The development history of Cantonese cuisine

Guangdong cuisine combines the characteristics of Nanhai, Panyu, Dongguan, Shunde, Xiangshan, Siyi, Baoan and other local flavors, and combines the advantages of Beijing, Jiangsu, Huai, Hangzhou and other provinces as well as western food, making it a family of its own. Cantonese cuisine is one in a hundred, with a wide range of materials, exotic materials and exquisite ingredients. Be good at innovation in imitation and cook according to diners' preferences. Cooking skills are varied and varied, and the materials are strange and extensive. Cooking is mainly based on frying and frying, as well as stewing, frying and baking. Pay attention to clear but not light, fresh but not vulgar, tender but not raw, oily but not greasy, with "five flavors" (fragrant, loose, soft, fat and strong) and "six flavors" (sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty and fresh). Strong seasonality, light in summer and autumn, strong in winter and spring. The famous dishes in Cantonese cuisine are: stewed snake with chicken, Long Hudou, roast suckling pig, old man chicken, brine chicken, boiled shrimp, boiled chicken and roasted goose.

Cantonese cuisine is the representative cuisine of China abroad. Cantonese cuisine is complex, meticulous, time-consuming, laborious, and high per capita consumption, which is also the reason why Cantonese cuisine in many cities is not as much as Sichuan cuisine.

Cantonese cuisine is the embodiment of a culture, an atmosphere, a rendering, a harmony, a folk custom, a color and a health standard. Cantonese cuisine has a long history. Like the cuisines and cuisines in other regions, it is the same as the food culture in China. As early as ancient times, the Guyue people in Lingnan had close contacts with Chu in the Central Plains. With the changes of history and dynasties, many Zhongyuan people fled to the south to escape the war, and the two ethnic groups of Han and Vietnam gradually merged. The southward migration of Central Plains culture and the combination of cooking skills, cookers and utensils with Baiyue's rich agricultural and fishery products are the origins of Cantonese cuisine. Cantonese cuisine originated in the Han Dynasty, which is based on this history.

Zhao Liren, a famous historian, believes that Cantonese opera and Cantonese cuisine are the quintessence of China, and both of them have an indissoluble bond with the Revolution of 1911. Looking through the menu of1912-1913, we can find that the dishes in those days were actually very close to the styles of Cantonese cuisine today. At this point, "Cantonese cuisine" has finally taken shape, and it is still innovating. Guangdong, located at the intersection of Chinese and Western cultures, North-South cultures, inland civilizations and marine civilizations, once again led the trend of the times in the great historical changes of the Revolution of 1911. He Ziyuan's spirit of "seeking change, innovation, advancing with the times and never giving up" in "Yuan Gong culture" has been fully exerted in the changes of Cantonese cuisine culture. The formation and development of Cantonese cuisine is closely related to Guangdong's geographical environment, economic conditions and customs. Guangdong is located in the subtropical zone, bordering the South China Sea, with abundant rainfall, evergreen seasons and abundant products. Therefore, the diet in Guangdong has always been blessed. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the Spirit of Huainanzi contained the fine and extensive selection of Cantonese cuisine. It is conceivable that Cantonese people had mastered different cooking methods to cook different smells more than 1,000 years ago. Before that, the Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu was exiled to Chaozhou. In his poems, he described dozens of foreign bodies such as horseshoe crabs, snakes, octopus, frogs, octopus and Jiang Yaozhu in chaozhou people, which made him feel uncomfortable. But in the Southern Song Dynasty, octopus and other seafood were the top delicacies of many local dishes. In terms of ingredients and taste, it is all raw food. After that, there were not many pigs, cattle, sheep and deer eaten raw, but the habit of eating sashimi, including sashimi porridge, has been preserved to this day. But it's still the kind of situation where the white-cut chicken is cooked and the thigh bone is bloody. The characteristics of Cantonese cuisine, such as exquisite knife work, exquisite ingredients and clear but not light taste, are embodied. Cantonese cuisine is also good at learning from the strengths of various families, using it for my own use, and often learning new things. Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, a famous dish in Jiangsu cuisine, is well-known in the north and south of the country, but you can't go to a Cantonese banquet. Although Cantonese people like to eat mouse meat, the name of the mouse is not elegant. The famous chef of Cantonese cuisine changed the fish into a man named Qiuhuayu, named Chrysanthemum Fish, with a skillful knife worker. After such a change, it is convenient and hygienic to eat one mouthful with chopsticks and knives and forks. After the transformation, Jiangsu cuisine became Cantonese cuisine.

