National Tide 1980

"Zhang Dashao" spoke quite clearly.

Based on reality, Ning Weimin really understood it.

No wonder the dishes at the two palace restaurants are commendable only for their appearance and taste, but they are average in taste.

I can only imagine that I have learned everything about the court's arrangement of dishes and calligraphy.

However, most of the raw materials are of mediocre quality, and they do not adopt the palace's demanding standards for raw materials and production methods.

In production, only Zhuangguan's thickening and oil-spraying techniques are used to cover up the deficiencies of the raw materials.

However, the cooking skills of the chefs are not as good as those of time-honored restaurants such as Cuihualou and Fengzeyuan, and the prices are several times more expensive than ordinary Shandong cuisine.

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

If you spend the public money, that's fine. If you spend it yourself, you will definitely feel bad and think you are cheating.

"Master Zhang, if we put it this way, the palace cuisine that has been passed down is just in name but not in reality. In essence, it is not palace cuisine, but Zhuangguan cuisine with the flavor of Shandong cuisine. So as long as I am willing to pay In terms of cost, if we increase the texture of the raw materials and use real various kinds of soup stock in the production, can it be regarded as a real palace cuisine? Is this the essence of palace cuisine? "

These words asked by Ning Weimin made "Zhang Dashao" nod with approval.

"You're closer to understanding. The royal family is not just a mere nameless one. The royal family is worshiped all over the world. They strive for perfection in both raw materials and production. Details are carried out in every step, even the matching of ingredients on the menu. It has been carefully scrutinized by the royal doctor and cannot harm health. If you want to make royal meals for the palace, the first hurdle is the cost."

"But how easy is it to overcome this problem? Things like rice, noodles and vegetables are relatively cheap, so it's okay to put them into practice. The difficult part is the soup stock. Although the words 'original soup to make original food' are simple to say, it means that it is cooked every day. Thousands of kilograms of various kinds of meat are consumed.”

"Sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, all parts and internal organs, as well as mushrooms, fresh mushrooms, and mixed pots of soup. In total, nearly a hundred kinds of soup stock need to be made. What about the coal fire and labor costs?"

"This is every day. Even if you can try your best to reduce some unnecessary soups, there are still fifty or sixty kinds. This is why no matter how big a restaurant is, it is difficult to imitate the Imperial Kitchen. Not counting manpower, Not counting the transportation of food items, the cost of raw materials alone is terrifying."

Ning Weimin lowered his head and said nothing. With just a rough calculation, he could realize how incredible this expense was to the people.

In this era, there were no chicken wings, chicken wing roots, pork knuckles, ribs... meats cut according to their positions were sold.

If you buy meat raw materials, you have to buy them whole.

So just making soup stock costs a little over 2,000 yuan a day. Isn’t this 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 theory is theory, and in the end it depends on how it is implemented in practice. If there are really problems in management, then everything will be in vain. I can say this , if you compare the Qianlong Dynasty with the late Qing Dynasty, the situation of the palace dining room is very different. Regardless of the cooking level and techniques, the imperial chefs in the late Qing Dynasty have made great progress compared with the imperial chefs in the past. But due to loose management, All aspects are not done well. The dishes made in the imperial kitchen in the late Qing Dynasty are simply impossible to get. They are really not as delicious as the dishes in the Zhuang Restaurant."

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

Ning Weimin couldn't help being surprised and asked, "The royal kitchen is so strictly managed, but problems can still occur. This is a feudal society. Aren't you afraid of beheading?"

"Zhang Dashao" laughed and gave it a try.

"Can't you figure it out again? Okay, then I'll explain it carefully so that you don't make the same mistake again."

Then he began to explain it formally to clear up Ning Weimin's doubts.

"Yes, the rules in the palace are the strictest. But all the rules must be enforced by people. First think about what it was like in the late Qing Dynasty? Orphans and widows, hens and chickens in the morning, wars incessant, and the sun is declining. It's completely impossible. Compared with the heyday of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, the atmosphere of the entire country and society was all about private employment, corruption and fraud, and it was dark. Can the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which has all the expenses of the palace in its hands, still be clean? Only more can be done. Go too far."

"At that time, the imperial kitchen of Yangxin Palace, which was number one in Tianzi, first became overstaffed and engaged in nepotism. This is actually easy to understand. Except for some of the imperial chefs who served the emperor, most of them came from Zhejiang during the Qianlong Dynasty. The banner men of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As professionals who require the most security, they are all hereditary."

