Ancient records of candied fruit

In the Ming Dynasty, Lu Xu, a native of Hangzhou, brought back the technology of processing candied fruit from other places to his hometown, and gradually formed the handmade candied fruit with Hangzhou characteristics-sugar color, mainly including orange cake, bergamot, kumquat and green plum. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Volume II of Seven Miles of Scenery recorded: "Its method began in Shandong." After the mid-Ming Dynasty, Hangzhou candied fruit has become a popular seasonal snack (snack food) in both Beijing and Hangzhou. With the help of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it is exported to Suzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing and other places until the capital. Candied fruit has a good reputation, "its products are unspeakable." According to the local chronicles of the early Qing Dynasty, the color of sugar at that time was mainly divided into two categories: sugar making and honey soaking. There are dozens of sugary foods handed down from modern times, such as candied plum, candied loquat, candied plum, kumquat and preserved apricot. And "candied plums" is known as the head of candied fruit, which has been recorded as early as in Famous Gardens, Tao Anmeng and Hangfuzhi. "Centennial Huichang" is the representative of Hangzhou's centuries-old sugar and color firms. Candied fruit produced in the light years of Qing Dynasty has been selected as a tribute, and "Centennial Huichang" became the designated supplier of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. In 34 years of the Republic of China, it has developed into a large firm with a capital of 65,438+08,000 silver dollars, nearly 100 employees and four workshops of candied fruit, tea and lotus root starch. Products are exported to all provinces, and the brand enjoys a good reputation in China. In recent years, in order to effectively inherit the precious traditional skills, with the strong support of governments at all levels, Zhejiang time-honored brand "Hundred Years Huichang" has restored the traditional sugar-colored production, preserved and inherited this folk handicraft skill with strong local characteristics, and declared the intangible cultural heritage list.