Chapter 56 beijing snacks

Literati have different attitudes towards traditional snacks in Beijing.For example, Liang Shiqiu and Zhou Zuoren each held the end of praise and criticism.Zhou Zuoren pretends to be detached and tolerant in his life and writing, but he is very picky about Beijing's tea and food (almost nitpicking): "Beijing has been the capital for more than 500 years. How much subtlety should there be in terms of food, clothing and housing? But the reality doesn’t seem to be the case, that is, in terms of tea and food, I don’t know anything special.” And he didn’t hide his regret for this famous city. “I always feel that I can’t eat refined food that contains history in the ancient capital Or decadent dim sum is a big flaw." We can only guess that his dietary requirements are too strict - has risen to the height of history and culture, and what things in worldly life can stand such a test Woolen cloth?Liang Shiqiu, on the other hand, praised Beijing's snacks a lot—even the vendor's yelling sounded to him with ups and downs and changes, similar to the interesting singing voice of Peking opera.He also wrote a special article "Snack Vendors in Peking", which lists the snacks in Beijing decades ago based entirely on his memory: enema, mutton head meat, old tofu, hot noodle dumplings, pea yellow, hot kidney beans, Aiwowo , Zonger cake, bean dregs cake, almond tea... I counted as I read, and there are dozens of them.However, he still emphasized: "The above is a brief summary, only as far as memory can tell, and there must be many leaks." As if from the hands of a great scholar.He must have had a stubborn child at heart when he recalled the distant snacks.

I am very puzzled: They are all a generation of literary giants, but why are they so different in their views on the same thing?The answer can only be obtained by contacting their respective life experiences.Zhou Zuoren came all the way from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, a land of abundance and elegance. Even when judging Jinghua’s snacks, he cannot adjust his perspective as a foreigner—naturally, he is a picky eater.The flavors of the north and the south are irreconcilable, not to mention the slight nostalgia that from time to time touches his prejudice or incompatibility with foreign food, so it is difficult to empathize with other people and do as the Romans do in terms of eating habits. "In the past, the sea was difficult for water, except Wushan is not a cloud" is his stubborn creed, which is why he has such a result: "Take the time to look back lazily, half for cultivating the Tao and half for the king." The preference for his hometown is at least half of the reason—— —Otherwise it is not enough to have such a resistance to things in Kyoto.He also revealed in an article: "A few days ago, when my wife came back from buying vegetables in the Xidan market, she mentioned that shepherd's purse was sold there, and I remembered things in eastern Zhejiang. Shepherd's purse is a wild vegetable that people in eastern Zhejiang often eat in spring... "Meeting strangers with hometown characteristics (even wild vegetables) in other cities will also breed surprises or melancholy similar to meeting old friends in other cities.Human moods are full of flavors.

As for Liang Shiqiu, a native of Beijing, when he recommends all kinds of snacks sold along the streets in the old Beijing city, he is very familiar with them. How much innocence and joy of childhood have been maintained in them, which has become the oldest wealth in memory.What's more, he was already in his twilight years when he wrote "Snack Vendors in Peking", and he was thousands of miles away in Taiwan. Even the roughest memories of the past will be smoothed by the years-not to mention the unique taste of his hometown. Traditional cuisine too.It can be said that the cuisine of his hometown contributed to his beautiful essay.He talked about snacks in Beijing with the pride of the owner from the beginning to the end, for the unique food in his hometown (for example, he emphasized that "niancha has never been seen elsewhere", or "the cheese in Beiping is a specialty"), and for the unique food in other places. The same is the case—he will further distinguish the superiority of each taste, such as "tofu from Peking, tofu from a foreign country, Sichuan and Hunan, are soft and tender tofu with a spoonful of marinade on top, and garlic", and "Peking oil". Ghosts, not called fried dough sticks, because they are not made into long strips at all... No one who leaves Beiping misses that kind of fried dough sticks. The deep-fried dough sticks in other provinces have puffiness and cysts, and are not tasty enough, and they can’t be fried if they are fried.” "The reason why Beiping's sour plum soup is particularly good is because it uses rock sugar and adds roses, sweet-scented osmanthus and the like." Even almond tea is "good in Beiping, because the almonds come from the north."As for the thinly sliced ​​red and green radishes sold along the street, "it is especially refreshing for people who are simmering next to the stove in the north." Liang Shiqiu specially used eight words to describe it: "This kind of radish is not found anywhere else." It is obvious that there is a feeling of love for the house and the black - homesickness and everything in the hometown.In his beautiful article, I don't know whether Beijing's food is the result of his beautification with pen and ink-but just as a reader, I already feel yearning.Through his introduction, I really hope to get acquainted with all kinds of snacks in Beijing one by one.

