Guangzhou has been an important town in the south of China since ancient times. After Qin Shihuang unified Lingnan, Chinese and Vietnamese cultures and customs quickly merged, and Guangzhou became the cultural center of Lingnan. There were many rivers and tributaries in ancient Guangzhou, with abundant rainfall and pleasant climate. The west, east and north are surrounded by mountains, with lush forests and grass, rich fruits in Lingnan and numerous birds and animals. South of the sea, the beach is vast, producing many salty and fresh water products and amphibians, which makes ancient Guangzhou one of the regions with the richest food resources in China. The formation of Cantonese cuisine has a long history, and a large number of immigrants from the Central Plains moved to Lingnan, which made Guangzhou's food culture deeply influenced by the Central Plains. As early as the Han and Wei Dynasties, the snake dishes, roasted goose and fish soup in Guangzhou had been affected. At the end of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Song fled south with his kitchen, and many court delicacies spread to the people in Guangzhou. After the Opium War, missionaries and businessmen from Europe and America flooded in, and thousands of businessmen gathered in Guangzhou, which provided a broad market for the development of catering industry. Guangdong cuisine absorbs the advantages of Central Plains cuisine and Western cuisine, and then absorbs the advantages of Guangdong local cuisine. Just like Guangzhou's culture, it blends ancient and modern, and Chinese and western cultures run through, forming a unique Guangzhou food culture different from other places in China, winning the reputation of "Eating in Guangzhou" and enjoying a good reputation at home and abroad. Numerous tourists come here to taste delicious food and feel this unique Lingnan food culture.
The most obvious feeling in Guangzhou is that there are many restaurants and restaurants. As long as you want to eat, you can eat a variety of food anytime and anywhere. Tea market is the most attractive feature of Guangzhou's diet. In the past, there was only "morning tea" in Guangzhou, but now it has developed into three tea markets: morning, noon and evening. Almost all restaurants and restaurants have set up tea markets. As soon as the guests were seated, the waiter immediately called, "How many people? What kind of tea to drink? " The tea market provides all kinds of salty, sweet and dry snacks such as buffet to meet your needs, and the price is very affordable, which can be consumed by the general public. Guangzhou Tea Market has become an important social occasion for friends to get together and exchange ideas, an important way for family reunion and sharing affection, an effective buffer for modern tense and fast-paced life and work, and an important way for some people, especially the elderly, to relax. One morning paper, two cups, sitting for hours, eating, watching TV, chatting, caring about family affairs, state affairs and what's going on in the world. There are many kinds of exotic ingredients in Cantonese cuisine, such as snakes as dragons, chickens as phoenixes, cats as tigers, rats as deer, flying in the sky, crawling on the ground and swimming in the water. Cantonese cuisine is fresh and smooth, light in summer and autumn, and rich in winter and spring. It uses unique spices, cooking, roasting, soaking, frying, boiling, simmering and other techniques to cook dishes with unique local flavor. The "raw seafood" of Cantonese cuisine has its own characteristics. Many restaurants and restaurants have not properly decorated their halls. First, the seafood pool at the entrance should be designed to display dozens of raw seafood to attract customers. Cooking and drinking herbal tea in Cantonese cuisine is a pioneering work for Guangzhou people to adapt to the geographical and climatic environment and adapt to local conditions. "What's cooking today?" It is a necessary topic for housewives to meet and chat, and there is a lot of knowledge in it. Guangdong restaurants have all kinds of dishes. Every once in a while, restaurants will create new dishes with new raw materials and different combinations, so as to enhance their competitiveness, and a new food trend will often be set off in the market, which is the strong vitality of "eating in Guangzhou".
Analyzing the natural landscape and human environment of "Eating in Guangzhou" has rich cultural connotations. First of all, it is open. Guangzhou is located along the coast with convenient transportation, and has been an important port for economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries since ancient times. The open environment endows Guangzhou people with an open way of thinking, which is reflected in the open mentality of "eating to the full" in diet. Hotel restaurants with North-South flavor can be found all over the streets of Guangzhou, and almost all the major cuisines in China and the flavors from all over the world can be found. The second is compatibility. An open culture must be compatible at the same time. Lingnan culture has the characteristics of eclecticism and inclusiveness, which is also fully reflected in Guangzhou's diet. The third is pioneering. Guangzhou people dare to eat anything, and are good at exploring traditional local flavor foods and eating methods, constantly transplanting and transforming, and bringing forth the new. There is such an ancestral motto among Guangdong chefs: "There is tradition, but there is no authenticity." It embodies the courage and pioneering spirit of Guangzhou people who dare to be the first in the world. In addition, Guangzhou people don't waste food, but they also "pack" it back after eating it, which embodies the virtues of Guangdong people who cherish food and are diligent and thrifty. Guangzhou cuisine has raised eating and cooking to the artistic level, and has become an important part of Lingnan culture, which has greatly enriched the connotation and characteristics of Lingnan culture and had a far-reaching impact on the food culture in China and the Asia-Pacific region.