"Although the salary on the surface is not high, a chef only earns a seventh-grade salary, and ordinary people only receive five or six taels of silver per month. But as a special class, they have the opportunity to control the trading opportunities of most raw materials, and their income is stable. So this Errands are still quite enviable. In order to stabilize their status, the imperial chefs have arranged personal appointments and formed cliques. From generation to generation, the imperial kitchen has become increasingly unable to tolerate outsiders. "

"It's actually easy for the imperial chefs to try to outsmart people from outside. Since the palace tributes are available in all provinces across the country, the chefs outside the palace generally have limited knowledge. Most of them only know how to cook traditional dishes and don't know how to cook products from all over the world. The hereditary imperial chefs take advantage of this. This makes it easy for outsiders to lose face and leave in frustration. Therefore, all the people hired from outside the Baohuo Bureau are incompatible with the old people in the Imperial Kitchen and cannot stay for a long time."

"Under this situation, the situation became more and more serious as the palace only knew the Queen Mother and no one knew about the emperor. The imperial chefs became more and more greedy and daring. In the end, it was serious enough that they could collude with both internal and external parties to exchange evil for bad things. Okay, mix the seasonings and vegetables at will, and sell most of the good things in the emperor's portion to Huixiantang. In order to save trouble, the imperial chefs have even gone so far as to cook the emperor's two meals a day at once. "

"Think about it, in order to meet the emperor's need for food to be eaten at any time, the palace has always used the method of sandwiching a casserole between two hot iron plates to keep it warm. But it took too long, and most of the dishes couldn't stand it. Stewing. It is impossible not to affect the taste. Especially for dinner, the steaks are so rotten that they are not chewy, the dishes are not bright at all, and the porridge and rice have no flavor at all. Even those dishes that must be fried freshly For cooking, it is difficult to guarantee the standard due to the deterioration of the quality of the raw materials and the problem of nepotism in the imperial kitchen." "To be fair, there are people who want to make progress in any field. Especially when cooking for the emperor, you have to read the name of the chef. .Who doesn’t want to fawn over a job and get a reward? But at this time, the quotas for cooking for the emperor are all designated by the chef. If you don’t give money, you won’t have the chance to show your face. The raw materials are not good, and all the good things are sold. Even if they are skilled in craftsmanship, they will never succeed. It can be said that most of the imperial chefs at this time have become worms waiting to die."

"It's useless even for the emperor to express his dissatisfaction with such a meal. Because the imperial chefs and eunuchs who are in power in the imperial kitchen are all related by relatives and have people behind them. As long as their backers go to the Queen Mother to beg for mercy, it will not matter. What real punishment will there be? The key is that it’s useless no matter who you replace it with. If you want to correct it, you will hurt the vested interests of many people. Especially the unlucky emperor Guangxu, who is incomparable in terms of closeness to the Queen Mother of the West. Na Tong and Zeng Chong, the two ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, are just decorations..."

Well, the inside story of the palace disclosed by "Zhang Dashao" is simply shocking. This is completely the following, using slaves to defraud the master.

Ning Weimin has never seen any news disclosed by any channel.

But it is so reasonable and well-founded that it is difficult to question it.

"Then...that doesn't mean that palace dishes are no longer good, right? And what about the people who serve Cixi's ladies? Is the Queen Mother of the West also willing to eat dishes of this level?"

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

But he didn't want to overthrow "Zhang Dashao". He really didn't understand and wanted to ask for advice.

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

"The Queen Mother of the West is of course different. The longevity dining room and tea dining room are dedicated to serving her, and the chefs there still maintain the basic environment of being outstanding with their craftsmanship. But precisely because of serving the Queen Mother of the West, the chefs there are quite frustrated. If you surrender, it will be difficult for all of them to be useful."

"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 of the West is the most powerful person in destroying national laws and does not take the law into her heart. She lives a life of extravagance and lust. It is famous 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 asked the Baohuo Bureau to hire external chefs to cook restaurant dishes for her every time. "

"So for every formal meal served by the Queen Mother, the palace chefs and external chefs showed off their talents. She passed the meal, and the eunuchs lined up to wait. The dishes were immediately set, and a few special dishes were served as they were served. , there are three or four dining tables put together, often with more than a hundred varieties, including hot and cold dishes, barbecue grill food, and various snacks. After the food is served, she will take a look at it and leave it with satisfaction. , If you don’t want to eat it, stop immediately.”