Later, I also followed Zhou Zuoren's route and moved to Beijing from the south.Donghuamen, Longfu Temple and other places that sell special snacks for foreign tourists, I have explored on foot. The food stalls on both sides of the street are really turning heads.Compared with Liang Shiqiu's "Snack Vendors in Beiping", some snacks finally know the true face of Mount Lu - no regrets, no wonder the old man described it so beautifully.But there are also a few who can't be found no matter what, such as the so-called Zong'er Cake, it must have been lost, right?I can only rely on imagination to experience it forever, and experience its elegant demeanor rendered by words.Liang Shiqiu himself admitted: "Over the past few decades, Beiping has also been changing. Some hawkers have declined from decline, and some new ones have emerged. People who are older than me may have seen and heard more than me. Young people may encounter some new things that lose the characteristics of Beiping... Whether these hawkers can keep one or two, I am afraid it is unknown. I hope my memories will not become memories forever!" For those who really The disappearing snacks should be thanked for the faithful records of the literati.After all, words are longer-lived and more durable than memories—otherwise, how would we know that they existed and soothe the memories of a generation?

Unlike Zhou Zuoren, I can accept and appreciate most snacks in Beijing.Some still haunt me—for example, the stir-fried liver that Liang Shiqiu didn’t mention, which is cooked in a large pot with chopped liver tips, pig intestines, etc., added with gorgon powder, garlic cloves, etc., and it’s delicious after a sip—but it must be a time-honored shop Made in.Sometimes the fried liver sold in two adjacent stores has a very different taste-if you are disappointed, it just proves that you have stepped on the wrong threshold.According to the recommendation of the local old man, I often go to a restaurant near Qianmen (it is said that it is the first in Beijing) to taste. There are many customers and there are no free seats. He pursed his lips and sucked vigorously.It is said that this is the authentic way of eating by connoisseurs: without chopsticks and spoons, it is all sucked by mouth, turning the edge of the bowl to pick out the cold mouth, like drinking hot porridge-eating fried liver is really a "gentleman's mouth". .The room was filled with the sound of lips sucking.Afterwards, I often wondered: Why not use convenient chopsticks? How convenient is that? Does the taste of fried liver change when chopsticks are used?Could it be that the convenience I feel is exactly the trouble that old customers think?But as soon as I walked into that atmosphere, I had to subconsciously imitate the actions of the people around me, otherwise I would make a joke.I can only identify it as the tradition of old Beijing—maybe there are some inconvenient and outsider allusions buried in it.I am full of praise for the fried liver in Beijing.

Soybean juice is boasted by the old Beijing as a good thing. It is a sour, musty and sticky hot soup boiled with fermented mung bean soup.Soybean juice is the most representative of local snacks in Beijing, and it was very popular during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China.Too bad I'm not used to it.After trying many times, the weird taste finally put me off.It has become the only kind of Beijing snack that I can't accept. Later, I remembered that Liang Shiqiu highly praised soybean juice: "Accompanied by spicy pickles, that is, shredded coffin boards, celery stems, shredded peppers or powder. Sometimes higher-grade pickles such as pickled radish and cucumbers are also prepared, but it is not as good as Spicy pickles are delicious. Sip three or two bowls in the afternoon. The more you eat, the more spicy you drink. There are no local people who are not addicted to soy juice, but when they leave the city, the bean dregs can only be fed to pigs, and the country people do not drink soy juice. People from other provinces have lived in Beiping for 30 to 20 years and often cannot develop the habit of drinking soy juice. Only those who can drink soy juice are considered real. Pekingese." Soybean juice actually has the effect of a touchstone: it is the patent of Beijingers, and it is a hobby that outsiders cannot cultivate.It seems that I have no luck to become a real Beijinger.Although living in the city of Beijing—until the end of my life, I will always be a foreigner.Because I can't accept the test of soybean juice.For people from other provinces, soybean juice is the last gate of old Beijing, and it is also the most difficult threshold to cross.I was turned away, just envious of fish.

In addition to knowing myself, I can be sure that Zhou Zuoren is also not used to drinking soy milk.Although he did not mention soybean juice when criticizing Beijing's tea food.Because of this, Zhou Zuoren and Liang Shiqiu expressed two distinct attitudes when they commented on the food in Beijing.This is caused by their respective bloodlines - tradition has the closest relationship with bloodlines, after them, I will also write a new article for Beijing snacks - as a person who can't drink soybean juice.I am not inferior or proud of myself because I am not used to drinking soybean juice.This in no way affects my true feelings for Beijing.