With the development of economy, social progress and the continuous expansion of opening to the outside world, Guangzhou's food culture is also constantly developing and changing. On the one hand, Guangzhou's food culture has been impacted by foreign cultures, such as western fast food culture represented by McDonald's and KFC, which has occupied the market of many young people and children and brought about new changes in people's living customs and cultural concepts. On the other hand, the continuous improvement of people's living standards has laid an economic foundation for the development of Guangzhou's food culture. "Eating in Guangzhou" is also facing good development opportunities, showing the following development trends: First, the combination of food and tourism. The setting of hotels and hotels should be adapted to the development of tourist attractions, attach importance to the protection and construction of time-honored brands, and promote each other with the overall planning of tourism products; The tourism department holds the "Guangzhou International Food Festival" every year, which attracts visitors from all directions, widely publicizes Guangzhou food culture, and effectively combines food with tourism. Second, it is convenient to eat. In view of the rapid development of modern work and life, all kinds of food, semi-finished products and fast food have developed rapidly and are widely welcomed. Third, food nutrition science. From "satiating" to "eating well", Guangzhou people gradually pay attention to the scientific collocation of nutritional structure, food supplement, dietotherapy and medicated diet, and the study and research on nutrition is in the ascendant. Fourth, raw materials are naturalized. People in Guangzhou pay more and more attention to environmental protection and sustainable development. Safe vegetables and meat have become a public concern, and the market demand for green food and pollution-free food is expanding day by day. Fifth, the taste of food. Restaurants and restaurants in Guangzhou pay more and more attention to decoration, with elegant style and comfortable environment. The display of the hall, the naming of dishes and the costumes of waiters all reveal the taste of food culture. Coupled with melodious music, or set up dance art, fashion show, or set up karaoke, so that diners can enjoy eating and drinking in a beautiful artistic atmosphere. This combination of diet and culture and art makes the taste of Guangzhou cuisine constantly improve, and diners will enjoy more and more rich food culture.
Guangdong Culture and Dietary Customs
People's choice of food depends not only on their physical characteristics, the conditions of the times, the surrounding natural environment, but also on their cultural characteristics. Different cultures have different food standards and consumption patterns. For example, in China, animals' livers, kidneys, hearts and lungs are regarded as delicacies, so-called "shape-filling", while Americans feed them to cats and dogs, thinking that they are not good for people's health; China people are not used to eating snails, but the French regard them as treasures; India raises the most cattle in the world, but they would rather starve to death than eat beef. Even the milk delivered to India by United Nations relief agencies can only be dumped into the sea, which is closely related to their traditional culture (religious belief).
Dietary custom is a unique branch of Guangdong culture. Cantonese cuisine is well-known at home and abroad, and "food in Guangzhou" has long been famous all over the world. The reform and innovation of diet can never be separated from the category of culture. Through the description and analysis of Guangdong's food phenomenon, we can see through the cultural connotation contained in its lifestyle.
Choose ingredients and miscellaneous materials and eat everything.
As one of the eight major cuisines in China, Cantonese cuisine is famous for its wide selection of ingredients. Birds and beasts, delicacies, wild vegetables and flowers are all forbidden in Cantonese cuisine. Snakes, rats, birds, insects, dogs and cats are jaw-dropping ingredients in other cuisines, but they are regarded as table treasures. For example, mainlanders dare not eat snakes. For example, there is an ancient idiom called "snake shadow reflects the mirror", and some people even mistakenly think that snake shadow will scare people out of illness, let alone eat it. In Cantonese cuisine, snakes are the best choice. Cantonese people have a long history of eating snakes, but they are the best choice in Cantonese cuisine. There is a song about eating snakes in Biography of Foreign Bodies in South Vietnam: "Snakes are long and long, and they are a guest banquet." Today, there are nearly 50 kinds of snake gall in Guangdong, and there are many restaurants with snakes as their basic dishes. Many foreigners and foreigners come to Guangdong to enjoy tasting snake gizzards.
In fact, the omnivorous character of Cantonese people is also a manifestation of open-minded diet. As the saying goes, one side of the soil and water support one side of the people, and different geographical environments have created different regional personalities. Guangdong is the only place for cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, forming an open thinking structure of Cantonese people. At the same time, because it is located in the frontier, the control of successive dynasties is weaker than that of the mainland, and it is less influenced by orthodox feudal thoughts. The influence of the traditional culture of the Central Plains on it is weakening, which leads to greater freedom and tolerance.
Learn from others' strengths and be practical and willing to work.
Cantonese cuisine was formed in Qin and Han Dynasties. Based on the local food culture, it absorbs the essence of Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu and Sichuan cuisines and the cooking techniques of western food. For example, the soaking, roasting and Sichuan cuisine in Cantonese cuisine are all transplanted from the explosion, roasting and frying in the north, and other methods are borrowed from western food, gradually forming a unique southern flavor.
