China News Agency, Lanzhou, May 3rd: Why does the "Dunhuang Cuisine" of the ancient Silk Road carry the diverse food culture of the East and the West?
Author Zhang Jingjiu Meidan Zeng Wei Yujia
During the Han and Tang Dynasties, Dunhuang, located on the ancient Silk Road from Chang’an to Rome, gathered different styles of food customs and delicacies, forming a fusion and inclusive “Dunhuang Cuisine” characterized by “integration of the Quartet, Chinese and Western”.
The "Nine-colored Deer" on the west wall of Cave 257 of the Mogao Grottoes, the world-famous "Crescent Moon Spring", as well as the "Silk Road Camel Bell" and "Dunhuang Dance Sleeve Soup"... A series of strong Dunhuang elements have been "transferred" Modern dining table.
China News Agency "Dongxi Wen" recently exclusively interviewed Zhao Changan, a national first-class cook who has been engaged in Dunhuang cuisine research for many years and a national first-class judge of China's catering industry. From the formation, evolution and development of Dunhuang cuisine, he details the things it carries. The secret of Fang's diverse food culture.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: How did the "Dunhuang Cuisine", a fusion of Eastern and Western diets, formed for thousands of years? What evidence is there for the integration and mutual learning of civilizations?
Zhao Changan:
Before and after Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty dispatched Huo Qubing to lead his troops to attack the Xiongnu in Hexi.
After defeating the Huns, the Han Dynasty set up four Hexi counties, including Dunhuang County, and built Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass to the west of Dunhuang County City to manage business travel from east to west. ".
Dunhuang is the hub where the "Three Ways of the Western Regions" meet. It has many contacts with various ethnic groups in the Western Regions, and also brings their diet, taste and cooking techniques to Dunhuang.
Including rice, tea and tea in the south, corn and rice in the north, pancakes and scones in the Western Regions, sugar in India, and cooking, frying, frying, roasting, steaming and other methods all reflect the Dunhuang diet's "Chinese and Western compatibility, Quartet." Convergence" feature.
In 1985, in order to find a bowl of "Dunhuang Immortal Porridge" recorded in Dunhuang's posthumous writings, I walked into Dunhuang and Mogao Grottoes for the first time.
Later, the mysterious local food culture attracted me to visit here countless times. It took me decades to "resurrection" the ancient delicacies in Dunhuang frescoes to the modern dining table.
Dunhuang cuisine is not a simple regional concept, but a big concept of long-term integration of Chinese and Western cultures.
It has a profound historical and cultural connotation and accumulation. When cooking, you must know the cultural background of Dunhuang's multi-ethnic blending, otherwise you will not be able to make the "original taste" of Dunhuang cuisine.
The ancient Silk Road "Dunhuang Cuisine" with Dunhuang elements.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiumei Danzeng
China News Service: There are many historical records of local food culture in Dunhuang Grottoes murals and documents. Do you think this has anything to do with the formation and development of Dunhuang cuisine?
Zhao Changan:
Dunhuang, famous for its Silk Road, is the meeting point of the four major human civilizations and the three major religions.
According to the statistics of scholars, there are more than 700 social and economic documents directly recording diet in Dunhuang literature, recording the daily food raw materials, dietary structure, food processing, food varieties, catering tools, dietary customs and habits at that time.
At the same time, there are also detailed dietary records in the Dunhuang Grottoes. For example, the recipe of "Dunhuang Immortal Porridge" mentioned that 50 grams of Chinese yam (peeled), 25 grams of chicken head rice, and 50 grams of japonica rice after making the above two flavors, slow fire Boiled into porridge... and "Hu people's roasted rice", it is indeed the "roasted rice" eaten by the Hu people on the Silk Road.
There are many food scenes, food varieties and food etiquette in Dunhuang murals. Combining these handed down documents with archaeological unearthed documents, modern cooking techniques and food culture, etc., will have the responsibility of "a table of dishes that diners from all over the world will remember." Dunhuang cuisine of Dunhuang" mission.
Dunhuang cuisine display.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiumei Danzeng
In recent years, the research scope of Dunhuang food culture has also expanded to the Han bamboo slips unearthed in the local area, as well as the murals (picture bricks) of the Wei and Jin tombs unearthed in nearby Shizhou, which contain many records of diet materials, eating utensils, and images of banquets.
Nine-colored deer, Hu people grilled rice, Silk Road camel bells... all kinds of exquisite and elegant dishes seem to "walk out" from the painting.
According to Dunhuang murals and historical documents, Dunhuang cuisine was developed in combination with the existing "Tujia cuisine" practices in the Hexi Corridor area of Gansu Province, requiring pure natural ingredients, and no additives were allowed during the cooking process, in order to present a "natural taste" .
The so-called "natural" refers to the natural color, natural shape, and natural taste.
In Dunhuang posthumous writings, murals, bamboo slips and archaeological excavations, a wealth of precious information on diet and cooking has also been found, ranging from food, drinks, fruits, dishes, condiments, seasonings, to tableware, meal systems, and songs. , wine orders, public banquets, family banquets, wine shops, picnics, social restaurants, drinking alone... There are so many different things.
Dunhuang cuisine represents "Silk Road Camel Bell".
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiumei Danzeng
China News Service reporter: In the context of the Internet era, Dunhuang has become a hot tourist destination in the world. What opportunities and challenges will Dunhuang cuisine face in the future? Can it still be used as a "taste bud link" on the ancient Silk Road, connecting the East and the West where "people take food as the sky"?
Zhao Changan:
I have been invited several times to Hong Kong, Singapore and other places to participate in food competitions. In recent years, a large number of overseas food lovers and media have come here to explore Dunhuang cuisine.
However, when Dunhuang cuisine "come out" from the murals encountered the Internet, we failed to seize this opportunity in time due to the limitation of development ideas, which restricted the development of Dunhuang cuisine to a certain extent. It is one of the priorities of our next work, and we look forward to taking the Internet "ride" to make Dunhuang cuisine become more famous internationally.
In recent years, Dunhuang, an international tourist city on the Silk Road, is close to the market demand. In the promotion of Dunhuang cuisine, it also pays attention to Chinese food and Western food. 2 main dishes, integrating ten iconic famous mountains and beautiful waters in Dunhuang.
In this way, more foreign friends can experience the taste of Dunhuang in a "home style", and Dunhuang cuisine can become a "taste bud bond" that closely links Eastern and Western food cultures.
Dunhuang cuisine represents "Silk Road Camel Bell".
Photo by China News Agency reporter Jiumei Danzeng
For example, the most energy-intensive dish "Le Zun Rare Mushrooms" brings together a variety of wild rare mushrooms such as matsutake mushrooms, straw mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and cordyceps flowers from the grasslands around Dunhuang and Qilian Mountains. They have different fragrances and must be Various treatments are carried out first, or fried in oil, or steamed and boiled, and finally steamed together for five or six hours, so that the aroma can be fully integrated and complementary, and the taste will be more delicious.
So far, I have explored hundreds of ancient Dunhuang delicacies from the many elements of the Silk Road.
Dunhuang cuisine still has great exploration value, which is not only valuable for studying the integration of Chinese and Western catering cultures, but also its potential business opportunities cannot be ignored, and it needs to be further studied.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Zhao Changan is a national first-class cook, a senior Chinese culinary master, a national first-class judge of China's catering industry, and a referee of the National Vocational Skills Competition.
He has carefully studied Dunhuang food culture for nearly 30 years, and created "Dunhuang Cuisine" with some dietary elements in Dunhuang literature, murals and ancient delicacies, enriching the "classical" cuisine of modern dining tables.