Sichuan pepper culture

Huayang Guozhi - Shu Zhi" said: Shu people "still taste, good fragrance". Some people think that the history of modern Sichuan people like to eat chili peppers can be traced back to the ancient Shu people "good fragrance" custom, this is a big misunderstanding.

Chili food

While today's dictionary on the "Xin" word in the meaning of the "spicy" one, but the ancient so-called "Xin" flavor is not the taste of chili peppers. However, the so-called "Xin" flavor of the ancients was not the flavor of chili peppers. The so-called pungent flavor of the ancients refers to ginger, green onions and other stimulating odors. The ancients had another "five Xin" or "five meat" said, referring to the five kinds of pungent dishes; but the traditional Chinese pungent vegetables but not the variety of chili peppers. The origin of chili pepper is obviously not in China.

According to the American anthropologist George Peter Mudac said: English chili (chili) taken from the language of the ancient Mexican Aztecs (a North American Indian), their food is rich in flavor, "especially chili peppers, used to make a spicy soy sauce for Tutela, or almost every kind of food seasoning.

Chili peppers are native to Central and South America, where they were one of the most important condiments for the Indians. It was introduced to Europe by the Spanish around the end of the 15th century.

The end of the 16th century, chili peppers into China, the name is "pepper", Ming "grass and flowers" recorded a foreign flower, named "pepper". 1591, this time chili peppers have been introduced as an ornamental flowers by the Chinese cultivation, but has not been used in food. But has not been applied to food. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, chili peppers were first consumed by the Chinese as a vegetable. It is reported that the first Chinese people who ate chili peppers were in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the so-called "downriver people". Because chili peppers were first introduced from overseas, the Ha Jiang area was the first to bear the brunt, and it makes sense that the people in Ha Jiang would be the first to try these new foods. When the people of the lower reaches of chili pepper, the Sichuan people do not know what chili peppers. In the Qianlong period Li Huainan wrote, his son Li Tiao Yuan finishing the printing of the "Wake Garden Record", is currently available to reflect the history of the earliest specialized works on the Sichuan cuisine, however, the book does not see the shadow of the use of chili peppers. As late as the Qing Jiaqing years, Sichuan county records began to see the planting of chili pepper records.

Jiadao years, western Sichuan region has been widely planted chili pepper this vegetable. Western Sichuan people often say "sea pepper", as the Ming Dynasty people called the "pepper", said this thing from foreign countries. Jiaqing years to Chongqing as the center of the eastern region, chili pepper has entered circulation as a commodity. Sichuan University Department of History and the Sichuan Provincial Archives edited by the "Qing Qianjia Dao Baxian archives," which is located at the Sichuan-Guizhou border Nanchuan chili peppers, the first year of the Xianfeng years of revision of engraved "Daoguang Nanchuan County Records," Volume V, "Native produce - vegetables," there is a "ground hot pepper" a, should be the local people of chili peppers, said the local people. Should be the local people on the chili pepper. And Nanchuan neighboring Guizhou Zunyi area during the Daoguang years also affected by the Sichuan people, commonly planted chili peppers. But experts concluded: chili pepper is not from the land but from the sea to China, no wonder the Sichuan people called "sea pepper!

The end of the Qing Dynasty, Sichuan rural villages commonly planted chili peppers, varieties are quite complete. According to the first year of Xuantong printed Fu Chong moment compiled by "Chengdu Overview" recorded in Chengdu, the farmers planted products: big red robe pepper, ChaoTianZi pepper, knob pepper, lantern pepper, cow horn pepper, chicken heart pepper. Chengdu's seasonal vegetables: green chili peppers in May, red chili peppers and lantern sea peppers in June, lantern sea peppers in July, and sea peppers and red sea peppers in August. Chengdu's salty dishes made of brine and wine, every family has: fish chili, pickled large sea peppers, fish Chad sea peppers, chili sauce, hudou office.

