Dietary custom culture in casserole house

The dietary customs of old Beijingers are deeply influenced by Manchu and Banners, and even now we can see the heritage. Eating white meat is the earliest custom of Manchu. The sacrificial plates and ornaments used in the palace and the palace, as well as the popular white cooking seats, are all related to eating white meat. Casserole house is the only restaurant in old Beijing that deals in Manchu dishes. Its business history of two and a half centuries explains the diet custom culture of eating white meat in old Beijing. [2]

After the Qing Dynasty, the royal class in the capital still maintained a "legacy". No matter the imperial court or the palace, there is a sacrifice every five days. There are all kinds of sacrifices, such as morning sacrifice, evening sacrifice, changing back lights, praying for willows, Wulin sacrifice, four seasons fresh sacrifice and so on. According to the regulations, two or three pigs must be left at each sacrifice. The meat used for sacrifice is processed and sacrificed in the unique way of Manchu. Because it is not a daily sacrifice, the meat of each sacrifice is not necessarily nailed or riveted, and there are often some leftovers. People in the house can't eat the leftover meat, but there are rules in the house that sacrificial meat is not allowed to go out. But sometimes the master's control is not so strict, and people often steal the leftover meat and goods, reward the bellboy or sell them cheaply.

At that time, there were many palaces on the streets from Xuanwu Gate to Xinjiekou in Beijing. Courtesy to Wang Fu, Zheng Qinwang House, Zhuang Qin Wang Mi, Shuncheng Wang Fu, Keqin Wang Fu, Qing Palace, Yao Jun Wang Mi, etc. The mansion of the first son of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty is located in Gangwa East, Xisi South Street and south of Reward Hutong, with an area of about 40 mu, and its west wall is adjacent to Gangwa City Street. Because sacrifices are often held at intervals in the palace, there are often leftover white meat. So someone opened a hole in the west wall facing the street, selling or inviting people to eat God's Remnants (the offerings offered and removed along the street are called "God's Remnants", also called "offering tips").

During the Tongzhi period, a Han Chinese night watchman named Liu made an old acquaintance with his steward Song Qi. I often sell leftover meat and goods to Liu cheaply, and the price is almost free. In the early years, Washi Street in Xisigang was a street selling jars, jars and crocks. In the middle of Qing dynasty, the market was depressed, and there were many old houses for storing cylinder tiles on this street. So the bellmen rented several empty houses and got a "magic pot" from the palace, which is said to be a sacrifice for the Ming emperor to cook. It is four feet in diameter and three feet deep, and can cook a whole pig at a time. In the future, they will use this magic pot to cook white meat. Raw materials are almost free. It's easy to stir-fry and cook a little, so the price is extremely low. Most people who come here to eat white meat are ordinary people's clothes and vendors. The place where this man eats white meat is called "water shed". Sean is the residence of Prince Li, who specializes in "white work". One day, Sean happened to pass by this small restaurant specializing in white meat. He was very curious: "White work is a special job of royal chefs in the palace and government. Is there a capable person in this folk shop? " So I stopped to have a look, and saw that there were many people in the shop, which was quite lively, so I pushed the door and went in. I saw a huge casserole stewing white meat in a small shop. Although the operation method is simple, it is also full of fragrance. Enxi sat down and talked to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper in the casserole house is a man of heart. Seeing that Sean is so good at guessing, he must be a good cook. He has an idea. A few days later, the owner of the casserole house pleaded with the trustee, hoping to get Sean's advice and skills. In the end, Sean still couldn't save face and passed the authentic "white skills" to the casserole house alone. Since then, burning and cooking have become the unique skills of casserole houses.

According to the teacher's teaching, the casserole house divides cook the meat into two categories. One is to cook the meat directly in white water without barbecue, which is called white meat. One is to roast the meat slightly with charcoal fire first, and then boil it in water. Cooked meat is called simmered meat, and elbow is called simmered elbow. Slice the white meat or stewed meat and eat it cold without any seasoning. White cooking is the authentic way to eat Manchu meat. Burning refers to frying and braising. Liao refers to baking and baking; Then there is white cook the meat, so it is called "burning, burning and boiling".

