Essay on "The Taste of Home"

When I was a child, I couldn't write three words wrong. Because I grew up eating big, how could I not know each other? These three words are tea, lotus root and bamboo shoots.

Tea and bamboo shoots can be picked in spring, but lotus roots are picked in early winter. Of course, winter bamboo shoots are also picked in winter.

Tea is not a specialty of my hometown, but my tea is my favorite. However, that was when grandma was still here. When I was a child, I liked to watch my grandmother pick tea leaves. In early spring, the tips of tea trees are tender and delicate. No matter where they are hidden, my grandmother can twist them by hand. Sometimes, I can't help but reach out and pick a young leaf and put it in my mouth to taste. Although bitter, it tastes good.

I know nothing about tea ceremony. I think some trivial things are just the dregs left over from feudal times. Of course, I have read a little of Lu Yu's books, but the master with basic skills is different. He also wrote the originally boring tea ceremony. I just looked at it with a little curiosity. Finally, I summed up a sentence. This book is not written for a clown like me.

Grandma used to make all my tea. After tea leaves are collected, they need to be boiled in well water for a period of time, and then they are salvaged and squeezed into piles by hand. You can only squeeze, never rub. The reason for squeezing is to squeeze out most of the bitter water in this tea, so that the astringency of the brewed tea will not be too heavy. Don't rub it, in order not to rub off the tea leaves or leave traces. In that case, the brewed tea leaves will naturally be the same as those just picked! Grandma's skill is very good, and she did it. Tea is very fragrant, not any other fragrance, but that kind of natural tea fragrance. I still like that taste until now, because tea tastes like grandma. In the past, the only way to drink tea was kungfu tea, just boring or quenching thirst. But now I am often distracted by drinking a cup of hot tea. Before I drink it, I will take a deep smell and smell the hot tea. I feel back to my grandmother's tea house when I was a child. ...

There are times in the year when all the vegetables in the garden will be laid out. And these days, we can't eat fresh vegetables? No, this will never happen. Because the lotus root is hidden in the soil and still fresh.

After a year's growth, lotus has contributed all of itself, first the lotus leaf, then the lotus flower, and then the lotus seed. Until the last lotus root, it is also delicious on our table. There are two kinds of lotus roots at home, one is the common lotus root, and the other is the improved lotus root. The river lotus root is even and slender, while the home lotus root is short and fat, just like the arms of some fat people. What they have in common is that they are all buried in the mud, which is not so easy to find. However, an acre of well-managed lotus field has more lotus roots. With a flick of the hoe, you can dig the lotus root. If you just dig lotus roots, you have to prepare two hoes, one big and one small. The big one turns over the mud, and the small one digs the lotus root. When you find a small lotus root, if you want a complete lotus root, you must find the root with a small hoe and take your time. Don't rush to dig the lotus root, it is very fragile. It's easy to break when you're in a hurry, but it won't look good when it's broken, and it will get stuck in the mud, which is also very troublesome when washing.

There are many ways to make lotus root, such as frying lotus root slices and stewing lotus root soup with ribs. The former is crisp and sweet in the mouth, while the latter tastes fragrant and delicious, and it is also an excellent two dishes. These two dishes don't have high technical requirements for chefs, so I will cook something I often eat. Although the taste is not as good as that of an old hand, at least I can ruin it all by myself.

However, in recent years, fewer and fewer people are farming in their hometown, and the lotus field is gradually occupied by big contractors. Fortunately, grandpa planted lotus roots in front of his door a few years ago, so we can still eat lotus roots every year. This little lotus root also witnessed the changes in our village. People who go outside rarely come back, and the fate of lotus field is either covered by those contractors or eaten by weeds.

Bamboo shoots in hometown can be divided into two kinds according to seasons: winter bamboo shoots and spring bamboo shoots, both of which are counted as bamboo buds first! As the name implies, winter bamboo shoots are born in winter. Bamboo shoots are born in spring. Although they all grow from the same bamboo root, they taste terrible. The newly unearthed winter bamboo shoots are extremely fresh and tender, and taste first-class, especially the smell of fried bacon with winter bamboo shoots. Of course it's delicious, but it's not easy to find. It's deep in the soil and needs some experience or skill to find it. In winter, the bamboo forest leaves layer by layer, but if you want to fool grandpa's hoe, there are still a few winter bamboo shoots. Grandpa is the cook at home. Basically, family gatherings and the like are all grandfathers and chefs. Sometimes when young people cook some special dishes, they also call grandpa to give me some advice. At that time, my grandfather was still alive, and he could carry millet in the field when harvesting, and everything was fine, let alone find a winter bamboo shoot.

There is a word called mushroom, that's right. After a spring rain, many silly black bamboo shoots will appear in the bamboo forest the next day. In my family, bamboo shoots are also bamboo shoots. After all, bamboo shoots are produced by bamboo shoots! The bamboo shoots are yellow and green, which makes people laugh. I think if you stay in the bamboo forest at night, you can certainly hear the rustling sound of bamboo shoots in the field, because they grow too fast. I remember measuring them when I was a child, and I grew 5 cm in one night without any problems. However, except for a few yellow-green hair tips, other exposed parts of bamboo shoots are black. Of course, the newly unearthed bamboo shoots are naturally edible. I haven't measured it specifically, so I don't know how long it will take to eat. But under normal circumstances, only those unearthed less than 20 cm will be collected, because the bamboo shoots at that time tasted just right. Too early, too tender, too chewy, too late and too old, full of fiber. Winter bamboo shoots should be sliced and spring bamboo shoots should be shredded. The hollow part of winter bamboo shoots is small and tender, while the hollow part of spring bamboo shoots is large, which is not suitable for slicing. The meat is firm and the shredded bamboo shoots are more delicious. Shredded pork with bamboo shoots used to be a common dish at home every spring.

Whether it is winter bamboo shoots or spring bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots emerge from the lush bamboo forests every year. Then some grow into bamboo roots, and some grow into bamboo. But we are slowly entering the soil, just the opposite of them. Over the past ten years, I have met many old people digging bamboo shoots in bamboo forests, and now some of them have disappeared. I think they went to see the bamboo shoots. Maybe one day, I will go there to date bamboo shoots!

The taste of home is the taste of home, which has existed since childhood. I think, in the future, no matter how far I go or how long I leave, I will keep them in mind. Counting the time difference between your fingers and looking at the clean sky that is rare in Qingming, it's time to set off.