In the "rice circle" where the battle between salty and sweet is never-ending, if you want to draw a gourmet map that can present the flavors of various parts of the country in a balanced way, Chen Xiaoqing will definitely be one of the first choices for "mappers". This director, who has directed food documentaries such as "A Bite of China" (seasons 1 and 2) and "Flavor of the World" for the fourth season, has attracted "foodies" with his wide "food range" and deep understanding of local flavors. convince. So, who else can serve as a "food guide" for this person who is good at "foraging"? The recently popular "My Food Guide" gives the answer. This flavor exploration journey documentary, directed and starred by Chen Xiaoqing, will air its latest episode "Shanxi Chapter" on February 3. Chen Xiaoqing, producer Li Jie, executive director Hu Zhitang, and Shanxi episode director Bai Lin accepted an exclusive interview with this newspaper to share the challenges and fun behind the scenes.
"We are not bringing goods, nor are we promoting restaurants. We want to let everyone see this complex and novel world." Chen Xiaoqing said, "When we make food documentaries, we deal with people. Food is like a medium. It is a bridge between people.”
In the fifth episode of "My Food Guide", Chen Xiaoqing (left) and scholar Shi Zhan (right) eat shaomai in Shanxi. Photo provided by interviewee
"The knowledge of food is only 'smaller' than history and geography."
Seven years ago, Chen Xiaoqing founded Daolai Documentary Studio, which has launched food documentaries such as "The World of Flavor" and "Origin of Flavor". The filming team often looks for local guides to lead the way. These "food guides" from the catering industry, cultural industry and other fields have become the inspiration for the title of this new program.
Chen Xiaoqing said that the so-called "guides" first refer to people, "They took me to find treasured ingredients, treasured shops, treasured delicacies, and things that can only be eaten at local people's homes." The second refers to food, " Food helps us better understand the world and why we are who we are today.”
In the latest fifth episode, delicacies such as millet with chicken sauce and "caviar-like texture", tiger mushrooms that add a "meaty" flavor to vegetarian dishes, etc., made the audience excited. The narration then explained the organisms behind the ingredients and cooking, Chemical Principle: Why is the Shanxi pasta that is "never the same 365 days" so "involuted"? Why do people in Shanxi carry "buckets" to line up at time-honored restaurants early in the morning to get jealous? It turns out that these eating habits are inseparable from history, geography, climate, etc... Chen Xiaoqing also conducted a "field investigation" with historical geographer Shi Zhan in the wet market in Datong. From the details of the proportion of beef and mutton in the meat stalls, Discover the impact of farming and nomadic ecology on local eating habits.
"The knowledge of food is only 'smaller' than history and geography." Chen Xiaoqing said with emotion.
"My Food Guide" has a total of 8 episodes, each episode is about 50 minutes. The filming, which lasted for more than two months, allowed Chen Xiaoqing to eat many delicacies that she had never tasted before. This was a pleasant sensory experience and a rare learning process.
In the fifth episode, the "caviar taste" chicken sauce millet not only amazed the guests, but also made many viewers curious. Photo provided by interviewee
"Bitter gourd is not as bitter as filming"
Chen Xiaoqing, who has been working behind the scenes for a long time, has long been a "familiar face" on the screen. His ample knowledge base in the field of food, coupled with his unique sense of humor and sense of relaxation as "Black Rice" (a nickname given to Chen Xiaoqing by netizens), allowed him to easily gain fans in various programs. The audience described him as "the kind of person you are." People whom I have never met before but feel very familiar to them."
This time during the filming of "My Food Guide", Chen Xiaoqing "appeared in the entire scene." The filming process of those leisurely "eating" scenes in the film is far less relaxing and comfortable than what the audience sees. The creative team often works until midnight and sets out again at three or four in the morning; Chen Xiaoqing, who was born in the 1960s, walked 20,000 steps a day and got rid of water on his knees... But in front of the camera, he was just half-joking after picking up a chopstick of bitter melon. He said, "This is as hard as filming a movie."
Chen Xiaoqing described the filming process as "building a house". In the past, he was the "master project controller", but this time he had to participate in details such as "measuring dimensions, assembling wood, and driving rivets."
"This time I was able to experience a lot of things first-hand on set. Only when you are with the subject do you know what really touches you, and you have something to say from the heart instead of thinking more about it. Local audiences want to see what they want to see." Chen Xiaoqing said, "Some things come naturally and are not planned in advance."