All similar cultures can explore this relationship from historical contact. In the comparison of the same things in the two places, the greater the qualitative similarity, the more obvious the mutual spread. The openness of Guangdong culture is bound to be all-inclusive, which makes the food culture all-inclusive, and unconsciously promotes the development of food customs.
While learning from others, Guangdong food customs can gradually abandon some bad habits in foreign food and form a non-luxurious and practical style. Cantonese people pay attention to a small but refined diet. Even if they entertain guests, they will never be extravagant. They take the principle of eating well and eating well, which is in sharp contrast with some places in the north. The extravagance and waste of northerners is due to the formality of etiquette, although it has its generous and lovely side, but it should be noted that the red tape in diet is unacceptable in modern society. Of course, this does not mean that Cantonese people don't pay attention to manners. On the contrary, Cantonese people pay great attention to politeness when they treat guests, so that guests can come on impulse and have a good time. That kind of extravagance and waste that is divorced from reality is unwilling to be done by pragmatic Cantonese people.
The pragmatic spirit of Guangdong people's current diet is the inevitable result of the development of modern society. Cantonese people live up to their reputation and pay attention to reality. The realistic spirit in Confucian culture has little influence on Guangdong. On the contrary, they are influenced by the realistic attitude of westerners. This influence has formed that Cantonese people can learn from each other's strong points in diet, but at the same time keep a pragmatic attitude. Elaborate production, pursuit of enjoyment
The production of a delicious dish depends on the orderly cooperation of all links. Cantonese cuisine has very strict requirements in ingredients, knives, cooking time, cooking time, cooking, wrapping, utensils, serving methods and many other aspects. If you cook fish, you should kill it before cooking it, so as to keep the fish delicious; Another example is its platter making, so we must pay attention to the choice of ingredients in order to achieve the effect of beautiful shape and rich taste. A good platter is not only a dish of delicacies, but also a work of art, which is pleasing to the eye and appetizing.
Nothing is more famous than chicken gizzards in Cantonese cuisine. There are hundreds of kinds of chicken dishes, which allow guests to taste dozens of kinds of chicken dishes without repeating them. Almost every famous restaurant has its own signature chicken, such as Wenchang chicken in Guangzhou restaurant, carved chicken in Beiyuan restaurant, bamboo queen chicken in Foshan, white-cut chicken in Qingyuan and so on. Such as white-cut chicken, you must choose a hen or a capon, and Qingyuan Sanhuang chicken is the best. The most important thing in the production is the heat, which is suitable for people who have just cooked and cut it. If they are overcooked, the meat will get old and the characteristics of the boiled chicken will be lost. Exquisite food preparation is inseparable from the Cantonese cuisine culture which emphasizes personal value and pursues enjoyment. Pleasure is not a one-sided pursuit of eating, drinking and having fun. It belongs to a moral category and corresponds to asceticism. Abstinence rejects worldly wealth and enjoyment, and suppresses desire to achieve some social goal or moral self-improvement. From the perspective of moral types, Guangdong culture does not belong to asceticism, but shows a hedonistic tendency, full of secular enjoyment of human nature and emotional appeal, manifested in the pursuit of comfort, happiness and a better life, with the aim of working hard and enjoying it to the fullest. The word "enjoyment" has always been given a derogatory meaning in China culture, and it is always associated with getting something for nothing. It is considered that enjoyment is a bourgeois way of life, and it seems that only the bourgeoisie is entitled to enjoy it. In fact, enjoyment is a very advanced lifestyle of human beings and an inevitable cultural choice for the development of human civilization to a certain extent.
Since the reform and opening up, Guangdong's dietary customs have developed to a higher level, which has had a strong impact on traditional values, and the traditional Confucian concepts of "a gentleman eats when he is poor" and "contentment is always happy" have been seriously challenged. Confucianism regards integrity as the only criterion to measure personality, and guarding poverty as a symbol of upholding integrity. The essence of this idea is to limit human beings to the lowest living standard. In the tide of reform, Guangdong people realized that it is desirable not to be extravagant, but they can't judge their behavior by poverty, which enables them to open their hearts and bravely pursue the continuous improvement of their living standards.
Dietary custom is an important cultural phenomenon. Food not only contains organic substances that can sustain human life, but also needs to be labeled with cultural consent for each food and its consumption mode. Similarly, Guangdong people's choice of diet is also the result of the long-term subtle influence of their culture. The reform and innovation of food can be ever-changing, but it must be based on culture in order to be accepted and liked by people.
Colorful food culture is an important window to reflect the economic and social development of Guangzhou. "Eating in Guangzhou" is the praise of Chinese people for Guangdong's food culture. Guangdong food culture has a long history and profound accumulation, which is not only rich in connotation, but also has extremely strong southern Guangdong characteristics: extensive selection of materials, exquisite and unique cooking methods, emphasis on food beauty, unique aesthetic concept, and organic combination of color, fragrance, taste and shape. It is believed that with the construction and development of Guangzhou as a modern central city, the potential of "food in Guangzhou" is infinite, and the future prospect will be more brilliant.