External agricultural display products, there are Yanting County's hot pepper, Shifang County's Dajhong red pepper, bright red pepper, Jingyan County's sea pepper, Nanjiang County's full of stars, Bishan County's red sea pepper, Xichang County's chili peppers, Jintang County's high tree sea pepper, Liangshan County's honey pepper, Xinjin County's fine red sea pepper, Neijiang County's seven-star sea pepper, chili sauce, bean office, Pengxi County's honey and big red pepper, Gandean County's beans Office, Fushun County's dry pepper, Fushun County's bean office, and the county's dry pepper. , Fushun County's dry pepper, Luzhou's dry pepper, Mianzhou's chili pepper, Quxian County's chili pepper, Nanfang County's ox horn red pepper, Qiongzhou's sea pepper seeds, huandou office, Wenjiang's huandou office, pea office, Wanxian's tree peppers, Lezhi County's ox horn sea peppercorns, lantern sea peppercorns, wuzi sea peppercorns.

Chili peppers from Xingjing County, thread peppers and chicken heart peppers from Shuangliu County, spicy bean office, spicy cowpeas, and pickled peppers in sauce from Meizhou County, long bullion sea peppers and red bean curd from Pengshan County, sea peppers from Hezhou County, sea peppers from Shizhu Hall, ox horn sea peppers from Jiangbei Hall, sea pepper seeds, pickled sea peppers, and hudou office from Chengdu County, big red sea peppers, chao tianzi sea peppers, lantern sea peppers, and ox horn sea peppers from Huayang County, sea peppers from Coronation County, sea peppers from Fengjie County's chili peppers, Ziyang County's bean office, Mabian County's chili peppers, Tongjiang County's sea peppers, Zhongzhou's sea peppers, Shehong County's bean office sauce, Xindu County's chili peppers, Jiansheng County's small sea peppercorns, lantern peppercorns seeds, Bazhou's chili peppers seed, Hejiang County's sea peppers, Kai County's speciality big chili peppers, Qingshen County's sea pepper peppercorns, spicy bean office, Pixi County's red hu douban sauce, irrigation county's sauce peppercorns, Xichong County's chili peppercorns, Baxian's ao dong sea peppercorns, big sea Pepper.

Chengdu's five flavors supplies are: sea pepper end, hot oil sea pepper. "dishes" 266 kinds of large dishes, including spicy dishes with spicy sea cucumber, hot and sour squid, spicy chicken, spicy chicken, spicy vinegar fish, new sea pepper fried shredded pork **** 6 kinds, accounting for only 2.25%. Chengdu South Pavilion dishes were priced at four hundred and eighty percent for spicy chicken, three hundred and two percent for spicy fish, six hundred and four percent for spicy sea cucumber, and four hundred and eight percent for sliced chicken with hot and spicy peppers. There are 113 kinds of Chengdu home cooking dishes, among which the dishes with spicy flavor are: back to the pot meat, spicy meat, spicy chicken, peppery chicken, cold tummy, mixed pig's ear, cold tongue, cold slices of leather, cold meat skin, cold large intestine head, pickled sea pepper fried meat **** 11 kinds of dishes, which accounted for about 10 percent. The end of the Qing Dynasty, Chengdu snacks in the spicy food increase, especially for young men and women prefer. To date, young men and women in Chengdu still like spicy snacks.

Xu Ke "Qing Barnyard Banknotes" said: the food of the specialized hobby, different food, due to habits. To cite its particular, the North people are addicted to onion and garlic, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Shu people are addicted to spicy products, Cantonese people are addicted to light food, Su people are addicted to sugar. Listed spicy four provinces, the most favorite chili pepper is still counted in Hunan and Hubei provinces, "Hunan, Hubei people day two meals, like spicy products, although the food in front of the zhang, Jane wrong full of the front, no mustard spicy not under the stick." Eating so distinct, should be in the late Qing Dynasty to the early years of the Republic of China this period of time before the gradual formation. Although the Sichuan people love to eat sea pepper, but the Sichuan flavor is not "spicy" two words can be summarized. Someone once counted, there are more than 3,000 kinds of Sichuan cuisine, of which the proportion of spicy dishes is less than 30%.