinese cakes, Suzhou Gang and Guangdong Gang set up shops everywhere. There are 18 time-honored brands such as Caizhizhai, Tongyiyong and Laodaoxiang Village, and Cantonese-style moon cakes, Soviet-style moon cakes, Saqima and sugar-water shortcakes have been added. 2 1 shops in Dongcun, Duancheng, Liqun, Roger, Xinxin, etc. at this port mainly focus on local traditional cakes, adding varieties such as rush cake, cloud cake, bird's nest cake and emblem cake.

At that time, there were so many candy stores that it was dizzying. Liang Shiqiu, a writer and gourmet, wrote in his memoirs that when he arrived in the downtown area, he only felt that strange smell came to his face and could not help but drool. It turns out that some candy stores deliberately use electric fans to blow their hair to attract customers.

By 1945, Chongqing has 220 candy manufacturers and 1000 retailers. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, some manufacturers moved back to their original places. After the Kuomintang provoked the civil war, the economy in the Kuomintang-controlled areas deteriorated and all walks of life were declining. By 1949, more than half of the flour mills closed down, the purchase of sugar stopped, and the candy industry shrank extremely.

A prosperous economy and grand plans

In the early days of liberation, the Southwest Ministry of Public Security took over the Xinji Flower Orchard operated by Lai Jianjun, a deputy to the National People's Congress, and established the first state-owned food enterprise. 1in June, 952, the biscuit factory and grain-making factory of the former China Grain Industry Company were taken over one after another, and the "Jixing Dachang" biscuit and candy factory invested by the war criminal Wang was confiscated and merged into the food factory of Chongqing Lianhe.

At the beginning of 1954, socialist transformation was carried out for private industry and commerce. By June, 1956, 1, more than 80 private candy factories in the city had been transformed, all of which were named "Gong". Two companies were established in the downtown area, named "Volkswagen" Food Co., Ltd. and "Jinxing" Candy and Pastry Company; A factory called "Linong" Food Factory.

Fully invested by the state, 1953 established Jiangjin candy factory and Rongchang Hongqiao food factory, 1954 established Bishan candy and pastry factory, 1958 established Jinxing food factory and Beibei Jinyun food factory.

In the 1960s, due to natural and man-made disasters, the national economy was in serious difficulties, and all non-staple foods were rationed by ticket. 1961February, the municipal party Committee instructed to sell sweets and cakes at high prices. For the needs of the people, Huashan Jade and Guanshengyuan Food Factory produce around the clock. The daily output of the two factories reaches 40 tons, which is more than four times higher than the conventional output. Together with the production of other 60 factories and workshops, 1, 966,5438+0, the whole industry's production and sales 1, 956.2 tons, the currency returned. 1965 in July, with the economic improvement, high-priced candy and cakes returned to parity.

During this period, Chongqing products firmly occupied the surrounding markets of eastern Sichuan, southern Sichuan and counties, and some products also entered the markets of western Sichuan, northern Sichuan and Chengdu. In particular, candy and biscuits are sold in large quantities to Hubei, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, Shanxi and other provinces and regions, becoming the most dynamic production base of candy and pastry industry in southwest China.

Since the reform and opening up, the candy industry in Chongqing has developed vigorously, and a large number of state-owned, collective, township and individual food factories have been built in various districts and counties. State-owned enterprises "Huashan Jade", "Guanshengyuan" and "Jinyun" food factories have successively introduced production lines such as Polish sandwich candy, German muffin, chocolate, toffee, hairy gourd candy and Italian chocolate, which greatly improved the quality and taste. There are 2500 colors.

The products produced by Jinyun, Guanshengyuan, Xinyu, Lanxiangyuan, Hechuan Taopian Factory and Jiangjin Food Factory are not only sold to more than 20 provinces and cities in China, but also exported to the United States, Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Southeast Asia.