The white meat in the casserole is not only boiled meat, but also sliced white meat, that is, white water cook the meat in a big casserole. Only spices, pepper and other spices are magnified in the soup. Take the white meat out of the pot, cool it, slice it, then put it on a plate and dip it in seasoning. Later, White cook the meat developed further. Cooked white meat and goods are then processed into special dishes, called "Shaoshao". Because the dish is served in a six-inch shallow dish, it is called "cooking". The earliest dishes were only eight kinds, such as fried pork ribs, fried kidney flowers, fried fat rolls, fried tenderloin, fried pork intestines, fried liver tips, fried dumplings, fried noodles and so on. Later, it developed into cooking at 24, 32, 48 and 64. In its heyday, there were as many as 130 kinds of dishes. There is a whole table, a half table and a corner (that is, 1/4), and the number of small saucers per table can reach 72 colors and 48 colors with the withdrawal, generally 32 colors and 24 colors. This kind of mat is a typical full-style dish, which eventually forms a white meat mat. Yuan Mei, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, said: "This is a dish that northerners are good at, but southerners can't do it." . Casserole house was not famous in Kyoto in its early years. The flag bearer's main hall was famous for holding a birthday party at home during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, and for receiving a "fan in the room" (eunuch called it "fan in the room" in old Beijing).

One day in the early years of Guangxu, a flag bearer nave celebrated his birthday. And the subordinates of the protected people compete to curry favor. On the day of the birthday celebration, six senior officials, government officials, commander-in-chief of the Eight Banners, and academician came to congratulate. In the birthday hall, there are double candles, lanterns and colorful decorations, and the weddings in the big lattice are all friends. Several eunuchs also came to offer birthday greetings, sitting at the top of the table, pointing and talking loudly. At the opening ceremony, the tea master went to the eunuch as usual and invited Shuang 'an (invited an Ann and another Ann, called Shuang 'an), saying that the gentlemen in the fan room were invited to order. It turns out that eunuchs have a bad habit. Every time sitting at the table, the host family will prepare rich and exquisite dishes. Eunuchs shook their heads and waved their hands to show that they could not eat well. They must order their own food and name a certain dish in the restaurant. In fact, what they ordered was not better than that prepared by the host family, but the eunuchs had to do so. This is called "putting on airs". At this time, several eunuchs noisily asked for dishes from several restaurants. One of the eunuchs casually said, "I want the cooking in the casserole house." The host family immediately invited the chef in the casserole house to prepare the food. It doesn't matter if the eunuch's nonsense makes the host family spend money and trouble. Now it can take the "water shed" that has been difficult to be elegant for decades to the sky. When the Prime Minister's father celebrated his birthday, he used the seat in the casserole house! The story spread like wildfire and spread to Beijing immediately. Since then, formal families of Beijing Banner, such as wealthy flag households, have held weddings, funerals, birthdays, moons and so on. , are mainly casserole houses. It is more shameful than anything for anyone to set up a shed to do things without 72 cooks. The casserole house became famous from this birthday party. During the Republic of China, the sale of casserole houses was even more popular.

Many businessmen saw that the casserole house was doing well, so some people tried to imitate the brand name and opened a white meat restaurant to compete. To this end, the casserole house poked two signs on both sides of the facade: one was inscribed by the famous calligrapher Mr. Jiang Zhi, "Famous for Kyoto for 300 years, and tasted all the white meat in North China"; The other piece is "only this one, no semicolon". All the old shops, famous museums and places where the font size is established in old Beijing are basically a plaque for each family. Can casserole house "a color", a restaurant with three plaques, called "a strange". According to the book Search for Imperial Diet, after six years of Qianlong (174 1), the Dingwangfu was expanded into a three-fronted residence, a three-fronted residence and three plaques. Among them, "Shunju" is in the middle, "White Meat Restaurant" is on the left and "Casserole House" is on the right. There are three plaques in one store, which was very puzzling at that time. Actually, the reason is not complicated.

During the Tongzhi period, the casserole house had no name, so people called it the "launching shed". Later, during the Guangxu period, Zheng Hongqi, a famous calligrapher, was invited to assist Sanyebai (word Songnian, Manchu Shaji) in writing the plaque of "Living in Harmony", and then the casserole house entered the restaurant; Let's talk about "casserole house" first, because there are many people who eat white meat here in the early days of business, and it is also a big casserole in cook the meat. People used to use its image to name it, and after a long time it became a "casserole house"; The "white meat restaurant" said something else. During the Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty (182 1- 1850), there was a white meat restaurant called Heshun Pavilion in Dongsi Pailou. Business is declining, and business can't continue. The shopkeeper saw that the casserole house was doing well, so he had it repaired and merged with it.