In addition, the cooking methods of Cantonese cuisine, such as soaking, roasting, roasting and Sichuan cuisine, are all transplanted from the explosion, roasting, roasting and frying of northern cuisine. The new frying and frying methods are formed by absorbing the similar methods of western food and improving them. However, the transplantation of Cantonese cuisine is not a mechanical copy, but a combination of Guangdong's extensive raw materials, fresh and tender texture, and people's tastes like fresh and always new, thus developing. For example, the steak of northern cuisine is generally seasoned, roasted until crisp and rotten, and topped with oil, which is called clear steak. The steak of Cantonese cuisine is cooked or steamed until it is greasy, and then pushed on the clam, which is mostly manifested as steak with ingredients. Representative works include Babao roast duck, shredded chicken and preserved meat.

In addition to formal dishes, snacks and snacks in Guangdong are also beautifully made, and the food customs in various places also have their own characteristics, such as morning tea in Guangzhou and congou tea in Chaozhou. These dietary customs have gone beyond the category of "eating" and become Guangdong's dietary culture. Guangdong's food culture is closely related to all parts of the Central Plains. One of the most important reasons is that there are many mainlanders who established another dynasty in history. Officials sent by dynasties to govern Guangdong and relegate brought the northern food culture. During this period, many chefs passed on their skills to their local counterparts, or opened their own shops to directly introduce the local food culture to Lingnan people, making it an important part of Cantonese cuisine.

After the Han dynasty, Guangzhou became the transportation hub of Chinese and western sea routes; Most foreign businessmen gathered in Yangcheng in the Tang Dynasty, and merchant ships came in droves. At that time, compared with the inland areas, Guangzhou's economy developed rapidly.

After the Southern Song Dynasty, the skills and characteristics of Cantonese cuisine became more and more mature. This is related to the southward migration in the Song Dynasty, when many imperial chefs and official chefs gathered in Guangdong, especially Yangcheng. Since the Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou has become a major import and export port in China and a world-famous port. After Song and Yuan Dynasties, Guangzhou became a port city with concentrated domestic and foreign trade, and its business became increasingly prosperous, which promoted the development of catering service industry as a commercial industry and provided very important conditions and places for the growth of Cantonese cuisine, especially Cantonese cuisine.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the period when Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese cuisine and Cantonese cuisine really matured and developed. At this time, Guangzhou has become a commercial metropolis, and Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese cuisine and Cantonese cuisine have truly become a system. There are teahouses, hotels, restaurants and snack bars all over the downtown area, and every restaurant is in Bimei. World-famous, rich in food and diverse in style, there is a saying that "food is in Guangzhou" gradually.

Cantonese cuisine has a wide influence. Some newspapers said that China has nearly 10,000 restaurants in the United States; There are 4000 in Britain; France and the Netherlands each have more than 2,000 vehicles; There are no fewer than thousands in Japan. Chinese restaurants in these places are mostly Cantonese-style tea houses and restaurants, and their business is very prosperous. In Sydney, Australia, influenced by "Chinatown", drinking tea has become a special term. For anyone who comes to Sydney, it is fashionable to enjoy the charm of drinking tea and dining in Guangdong in Chinatown. Cantonese cuisine is famous at home and abroad for its unique light flavor and unique style.

"Eating in Guangzhou" is inseparable from drinking tea in Guangdong, which is actually a disguised form of eating. All restaurants, hotels and teahouses have morning tea, afternoon tea and evening tea. Drinking tea is associated with talking about business, listening to news and meeting friends. Drinking tea in Guangdong is inseparable from tea, snacks, porridge, noodles, noodles and some side dishes. It is worth mentioning that there are special teapot, small white porcelain cup and oolong tea. The amount of tea is large, and the tea soup is fragrant and bitter, with endless aftertaste. Cantonese dim sum is one of the three special cakes in China, with a long history, various varieties, colorful shapes, novel tastes and unique features. Guangdong porridge is characterized by cooking rice and paying attention to seasoning, including slippery chicken porridge, sashimi porridge, porridge and boat porridge. Guangdong powder is Shahe powder, soft and tough. Guangdong noodles are most famous for their "lady noodles".

Cantonese cuisine also pursues the "new school". However, for thousands of years, the selection of materials is extensive and diverse, and the southern flavor of dishes that pay attention to freshness, freshness, tenderness and smoothness has a far-reaching impact on innovation. "Never leave", the traditional delicious thin-skinned shrimp dumplings, dry steamed dumplings, glutinous rice chicken, donkey-hide gelatin powder fruit, candied autumn taro horn, water chestnut cake, barbecued pork bun, crab roe steamed stuffed bun, cream omelet and famous snack rice rolls, fried rice noodles, boat flour, pork red soup, Lunjiao cake, salt water horn, chicken feet and radish cake. This shows that Guangzhou cuisine is rooted in deep soil.

Cantonese cuisine is famous at home and abroad for its combination of "Kyoto flavor", "Gusu flavor" and "Yangzhou fried".