"Needless to say, this old lady is the only person in the palace who can decide what to eat based on her personal preferences. She has eaten too many menu dishes that require the same taste for two hundred years, and they have long lost their freshness. Almost all of them have been withdrawn. She went down to reward people. Almost all of her rewards were taken by external chefs. So much so that the external chefs thought that the palace chefs were of inferior quality and were no match for them. Word of this spread, which intensified the people's hatred of the imperial chef. misunderstanding."

"In addition, as we have said, the palace dining room is a very large institution. In addition to several dining rooms for the emperor, queen, and queen mother, whether it is an external dining room for entertaining ministers or a meal for the prince, He, his son', or the main dining room where meals are prepared for the concubines, or even the place where Kunning Palace prepares meat for sacrifices to the gods, or the people in the inner and outer cooking rooms, as well as the tea room and tea room, Everyone can call themselves the Royal Chef to the outside world."

"It is conceivable that after the fall of the Qing court, these people suddenly flooded the society looking for excuses. The uneven and specious cooking skills would have great impact and damage to the reputation of the imperial chef. Therefore, there are many discussions about imperial chefs and palace cuisine. The evaluation will always be in the clouds. If you think it is good, you are really saying it is good, and if you think it is bad, you are really saying it is bad. Almost no one can make an objective evaluation. It is because most people have access to and understand it. It’s just a one-sided situation.”

"As for the advantages of palace cuisine, in addition to the high-quality raw materials, exquisite cooking techniques and matching methods, and the pursuit of pure and strong taste, the more important thing is that it is 'a gathering of talents and an eclectic mix'. The recipes of palace cuisine The scope is unmatched by any other cuisine, and it is a culinary collection that brings together products from all over the world.”

"For example, it is normal for the unique materials from the north and the south to appear in a dish, and they complement each other. Moreover, the famous dishes from various places and palace dishes can also be imitated and learned from their cooking methods. Therefore, at the palace banquet, no matter Manchurian dishes, game, Soup, seafood, fruits and vegetables, hot pot, Manchurian and Mongolian barbecue, dim sum, and pastry are all available.”

"It can really be said that palace cuisine is the refinement and collection of cooking methods from all over the country. Although the words 'Manchu-Han Banquet' have never appeared in the palace, it really makes sense to call it that. Even if you ask me to say, even these four The wording is a bit stingy, it should be said that it is about the full banquet of the five ethnic groups from Manchu, Mongolia, Tibet and back to Han..."

What a 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 had a deep connection with the imperial cook of the Qing Palace. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to understand the inside story so thoroughly.

While he admired the old man, he couldn't help but be curious.

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

I can actually view cooking from an unprecedented height, and even feel that I have the ability to judge the quality of dishes and the ability of the chef.

Needless to say, he also had more ideas about how to run a restaurant, and he was excited and excited at the same time.

At the same time, he felt that his thoughts were confused. There were many things that he urgently needed to think about clearly, but it was difficult to have a clue at the moment.

As a result, at this moment, the last gift "Zhang Dashao" gave him was thrown out, and he could no longer help but be moved, and he had to acknowledge the old man's sincere friendship for helping each other.

"Okay, I have to give you something practical because you have been patient enough to listen to me for so long. Listen, there are some things that I can't solve, and I can't think of how to solve them. For example, 'The cook doesn't steal. You have to rely on yourself in this regard. But I can also help you do a few more things that are beneficial to you and can directly see the results."

"First, I can help you compile a menu. Some Manchu and Manchu-style dishes, and even game dishes, such as venison, are indispensable for the palace. You can then introduce them as a feature to distinguish others. food."

"Secondly, I can also help you introduce and contact a few capable people, including chefs and purchasers, who are all about to retire. With them here, your restaurant will be more confident. But hiring others to help, You can’t be too stingy with the price, otherwise you will lose my face.”

"Third, if you want to make noodles, it's best to get the 'old noodles' from Fengzeyuan. If you don't know someone from the service bureau, then this won't be difficult for you. Don't look at the history of Fengzeyuan. 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". They are the treasures of criminal cases. With this thing, you can go out The pastries can easily outperform ordinary places.”

"Finally, I have a makeshift solution that can barely solve your soup stock cost problem. Just wait for me..."

Saying "Zhang Dashao", he left the house and ran to the kitchen. After a while, he took out a bottle of noodles, which were gray and wood-red.

"Ouch, Master Zhang, what is this?"

Facing Ning Weimin who was as curious as a baby, "Zhang Dashao" couldn't help but play with the mystery.

He is such an old naughty boy that he doesn't say anything directly.

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