National Tide 1980.

Chapter 491 Mystery

"Zhang Dashao" spoke quite clearly.

Combined with reality, Ning Weimin really understood a little bit.

No wonder the dishes of the two existing palace restaurants are only commendable in terms of the shape and color of the dishes, and the taste is relatively average.

The only thing I dare to say is that I have learned a lot about how to place dishes and make characters in the court.

However, most of the raw materials are mediocre, and the palace's demanding standards for raw materials and production methods have not been adopted.

In production, only Zhuangguan thickening and oiling techniques are used to cover up the lack of raw materials.

However, the cooking level of the chef is not as good as that of long-established restaurants such as Cuihualou and Fengzeyuan, and the price is several times more expensive than ordinary Shandong cuisine.

So in the eyes of people in Beijing who are used to Shandong cuisine, it is easy to feel that it is flashy and that it is just that.

It’s fine if you spend the public’s money, but if you spend the money yourself, you will definitely feel distressed and think it’s a scam.

"Master Zhang, if you want to put it this way, the palace cuisine that has been handed down has its name but has no reality. It is not palace cuisine in essence, but Zhuangguan cuisine with the taste of Shandong cuisine. So as long as I am willing to pay for it? Cost, the texture of the raw materials is raised, and all kinds of real broth are used in the production, even if it is a real court dish? Is this the essence of court cuisine? "

When Ning Weimin asked these words, "Zhang Dashao" nodded in approval.

"Your understanding is closer. Jinyiyushi is not a vain head in name only. The royal family is enshrined in the world. Both raw materials and production are striving for perfection. The details are carried out in every step, even the matching of ingredients in the meal list. It has been deliberated by the imperial doctor, and it cannot be harmful to health. If you want to make palace imperial meals, the first hurdle is the cost issue."

"But how easy is it to overcome this hurdle? Rice, noodles, and vegetables are relatively cheap. It's okay to say that it's bad, but the soup is the most difficult thing. Although the five words 'make original food with original soup' are simple to say, behind it means that every day. Thousands of catties of meat are consumed."

"Sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, from various parts to various internal organs, as well as mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, and mixed canned soups. In total, nearly a hundred kinds of soups have to be hoisted out, and what about coal fires and labor costs?"

"This is every day. Even if you can try your best to reduce some unnecessary soups, the fifty or sixty kinds can't be less. This is why it is difficult for even a big restaurant to imitate the imperial dining room. Not counting manpower, Not counting the transportation of tribute and meal items, the cost of raw materials alone is scary."

Ning Weimin bowed his head and remained silent. He could realize how unbelievable this kind of cost was for the folks just by making rough calculations.

In this era, there are no chicken wings, chicken wing roots, pork knuckles, pork ribs... cut meat according to the position to sell.

If you want to buy raw materials for meat, you have to buy the whole thing.

So it costs as little as 2000 yuan a day just to hang soup, isn’t that scary enough?

What's more, "Zhang Dashao" then gave him a more difficult question.

"Even if you really do it, you have to be careful not to spend money in vain. Because the theory is a theory, in the end it depends on how to implement it in practice. If there are really problems in management, then everything is in vain. I can say that If you compare the Qianlong Dynasty with the late Qing Dynasty, the situation of the palace dining room is one above the other. Regardless of the cooking level and techniques, the imperial chefs in the late Qing Dynasty have made great progress compared with the previous imperial chefs. But because of loose management, All aspects are not in place. The dishes made by the Imperial Dining Room in the late Qing Dynasty are simply unbearable. They are really not as delicious as Zhuangguan dishes."

"No way? How could it be so bad?"

Ning Weimin couldn't help being astonished, and asked, "The imperial kitchen is so strictly controlled, and problems can occur. That's a feudal society. Aren't you afraid of beheading?"

"Zhang Dashao" hehe laughed, and let it go for a while.

"Can't figure it out again? Okay, then I'll talk about it carefully, so that you won't make the same mistakes again."

Only then did he begin to speak formally, to clear up Ning Weimin's doubts.

"That's right, the rules in the palace are the strictest. But all the rules have to be enforced by people. You first think about what the end of the Qing Dynasty was like? Orphans and widows, roosters in the morning, wars and chaos, the sun is setting, it is absolutely impossible Compared with the heyday of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the atmosphere of the whole country and society was to appoint private individuals, corruption and fraud, and it was dark. Can the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which controls all the expenses of the palace, still be clear? Only more Go too far."

"At that time, the imperial kitchen of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, which was the number one in Tianzi, became overstaffed and engaged in nepotism. This is actually very understandable. Like the imperial chefs who served the emperor, except for some from Zhejiang during the Qianlong Dynasty, most of them were Bannermen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As professionals who require the most security, they are all hereditary."

