Wedding etiquette in Jiangnan water town

Suzhou has been known as a paradise on earth since ancient times. Suzhou is rich in products, outstanding people and outstanding people, and the water town cuisine has a long history and enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad. Suzhou people's wedding food is famous for its fine production, various styles and good color, flavor and taste.

Nowadays, young men and women advocate free love, but in the villages around Luzhi, Zhouzhuang and Mu Chen in Suzhou, the traditional marriage customs of Jiangnan water towns are still preserved. Both men and women hit it off, and their parents chose a day to get married. At that time, the man will send four kinds of dried fruits: litchi, longan, walnut, candied dates, and some tea, which means "sweet and happy, in pairs." The woman's family returned several plates of homemade wedding cakes, including jujube paste yam cakes, honey cakes, sweet-scented osmanthus sugar cakes and poria cocos cakes. Because of different seasons, cakes are different, but honey cakes are the main ones. The man shared cakes with relatives and friends to show that the wedding was coming.

Three days before the wedding, both men and women invited the introducer to drink, thanking them for their matchmaking. Ke Fan (editor's note: meaning matchmaker) came up with the Dream of Liang Lu. ) results. There are usually eight kinds of dishes. They are all made of aquatic products, such as fried shrimp, dragon and phoenix mandarin fish, Korean pine herring, stir-fried eel, shark's fin with five flavors, longan snail, shredded cucumber and ginger fish, and steamed eel. Snacks include steamed stuffed buns with crab powder, steamed dumplings with shrimps and so on. The banquet is richer than the wedding banquet, and I intend to invite the Iceman (Editor's Note: Iceman is the matchmaker, and the language is the Book of Jin). Take care during the wedding.

"Colorful car curtains are fragrant, and the wind makes Lampe jingle. It is rumored in the old moon that Fang Daori invited new people out of the embroidery room for the first time. " In Wedding Day, traditional food is even more dazzling, and the index finger moves greatly. When the bride arrives at her in-laws' house, sweet-scented osmanthus dumplings and assorted lotus root soup are ready, and the newlyweds, parents-in-law, old and young have a bowl to show their reunion and heart-to-heart. All the villagers watching the scene of bustle should drink a cup of alpine tea, which is sweet. In more elegant families, there are candied fruit and fragrant fruit in tea.

The bride and groom enter the bridal chamber first and drink the wine together (Editor's Note: 30 is a ladle, and in the old days, when they got married, they cut a melon into two scoops, and the bride and groom each held a ladle to drink). The wine is low-alcohol glutinous rice wine, drink half of it, and then drink it after exchange. Then, the real wedding party began. The dishes of the wedding banquet are all made by local famous bubbles, which have the characteristics of hometown, including cold dishes, stir-fried, dim sum and big dishes, among which there are not many delicacies and aquatic products. Smoked fish slices smoked by mullet and herring, live shrimp cannons, crispy celery gluten and asparagus strips are all delicious food for drinking; Stir-fried shrimp, butterfly eel slices, crab powder fish lips, chrysanthemum fish, heat-clearing and stir-frying, which makes people satisfied; Fish soup and Yuanyang fish dumpling soup in the water shield pond are essential dishes; Snacks are mainly eight-treasure rice and seasonal cakes, with spring cakes, mint cakes in summer, crispy moon cakes in autumn and scones in winter. There is not much food. Intended to taste. Between flowers and potato chips, there was a jubilation.

The morning after marriage, the newlyweds want to eat meatballs. On the day of the Three Dynasties (Editor's Note: It is an old custom that the third day after marriage is called the Three Dynasties, and the bride cooks some good dishes to honor her in-laws. At this time, the bride will show her talents, buy meat, fish and fresh vegetables, and cook a home-cooked meal. During the Seven Dynasties, her family sent meatballs, and each meatball contained an egg. It means having a baby early. At this time, the man invited his in-laws to have tea, four dishes, four dishes and four snacks. Four plates are candy, melon seeds, peanuts and red dates; The four dishes are candied dates, fragrant dates, sugar bayberry and crystal bayberry; These four kinds of snacks are shortbread, cake, honey cake and dessert. They are all made of melons and fruits rich in rural areas.

Although the wedding food in Gusu has changed from generation to generation, it is beautifully made, suitable for the season, and has its own characteristics in color, fragrance, taste and shape. They have their own set of customs and habits, which change with the seasons all year round. Summer and autumn colors are clear but not light, smooth, tender and crisp without losing taste; In winter and spring, the color is thick but not greasy, crisp and rotten without losing its shape, and it has a strong hometown flavor. Some people say that Suzhou's diet, like Kunqu Opera and Pingtan, belongs to a high degree of cultural heritage, while Suzhou's unpretentious wedding cuisine with a long history adds luster to Gusu cuisine with its unique flavor.