Chapter 49 Sugar-coated haws

I first came to Beijing from the South in the late 1980s.When I was visiting the Temple of Heaven Park, I found that the male and female tourists who filed in were each holding a small stick full of crystal clear red fruits, chewing with relish.I guess it should be the famous candied haws.If you look around, you will understand: on the open space in front of the park gate, there is a row of vendors holding "targets" made of straw bundles. The straw targets are all filled with red candied haws (Chinese-style candied haws). Christmas tree).At that time, I thought, aren’t Beijingers afraid of the cold, and dare to eat candied haws even in winter when they shrink their necks?This is the psychological illusion caused by the name of candied haws.Perhaps it is not a misunderstanding. In the outdoor temperature of several degrees below zero, the candied haws are blown by the wind, and they look like little red faces—they are full of tears, and even the syrup wrapped outside is frozen into ice edges.Definitely crunchy with a bite.You can hardly tell whether you are chewing ice or sugar.Your cheeks are almost numb from the cold—just at this time, the sour taste of the fresh hawthorn wrapped in rock sugar will give you a strong stimulus.You can't refuse the all-inclusive mystery it reveals to you...

After all, this is the only remaining poetry of the pale and boring winter fruits.Even in terms of visual effects, it quite confirms the title of a prose poem by Lu Xun: the ice of fire.A solitary flame was flamboyantly blazing, and suddenly, as if obeying a magic spell, it was frozen and frozen, and entered a world of silence and no thoughts.Even in hibernation, it retains its fire archetype, fire color, and character.You're actually eating fire while you're chewing ice.Its dual character quickly infected you...Why do I have to make so many poetic associations?Is there really a spiritual core in the most popular candied haws?This is also thanks to the first candied haws I tasted on the open streets of Beijing eight years ago.It was the candied haws bought for 50 cents that gave me priceless inspiration.The candied haws in Beijing has since entered the field of vision of a foreigner.

Candied haws is a kind of food with Beijing characteristics.To some extent, it may even represent a kind of simple and peaceful city life with a sense of history.Lin Yutang also failed to ignore its existence in a monograph recalling the history and culture of Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, as if he mentioned it in writing: "Whether it is day or night, you can hear the cries of peddlers selling sweet and mellow frozen persimmons. The candied haws that children like to eat, small fruits wrapped in candy, are strung together five or six times, dyed red to attract customers..." This book was written in English by him on the other side of the ocean.It can be seen that the shape of candied haws has been deeply embedded in his memory.Candied haws seem to form an integral part of a scholar's memory of the old Beijing city.

Candied haws, of course, can represent the quaint old Beijing life, but also other local snacks: soybean juice, camellia oleifera, sausage enema, stewed fire, pea yellow, aiwowo, baggy fire, fried liver, burnt rings, sour plum soup, grilled cakes, Lamb's head meat, donkey rolling... It is even estimated that it is about to be lost.As a latecomer, I can't wait to taste them all or document them.But in this short article, I can only use candied haws as an example. Candied haws are the most primitive and traditional candy.There is an essential difference from the various fruit candies packaged in plastic paper or tin foil that were retailed in stores later.The former pays attention to the use of fresh fruits (including wild fruits) as materials, especially hawthorn; the latter has only a fruity taste... This is the conceptual difference between "sugar" and "fruit".

More importantly, the former is handmade with unique ingenuity, which simply symbolizes an era of leisure and leisure; the latter is mass-produced by machines, which cannot shake off the atmosphere of industrial society.When I was shopping, I suddenly looked up and saw a target made of golden straw filled with red candied haws. How could I avoid the poetic flavor around it—in the vast world, this is simply a work of art!It is even exaggerated to think that you should pay for even looking at it.I have also had the good fortune to watch the street vendors making candied haws on the spot: set up a small iron pot on the fire, boil the bubbling syrup, dip the hawthorn strings in a little water, and then stick them on the grass target It’s gone—it cools down when the wind blows, tempting passers-by precariously... Candied haws not only satisfies my taste, but also feasts the eyes on the craftsmanship of the vendors (almost entertainers).There is a stick of candied haws in the aesthetic sense, and in my imagination, I put it on the head of Beijing, as a mascot for the civilianization of a great city.The candied haws in Beijing are all over the streets and alleys. I can see you when I look up and down.

Regarding human diet, I think it can be divided in nature: the first is to seek satiety (satisfy the "stomach" sense), the second is to seek beauty (satisfy the taste), and the third is based on the former two On the other hand, it also takes into account the pleasure of the spirit—or also pursues some kind of entertainment (such as snacks such as melon seeds).This should be regarded as a metaphysical leap forward in food culture, right?Candied haws undoubtedly belong to the third category.At first, I regarded it as children’s food, but later I found that people in Beijing love it—it’s a snack that can be eaten while walking, and it’s a kind of walking around with an attractive candied haws (like a decoration) in hand. The intoxication of viewing flowers.Just as Zhou Zuoren said when talking about tea and food in Beijing: "Besides the daily necessities, we must also have some useless games and pleasures to make life interesting. We watch the sunset, the autumn river, the flowers, and the rain. Smelling the fragrance, drinking wine that does not quench your thirst, and eating snacks that do not satisfy you are all necessary in life—although it is a useless decoration. And the more refined the better..." The candied haws may be condensed with this kind of refinement .It is a typical snack on the street, and it is similar to kebabs and the like-in short, it has a casual or cozy meaning.How could our peacetime urban landscape lack these embellishments?

The candied haws in Beijing are like a baton passed down from generation to generation.Just like tonight, it was passed from Lin Yutang's pen to mine again - after 50 years, I want to write another article for Beijing's candied haws... At the same time, I would like to borrow this article to express my gratitude to all the flavors that represent Beijing's tradition Snacks compliments.This is also a tribute from a foreigner to a city.