"Although the remuneration is not high on the surface, the chef's salary is no more than a seventh-rank salary, and ordinary people are only five or six taels of silver per month. But as a special class, because they have the opportunity to control most of the raw material trading opportunities, and their income is stable. Therefore, this The errands are still quite enviable. In order to stabilize their positions, the imperial chefs always arrange private individuals while forming cliques. From generation to generation, the imperial dining room has become more and more unable to tolerate outsiders."

"It's actually very easy for imperial chefs to squeeze out people from outside. Since palace tributes are available in all provinces across the country, chefs outside the palace generally have limited knowledge. This point makes it easy for outsiders to lose face and leave in a fit of anger. Therefore, all the people hired from outside the bureau will be incompatible with the old people of the imperial dining room, and cannot stay for a long time."

"In this case, as the palace only knew about the Queen Mother, but not the emperor, the situation became more and more serious. The royal chefs became more and more greedy and daring. In the end, it was so serious that they could collude with each other inside and out, and trade bad things for bad things." Alright, let’s pick out seasonings and vegetables at will, and sell most of the good things in the emperor’s order to Huixian Hall. Even to save trouble, the imperial chefs have gone so far as to cook the emperor’s two meals a day at once.”

"Think about it, although in order to meet the emperor's need to pass meals at any time, the palace has always used the method of sandwiching a casserole between two hot iron plates to keep warm. But the time is too long, and most of the dishes can't stand it. It is stewed. It is impossible not to affect the taste. Especially for dinner, it becomes the pork chops that are rotten and not chewy, the bright colors of the dishes are gone, and the porridge and rice have no fragrance at all. Cooking, also because of the decline in the quality of raw materials and the problem of nepotism in the imperial dining room, it is difficult to guarantee the level." "In all fairness, there are people who are motivated in any line of work. Especially when cooking for the emperor, you have to read the chef's name Who doesn't want to flatter the errand and get some rewards? But at this time, the quota of cooking for the emperor is designated by the head of the chef. If you don't send money, you won't have the opportunity to show your face on top. The raw materials are not good, and all the good things are sold. That’s it. Even if the craftsmanship is superb, there will be no future. It can be said that most of the imperial chefs at this time have become moths waiting to die.”

"It's even useless for the emperor to express his dissatisfaction with this kind of food. Because the imperial cooks and eunuchs who can gain power in the imperial dining room are all related, and there are people behind them. As long as the backers behind them go to the Queen Mother to beg for mercy, they will not There will be any real punishment. The key is to become so rotten, no matter who it is, it is useless. If you want to correct it, you will hurt the vested interests of many people. Especially the unlucky Emperor Guangxu, who is close to the Queen Mother, can't be compared Natong and Zengchong, the two ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are just a decoration..."

Well, the inside story of the court disclosed by "Zhang Dashao" is simply appalling.

Ning Weimin has never seen any information channel disclose it.

But it happened to be so reasonable and well-founded that it was difficult to question it.

"Then... this doesn't mean that court food is not good, right? And what about the people who serve Cixi's ladies? Is the Empress Dowager willing to eat this level of food?"

After pondering for a while, Ning Weimin finally found an entry point to ask questions.

But it's not that he wants to overthrow "Zhang Dashao", he really doesn't understand and wants to ask for advice.

The old man gave him the answer without even thinking about it.

"Of course the Empress Dowager is different. The longevity dining room and the tea dining room are dedicated to serving her, and the chefs there generally maintain the basic environment of being outstanding with their craftsmanship. But it is precisely because of serving the Empress Dowager that the chefs there are quite depressed. Qu, on the contrary, it is difficult for all of them to use their abilities.”

"You have to know that no matter how good the food is, you will get tired of eating it every day. What's more, the Queen Mother is the most vicious person who violates the laws of the country. It is well-known in Chinese and foreign history. As a result, because she was not satisfied with only eating palace food, she set up a small kitchen, and specially hired chefs from Baohuo Bureau to cook Zhuangguan dishes for her."

"So every meal of the Queen Mother is served by the chefs of the palace and the external chefs. She tells the meal, and the eunuchs line up to wait. The dishes will be prepared immediately. , to be filled with three or four dining tables, with more than a hundred varieties, hot and cold dishes, grilled food, and various snacks. After the dishes are served, she has to look at them and stay satisfied If you don’t want to eat it, leave immediately.”

"Needless to say, this old lady is the only person in the palace who can decide what to eat according to her personal preferences. She eats too many menu dishes that require the same taste for 200 years, and they have long lost their freshness. Almost all of them are withdrawn. The rewards were used. Almost all of her rewards were taken by external chefs. Even the external chefs thought that the chefs in the palace were inferior and were not their opponents. The spread of such words aggravated the people's misunderstanding of the royal chefs. .”