For example, in the episode of Kashgar, Xinjiang, Chen Xiaoqing and her old colleague Kurbanjiang visited the bazaar (market) together. After passing through the lively crowd, the two sat down and chatted. When talking about "the hometown I can't go back to", the atmosphere started to become a little sad. "I feel very emotional when I feel the passage of time. What is food? Food is not just what you eat, it means meeting again and again."
“Food is the bridge between people”
At the same time as the documentary was aired, Chen Xiaoqing published a collection of essays "Eating and Getting Old." In the preface, his friend Luo Yonghao lamented that Chen Xiaoqing's documentary helped him spend the sleepless nights during his entrepreneurial period. He praised Chen Xiaoqing's writings as "good food, good food, our land and our people" that he would never get tired of watching. He also did not forget to tease Chen Xiaoqing for actually being in The book "bravely mentions the bad restaurants he loves", which is really heartfelt.
"Food is my curiosity about the world, and it is also the most interesting way to understand the world." "Food is the best bond between people." "The most delicious thing is always the person."... From "One From "shakyuu waist" to "work-related injuries due to eating", Chen Xiaoqing's "view on food" has been consistent for decades, and has been fully reflected in his writing and this latest documentary.
The five episodes in Changsha, Chaoshan, Kashgar, Wenzhou, and Shanxi that have been aired, and the three episodes in Hangzhou, Shandong, and Yunnan that are about to be released to the audience. In each episode, several guests and Chen Xiaoqing walked around the streets to explore delicious food and exchanged delicious food. Experience from a private perspective.
"We are not bringing goods, nor are we promoting restaurants. What we want more is to let everyone see a complex and novel world." Chen Xiaoqing said, "When we make food documentaries, we deal with people, and food is like a medium. It is a bridge between people.”
On February 3, the "My Food Guide" Shanxi episode viewing event co-sponsored by Daolai Documentary Laboratory and Jingangtong was held in Hong Kong. More than 30 viewers participated in the event and communicated online with the creators of the documentary. Photo provided by interviewee
[Conversation with Chen Xiaoqing] Eating moss for the first time in Yunnan
"China News": This time you are both the guide and the "guided". Is there any food you tasted for the first time and found amazing?
Chen Xiaoqing: Of course. For example, I have never eaten the moss shot in Yunnan before, and this is the first time I have eaten it. It has a different taste when it is wet, and a different taste when mixed. After drying over a fire, it immediately changes to a different taste, which is particularly magical. I saw Anthony Bourdain (note: the late American celebrity chef, writer, and documentary producer) go to the Danish Noma restaurant to eat dishes made with moss on the show. Do I still think this food can be delicious? Oops, I got it right now.
In addition, most of the delicacies in Chaoshan in this episode are actually "rediscoveries". For example, hemp leaves in Chaoshan are also grown in Xinjiang and in my hometown (Lingbi, Anhui), but no one eats the leaves. If you eat leaves here in Chaoshan, you will feel weird. Later, after we finished filming, we discovered that there are actually many places across the country where hemp leaves are eaten. In Taiwan, they eat the whole leaf as a vegetable - they eat sweet hemp, and the one in Chaoshan is jute, which we often see used. Linen for knotting ropes.
"China News": It has been more than ten years since the first season of "A Bite of China" was aired. During this period, what changes have you observed in food trends?
Chen Xiaoqing: People's tastes have undergone tremendous changes, and many new food trends have emerged. This is a landscape not seen in the first half century. For example, spicy dishes are popular all over the country, and regional cuisines such as Sichuan and Hunan are popular throughout China. This represents the rise and development of popular diets with its own popular logic. In fact, in the 1980s and 1990s, Hunan food was not as spicy as it is now, and the same was true for Sichuan food. However, when these dishes meet Chongqing Jianghu cuisine, that is, Xiahebang cuisine with more flamboyant taste, they are somewhat irresistible. Some restaurants will even take the initiative to "improve" the original dishes to cater to a larger market, because this can attract more people. Many guests. This change in taste accompanies the changes of the times, and it does not only happen in China.
In addition, the short-term "pleasure of the tongue" has been replaced by the long-term intellectual satisfaction of having enough knowledge about one's own health. This is another kind of pleasure in enjoying food, and it is also a change that has only occurred in the past ten years. In the face of these changes, we should all hurry up and enjoy it, find this kind of happiness and comfort, save some money, and eat something good.
