Taste hotpot and peking roast duck to experience Chinese food cultureCategory: Food
Article posted by: lili tang
Almost all dishes of Chinese food are, as a rule, cooked in the kitchenby stir-frying, shallow frying, deep frying, stewing, steaming, etc.and then presented to the diners. Only the chafing dish merges thecooking and the eating processes. What is more, the cooking apparatusis placed on the table and fire is made to burn from the beginning tothe end of the dinner. Doesn't this remind you of the way of eating ourremote ancestors were habituated to? Even now, in our times, those whoeat together around a chafing dish must be family members or closecompanions. They are your good friends, if not brothers. Doesn't thissmack of a deep feeling of perfect human relationship? Especially indeep winter, when the north wind is howling and snowflakes are flying,what can surpass dinning around a chafing dish for the enjoyment oflife and sincere human relationship?
It is obvious that for Chinesepeople the pleasure and delight of dining together is afforded notmerely by the taste and flavor of the food and the drink. What must beincluded in addition to the sensuous excitement is the joy of humanrelationship which is specific to the dining table. The various kindsof Chinese cooked food gives embodiment to the group consciousness andcultural spirit consisting in unity, harmony and complete blending. Forexample, dishes of Chinese food, whether prepared by frying in shallowoil, stir-frying, steaming, boiling, stewing, roasting, or deep-frying,almost always have the principal element mixed with the seasoning andcooked together with it. Such a dish is to be served as one entity.Historically, there has never been an occasion when meat or fish andsalt or pepper are brought to the table in this country as separateunits.
Some famous big dishes styled as "The Whole Family'sFortune", "The Buddha Making a Trespass over the Wall", "The HegemonicKing Bidding Farewell to His Beloved Consort (before their tragicending)", etc. are representative of the harmonious blending of severalprincipal foodstuffs, or elements, all the more so because theirrespective tastes are blended far beyond distinguishment. What is more,according to the views expressed by China's experts in the fields ofculinary art, nutriology and dietotherapy, such harmonious blendingconduces to compatibility and mutual enhancement of tastes of twofoodstuffs which are opposite in certain respects. This is a highlyscientific method for producing excellent cuisine.
The methodused at first in China for roasting a duck was almost the same as thatused in the Western world for roasting a goose. It was called "roastingduck in the hermetic oven". As a matter of fact, its main features wereessentially those that characterized the Western mode of preparation ofroast goose. An oven was built by laying stones or bricks. A fire wasmade to burn inside the oven, so that a large amount of heat wasabsorbed by the walls of the oven, and the duck placed in the ovenlater was roasted by the heat dissipated by the walls until it was wellcooked.
Epicures contend that roast duck is most palatable in threeseasons, namely winter, spring and autumn. The reason is that the fleshof Beijing duck is full and tender during winter and spring. In thefall the sky is clear and seems higher as a result, the air isrefreshing, and both the temperature and humidity are appropriate formaking roast duck. What is more, duck are generally fat and stout atthat time.
August is the time when air is crisp and temperate forthe season. It is the proper occasion for tasting roast Beijing duck.How can you count yourself as one who has been to Beijing if you havenot eaten any roast Beijing duck?
Posted By: lili tang
Contact: e-mail
| Another articles posted by lili tang: |
|
|
|
|
|