A huge casserole with a diameter of 1.20 m, a height of 0.76 m and a weight of 2 18 kg has become the treasure of the casserole house to witness the history. A huge casserole with a diameter of 1.20 m, a height of 0.76 m and a weight of 2 18 kg has become the treasure of the casserole house to witness the history.

Now the anecdote of the three plaques has long since become history. Now, the plaque hanging at the entrance of the casserole house was inscribed by the famous calligrapher Bai Tao.

Pick Sapporo at noon and buy and sell for half a day. In the history of Beijing time-honored brand, casserole house has a puzzling "strange management". Strangely, from the beginning of business to the Republic of China, it was always half a day, and at noon 12, the lid was removed and the curtain was rolled up to stop business. A folk allegorical saying in Beijing: "Selling a casserole house-not staying in the afternoon" refers to this matter.

There are two reasons for doing business for half a day. First, at the beginning of the business, it was the business of sacrificing the remaining white meat in the government. At that time, the palace was not offering sacrifices every day, but only once every three times. Therefore, it is not every day that there is a god. Every time you get the meat, you have to sell it evenly, so the casserole house has been open for half a day since its opening, only selling for one morning and closing at noon. After a long time, it became a routine and continued. Later, it became famous and more people ate. In order to ensure the quality, even if the raw materials are sufficient, it is better to lack them than to abuse them. This must be a 100 kg whipping pig in Zhangjiawan, JD.COM. It was slaughtered the night before, cleaned and processed overnight. It was ready the next morning and opened at 8 o'clock on time. It was sold out all morning. This half-day business is recorded in Historical Records: "There is a white meat restaurant in Gangwa City, Xicheng, which attracts customers every day and does not involve other tastes. After noon, it closed. " The "strange management" of the casserole house lasted for 196 and didn't change until 1937.

1937 After the July 7th Incident, Beijing fell under the Japanese puppet troops. Because of its unique flavor and reputation, important Japanese figures and traitors often eat and drink here. No matter what the rules and regulations are, these people often come here to eat and drink in the afternoon and evening. The shopkeeper was afraid of the arrogance of the Japanese puppet troops and had to change his business habits for many years and open all day. From then on, the casserole house didn't pick the lid at noon, but added dinner. Lou Rui wrote in Zi Za Fu that "breaking the old rules and selling them later, sacrificing for the times" is what he said. When the casserole house was first opened, it cooked meat from Wang Fu in a magical pot, and the "cauldron dish" lasted for hundreds of years. Beijingers really didn't eat small casseroles until after the founding of New China.

The original boiled meat is the old-fashioned white meat, with no side dishes and accessories. From 65438 to 0952, the old chefs in the casserole house improved the casserole according to people's taste changes and needs. It used to be cooked in a big pot, but later it was changed into a small casserole. Casserole dishes not only have boiled meat, but also some delicious accessories, such as homemade sauerkraut, flexible and stiff fine powder, dried seaweed, dried mushrooms and so on. Dip in special seasoning when eating, the soup is thick, the meat is tender, the fat meat is not greasy, and the lean meat is not firewood. At the same time, chicken, fish, shrimp, crab, ginseng, wings and shellfish can all be made by casserole method. After the casserole was improved, some cooking was added at the same time. The style of dishes is not only luxurious and exquisite in the palace, but also simple in Beijing folk dishes.

The improved casserole dish is more popular. 1964 June 12, Premier Zhou and Vice Premier Chen Yi personally went to the store to taste casserole dishes, toasted the chefs and staff, praised the dishes well done, and encouraged them to maintain and carry forward the flavor of your and Beijing and provide good service. Celebrities Wu Zuguang and New Xia Feng often go to the casserole house for their birthdays, and even the casserole house sends white meat home.

The historical changes of casserole house for more than 200 years have accumulated rich cultural details. Today's casserole houses are constantly developing and innovating on the basis of maintaining tradition. Traditional dishes are authentic and original, while new dishes are exquisite and unique in imperial style. Food, exquisite utensils and classic culture create a strong casserole culture atmosphere. In particular, the real thing standing in front of the door-a huge casserole with a diameter of 1.20 m, a height of 0.76 m and a weight of 2 18 kg, has become a treasure of the town store that witnessed history.