Taiwanese blogger Gao Wenqi holds a master's degree in philosophy from Stanford University in the United States and is also a self-media store blogger with millions of "fans". The picture shows Gao Wenqi (left) and Chen Xiaoqing exchanging their views on Shanxi noodles in the fifth episode of "My Food Guide". Photo provided by interviewee
[Conversation with the Creator] Why are there Taiwanese bloggers in "Shanxi Chapter"?
China News: When planning the Shanxi episode, did the creative team have any special theme they wanted to convey?
Creative team (producer Li Jie, executive director Hu Zhitang, Shanxi episode director Bai Lin): During the planning stage, when discussing the Shanxi episode, there were two points of view that touched us. One was that the writer Akihara mentioned "Shanxi The reason why pasta is rich is the extreme involution of a single food." Another is that scholar Shi Zhan mentioned that "Shanxi is the key to the empire of ancient China." The main purpose of "My Food Guide" is to see through food how people in this place became what they are today, and to interpret "Why China" through food. The views of these two teachers accurately summarized and refined Shanxi from the perspectives of food and history and geography respectively. If these two points of view can be logically connected, then the Shanxi episode will be completely valid. In fact, we do this too.
"China News": Why did you choose Datong and Taiyuan to present "Shanxi cuisine"?
Creative team: Although the main filming locations for this episode are Datong and Taiyuan, it actually also paid attention to southern Shanxi, such as the impact of Yuncheng Yanchi on the origin of Shanxi merchants.
The main shooting of Datong and Taiyuan is also related to the theme mentioned above - Datong, as the northernmost point of Taiyuan, is the most representative place where agriculture and animal husbandry intersect. It plays a vital role in Shanxi becoming the "Key to the Empire". To explain this issue clearly, you must go to Datong; furthermore, because it is located in the interlacing zone of agriculture and animal husbandry, the food in Datong is richer, including pasta and various foods made from beef and mutton.
Taiyuan, located in the Jinzhong Basin, is the capital of Shanxi Province and the gathering place of the three Jins in history. It is obviously different from Datong. Therefore, when talking about Shanxi, Taiyuan is naturally inseparable.
China News: The guests appearing in this episode have different identities, including scholars, catering practitioners, Taiwanese bloggers, etc. What considerations does the production team take into consideration when selecting candidates?
Creative team: In addition to considering each guest’s professional field and function in the film, we also hope to present their characters as fully as possible. Especially for some well-known guests, in addition to the side that is well known to the audience, we also hope to show another side of them that is not known. For example, Gao Wenqi from Taiwan, many people know him as a self-media "blogger", but they don't know his identity as a scholar.
Gao Wenqi has been a consultant to our team for more than ten years and has given us a lot of help. To us, he is a profound cultural scholar and a rigorous food researcher.
This episode of Shanxi is also related to him - at the beginning of the planning, when there was no current episode plan, Gao Wenqi and Chen Xiaoqing had a private trip to Shanxi. It was that short trip to Shanxi that inspired Chen Xiaoqing to He wants to focus on Shanxi from a food perspective. During the research of the episodes, the director also constantly asked Teacher Gao for advice, and invited him to appear as a "guide" during the final filming.
In addition, the "guide" needs to take on some tasks, leading us to uncover a certain part of Shanxi and helping the audience see a different Shanxi. Some "guides" are people who are very familiar with local life and lead Chen Xiaoqing into the world of fireworks; some "guides" can help Chen Xiaoqing see the other side of food.
Taking Shanxi as an example, it seems that Chen Xiaoqing took scholar Shi Zhan to eat delicious food, but at the same time, Shi Zhan took Chen Xiaoqing to see the origin of food appearing here and the historical reasons behind it. For example, Datong serves as a corridor between the Central Plains and the grasslands, forming a The intertwined ecology of agriculture and animal husbandry, etc. The exchange and collision between the two in the fields of food, geography and history is very meaningful.
But "My Food Guide" is not a grand narrative. We still have to go back to observe the three meals a day of Shanxi people. When the director of this episode was doing preliminary research in Taiyuan, he was introduced by friends to Feng Kai and Feng Deguang, a father and his son. The father is an old scholar and the son is a cartoonist. They have different views and feelings about Taiyuan's food. The interaction between the father and son in the film is very interesting. What particularly impressed the episode director was what Feng Kai described when telling his father's story: "Taste buds faithfully record our past lives." This is a profound memory shared by father and son. Behind the Taiyuan snack "brain", a food that many people cannot understand, are the unforgettable memories of Taiyuan people, which have a profound impact on the formation of their tastes. (End) (Reported by "China News" Cheng Xiaolu)