"In addition, as we said, the palace dining room is a very large institution. In addition to the dining rooms for the emperor, empress, and queen mother, whether it is the dining room for the ministers or the meal for the prince Others', or the main dining room for the concubines, or even the place where the Kunning Palace made sacrificial meat, or the people in the inner and outer buns, as well as the tea room and the Qing tea room, They can all call themselves imperial chefs.”

"It is conceivable that after the fall of the Qing court, these people flooded the society to find excuses. The uneven and specious cooking skills will cause much impact and damage to the reputation of the imperial chef. Therefore, the imperial chef and court dishes The evaluation will always be cloudy. If you think it is good, it is really good, and if you think it is bad, it is really bad. Almost no one can make an objective evaluation. It is because most people can come into contact with it and understand it. It’s all just a one-sided situation.”

"As for the advantages of palace cuisine, apart from the high-quality raw materials, the exquisite cooking skills and collocation methods, and the pursuit of pure and strong taste. The more important thing is the 'gathering of talents, eclecticism'. The recipe of palace cuisine The scope is unmatched by any cuisine, it is a culinary collection that brings together the world's products."

"For example, it's normal for the unique ingredients of the north and the south to appear in one dish, and it's perfectly normal to complement each other. Moreover, famous dishes from various places, including court dishes, can also be imitated and learned from their cooking methods. Therefore, at the palace banquet, whether full of vegetables, game, Soup, seafood, cauliflower, hot pot, manchurian barbecue, dim sum, pastry, it’s all in one place.”

"It can really be said that palace cuisine is the refinement and collection of national cooking methods. Although the words 'Manchu Banquet' have never appeared in the palace, there is a certain reason for the name. Even if I say, even these four The words are a bit stingy, it should be said that the five ethnic groups of the Manchurian, Mongolian, Tibetan, Hui, and Han are almost the same..."

good guy!

Being given a real history lesson by "Zhang Dashao", Ning Weimin was greatly inspired.

On the one hand, he felt more and more that "Zhang Dashao" was unfathomable, and he definitely had a deep relationship with the imperial chef of the Qing Palace, otherwise it would be impossible to understand the inside story so thoroughly.

While admiring the old man, he couldn't help being curious.

On the other hand, it also made him feel that his understanding of court dishes and cooking methods has reached a new level.

I can actually look at cooking at an unprecedented height, and even consciously have the ability to judge the quality of dishes and the ability of chefs.

Needless to say, he also had more ideas about the way of running the restaurant, and he was excited and excited for a while.

At the same time, he felt that his thoughts were chaotic, and there were many things that he urgently needed to think clearly, but it was difficult to get a clue for a while.

As a result, at this moment, "Zhang Dashao" also threw out the gift that "Zhang Dashao" gave him at the end, which made him unable to remain moved, and had to accept the old man's sincere friendship for help.

"Okay, if you can patiently listen to me for so long, I can't help but give you something practical. Listen, there are some things I can't solve, and I can't think of how to solve them. For example, 'cooks don't steal, No crop harvest', this is up to you. But I can help you with a few more things that are beneficial to you and can directly see results."

"First, I can help you compile a menu. Some Manchu dishes and Manchu flavors, and even game dishes, such as venison, are indispensable in the court. You can introduce them as a feature to distinguish others food."

"Secondly, I can also introduce and contact some capable people for you. There are chefs and purchasers, all of whom are about to retire. With them, your restaurant will be able to grow a bit more confident. But if you hire someone to help, You can't be too stingy about the price, otherwise you will lose face to me."

"Thirdly, if you want to make pasta, it is best to get the 'old noodles' from Fengzeyuan. Aren't you someone who knows the service bureau, then this is not difficult for you. Don't look at the history of Fengzeyuan. It's only about fifty years old. But their "old noodles" are hundreds of years old. They were brought out by Luan Xuetang from the old proprietor "Xinfenglou". The noodles can directly overwhelm ordinary places."

"Finally, I have a makeshift solution, which can barely solve the problem of the cost of your broth. Just wait for me..."

Saying "Zhang Dashao" he went out of the house, ran to the kitchen, and later brought back a bottle of noodles, gray and wood-red.

"Ouch, Master Zhang, what is this?"

Facing Ning Weimin who was like a curious baby, "Zhang Dashao" couldn't help playing with a sense of mystery.

He's an old naughty boy, so he won't say it directly.

"Want to know what it is? Go home and cook some vegetables. Listen to me, you just boil it in plain water. After cooking, add some powder and a little fine salt, and you will know the secret. You have to think this thing is good. , I'll tell you what's going on..."

(End of this chapter)