Chapter 63 Pingjiang withdraws

Pingjiang County is located in the northeast of Hunan, adjacent to Changsha City, and borders Hubei and Jiangxi provinces.Pingjiang has beautiful mountains and clear waters, emerald peaks, undulating mountains and hazy weather, and a pleasant climate. Since ancient times, it has been a place for celebrities to cultivate and military strategists. It is known as "the source of Mishui, the hometown of generals".Pingjiang lies on Mufu Mountain in the north, Lianyun Mountain in the south, and the clear Miluo River runs through the whole area.Some people describe in words that Pingjiang County combines majestic mountains, beautiful water, strange stones, and quiet forests. It is an ideal place for tourism and leisure, and is very popular among Changsha tourists.

Not long ago, I stayed in Lianyun Mountain in Pingjiang for more than ten days, and learned some Hakka customs in Pingjiang.I found that more Shang and Zhou phonetics and morphemes were preserved in their dialects, and the customs, songs and dances, and music all had the magic of the Hakka people, which made me unforgettable, especially the ancient banquets. When Pingjiang people receive distinguished guests, or when there are grand days and happy events at home, they will make "love seats" to express celebration and joy, and to entertain relatives and friends.Generally, there are ten dishes for each table, or ten bowls of dishes.Serving dishes is not like banquets in other places. Ten dishes are served at once, and they are served bowl by bowl.When the first course is served, the guests start to drink, and after the first course is served, the second course is served.After eating the second course, serve the third course.Starting from the fourth dish, every time a dish is served, an empty bowl must be taken away, that is, one bowl of dishes will be removed. People in Pingjiang call it "turning the bowl", also called "removing the seat".It is not until the seventh dish is served that the bowl is stopped, that is, the bowl is not returned when the belly is seen, and six bowls are formed together with the following dishes. The guests stop drinking and eat instead.

I lived in Lianyun Mountain for a while, and ate local banquets several times in succession.My friend Zeng Guangrong told me: There is a strict order of withdrawal and serving, and if you make a mistake, your relatives and friends will laugh at you.The ten dishes for ordinary banquets have formed a fixed practice and cannot be easily changed.In order to improve the standard of banquets and the reputation among relatives and friends, the village invites chefs who specialize in banquets to arrange banquets.The ten dishes of ordinary banquets are the first bowl of fried meat, which is fried in flour and cut into pieces, and then fried; the second bowl of chicken is replaced by pork, or only a little chicken; the third bowl of dried bamboo shoots is also called smoke. Bamboo shoots; the fourth bowl of shredded leaves; the fifth bowl of red stone balls, deep-fried and then steamed with sugar; the sixth bowl of stewed red dates with belly slices; the seventh bowl of vermicelli with green beans; The meat is steamed with a flower knife; the ninth bowl of steamed fish; the tenth bowl of vegetables or soup.

During the period of my stay, I found that Pingjiang has a wide variety of banquets: when parents die, they are called plates; when parents celebrate their birthdays, they are called students.One's first marriage is called wedding wine; when a son gets married, it is called receiving relative wine; when a daughter is married, it is called married woman wine.The wine served on the third day of childbirth is called Xisanchao wine; the wine served on the full moon is called full moon wine;The banquet for building a new house is called round house wine.The New Year's gathering of relatives and friends is called Spring Dinner.

Pingjiang people like to be lively and talk about etiquette. They like to watch the banquet and participate in the etiquette ceremony of the banquet.There are customs such as "new relatives never leave the wedding hall, and Linxi hall must be the chief", the first relative must sit in the top spot, and the old relatives accompany the new relatives.Seats should be arranged according to the order of relatives and friends, relatives and friends, priority, seniority, and generation, and you should not sit randomly.The chief sits in the last seat, which is called blocking seat.When the first bowl of food is opened during the banquet, the host thanked the table, uncovered the bowl, and the guests began to eat after standing up to return the salute.Every time a dish is served, the host will raise his glass and shout to the audience: "Come, please!" Everyone raises their glasses to drink, and then raises their chopsticks to eat the dishes.

Pingjiang people like to talk about wealth, show off, and want face.Love mats are divided into three grades: shark fin mats, sea cucumber mats, and razor clam mats (mushroom mats). In the past, there were few shark fin mats and sea cucumber mats, but mushroom mats were common.The best banquet is birthday wine, the host can't earn money, they can only post the book, and birthday wine is also called display.Followed by wedding wine and round house wine, followed by married woman wine.Spring meals can be served, except for dog meat.The dishes of the love banquet are elegant, the names of the dishes are poetic, and the colors, flavors and types are complete. They pay attention to the combination of meat and vegetables.The Sea Cucumber Sea Cucumber Sea Cucumber Sea Cucumber, Fairy Goose Egg, Red Lily Squid, Qinglian Furong, Braised Meatballs (or Medicinal Lamb), Magnolia Flower Can, Spicy Tripe, Vinegar Fresh Fish, Tiger Skin Pork, Sijing Fresh soup.

When the first bowl is withdrawn from the table, the first three bowls are half full, and the host toasts the seven bowls to thank the guests.During the banquet, dog meat is not allowed, and it is called to beat the dog to disperse the disaster; fish without scales is not allowed.With the current deepening of commercial profitability, Pingjiang removed the top ten bowls and changed them to eight bowls. Except for keeping the taboo of dog meat, others have also been improved to follow the trend. I did some research on Pingjiang's withdrawal. The ancestors of Pingjiang people were immigrants from Guangdong and Jiangxi. They are not pure Hakka people, but they retain Hakka customs. The cuisine does not completely belong to the flavor of Hunan cuisine. Improvement and absorption have independently created their own food system, which has both Shanghai-style flavors and local flavors. The dishes are neither spicy nor sweet, and are suitable for the public.