Tiantai, Zhejiang, can not only enjoy the wonderful scenery of the program, but also taste the food with stories.

Tiantai, Zhejiang, located in the southeast coast of Zhejiang, has lush vegetation and beautiful environment. As the holy land of Lingshan, where Buddhism and Taoism live together, and the important site of the Road of Tang Poetry, Tiantai, known as the source of Buddhism and Taoism and beautiful scenery, has long been famous all over the world. The unique landscape, long history and culture, and profound Zen heritage make Zhejiang Tiantai a tourist attraction that countless tourists yearn for. At the same time, many delicious snacks with rooftop characteristics were born, which were not only good in color, fragrance and taste, but also lively and interesting.

In the fifth year of Emperor Yongping of Han Dynasty, he went to Tiantai Mountain alone to collect herbs. On the way to collect herbs, he got lost and met two fairies. They became immortal companions. This is the famous story of "Liu Ruan meets an immortal", so Tiantai Mountain became the earliest place in China where the story of love between people and gods was born. In the story, fairies used to entertain Liu Ruan, and one of them was black rice.

On the rooftop, on the eighth day of April every year, every household basically eats black rice and sesame paste, just like eating zongzi on the Dragon Boat Festival, which is a custom. Legend has it that it was on this day that the longicorn fell to the ground, and human beings had oxen to work hard for others. People pick the leaves of Vaccinium bracteatum (scientific name: Nanzhuang), wash and mash them to get juice, soak glutinous rice in the juice for a day, then cook it into glutinous rice, and finally mash it with a mortar. When eating, sprinkle with pine pollen and dip in brown sugar, which is sweet, smooth and refreshing, soft and tough. In the past, on the eighth day of April, all the cows in Taizhou had a day off, and every family rewarded black rice and sesame seeds to show their respect for the faithful partners of mankind. But now there are fewer scalpers, but the custom of eating black rice has been passed down to this day.

Just as Deqing's mother-in-law used "three teas" to test her new son-in-law, "paste pulling" was a great weapon for Tiantai's mother-in-law to test her new wife's craft in her early years. From the manufacturing skills of the tire paste fixture, the control of the temperature, the size of the tire paste fixture, the appearance and taste of the finished product, these are the criteria for judging an excellent new wife. In Tiantai, paste-pulling is one of the most authentic snacks, and it is also a common practice of Tiantai villagers. "Hu" is also called "Hulatuo", which is written only because the word "Tuo" in Tiantai dialect is pronounced "Tai". In fact, it is a bit similar to the pancake skin we usually eat, that is, the wheat flour is mixed into a uniform paste, and the round pancakes are pulled by hand in the pot, one at a time, which is convenient and quick, and then some oil, onion and garlic are added, which is fragrant and refreshing.

On the rooftop, there are some skilled and superb "paste-pulling masters" who mix powder, try fire, paste the skin and start the pot in one go. Moreover, the paste is crisp, the stuffing is fresh and fragrant, the color is golden, and it is crispy and delicious. After the completion, the hands that paste the skin, the pot that mixes the powder and the pot that peels the skin are all clean and do not stick a drop of flour.

Speaking of dumpling skin, it is the only most distinctive food on the rooftop. Every year during the Qingming Festival, July 30th, winter solstice and Spring Festival, every household will wrap dumpling wrappers as holiday food, which is also a must-try snack when visiting the rooftop. There is an interesting legend about its origin. It is said that when Jigong, a "living Buddha", became a monk in Tiantai National Temple, he saw that every vegetarian meal had a surplus, so he thought of a way to reduce waste. He wrapped the rest of the vegetarian dishes in paste and dragged on for the next meal. The rest of the monks tasted it and it tasted good. At that time, this new way of eating was very popular, and Jigong was promoted to a monk in a cloak.

The practice of "jiaozi tube" is divided into two steps: peeling and stuffing. Dumpling skin is actually the same as "paste dragging", but it is made on a flat pan, which is sweet and sour. There are more than a dozen kinds of fillings in jiaozi, such as sliced meat, pork liver, egg skin, fish and tofu slices. Lily, auricularia auricula, vermicelli, shredded bamboo shoots and vegetable stems are respectively rolled on the sticky skin in a certain order. People call it "five tigers catch sheep".

Ball-paste wheat cake, also known as ball-paste wheat cake, is made of wheat flour and refined meat as the main raw materials with various seasonings. It looks like a disk, golden and bright, soft outside and tender inside, and it is extremely delicious. In the category of rooftop powder food, besides jiaozi tube, meatballs are often used to entertain VIPs.

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a family begging for a wife on the rooftop. One day, the woman suddenly visited, and there was nothing delicious at home, so there was no time to go shopping temporarily. At this time, the owner happened to find a bowl of uneaten meatballs at home, so he used his quick wits to mash them and make them into wheat cakes. The woman's family ate with relish and was very satisfied with the man. From then on, the woman came to see the man on a blind date and always treated him with meatballs, rice cakes and longan tea. On the fourth day after marriage, the bride will go into the kitchen to make meatballs and wheat cakes, which are called "reunion wheat cakes" to show her filial piety to her in-laws and her own means. Meatballs and wheat cakes are also eaten in a special way. Don't eat with your hands, tear with three chopsticks. According to legend, at the beginning of Tiantai County, it was the time when the Three Kingdoms stood firm. Although the people suffered from war and disaster, they dared not speak out, so they regarded wheat cakes as a country and compared chopsticks to Wei, Shu and Wu to condemn the war for splitting the country and vent their anger.