The history of Guangzhou cuisine

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 members to get together and enjoy family happiness, an effective buffer for modern tense and fast-paced life and work, and an important way for some people, especially the elderly, to relax. A morning paper, a cup or two, can sit 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 Cantonese chefs: "Tradition is not authentic.

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.

Colorful food culture is an important window to reflect the economic and social development of Guangzhou.

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.