Old Taste

It is best to sit in the corner of the room by the window on a clear and windy afternoon. The sunlight is refracted through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the soft light that is warm but not dazzling envelopes the room happily.

The weather in Guilin has been very sunny these days. I sat reading a book by the window in the classroom in the morning. There was enough light to warm my whole body and mind. In this early winter sun-bathed weather, it is suitable to read books about the tranquility of time, savor the small tastes of life, enjoy the taste of fireworks in the world, and enjoy yourself. There is no need to talk about Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky, and there is no need to talk about abstruse topics. It is not a bad idea to get into the circle of life and breathe out the atmosphere of fireworks.

Reading Mr. Wang Zengqi's "Old Taste", a strong smell of fireworks hit my face. It is a sense of the times that is soaked in the changes of the years and the feelings that remain after experiencing the changes in things and people. A sense of purity. The old taste comes from life, and as time goes by, it evolves from life. This is a book about eating, a book that covers the food culture from all over China. Using simple and delicate words, he tells about the delicacies that Mr. Wang has seen and heard in the four stages of his life. One vegetable and one rice may seem sparse and ordinary, but they all reveal Mr. Wang's love for life and his infinite pursuit of ultimate happiness in life. yearn for.

Chinese people love to eat, and they are a country with great food, and their food culture can be traced back to thousands of years.

Therefore, the documentary "A Bite of China" was released before, and it was even more popular among the people. In our daily lives, we often call ourselves "foodies". Whenever we go to a place, we must first appreciate the special food there. Moreover, when we meet acquaintances, we will habitually ask: "Have you eaten? What did you eat today?" From all this, it can be seen that the Chinese people's obsession with eating is deep-rooted.

Mr. Wang Zengqi not only loves to eat, but also knows how to eat. Whether it is a homely meal or a delicacy, he can taste the most unique taste from the most ordinary food, and regards food as his confidant.

This book, like a true documentary, slowly unfolds the food story of an era to readers.

Mr. Wang has a deep love for Kunming. This book uses three chapters to describe his eight years of eating memories in Kunming. Simple yet touching.

I checked the information and found that Mr. Wang’s deep affection for Kunming can be summarized in this poem: "I have been traveling in the south of the world for a long time, and there are no such beautiful lakes and mountains in my hometown. The willows on the long embankment are so thick, looking for me Fifty years of travel.”

Mr. Wang’s most unforgettable memories of Kunming are the delicious food, flowers, trees, customs, and professors and classmates at the Lianda University. Mr. Wang said: "My first few novels were written in this teahouse. If I am still a writer of novels, then I was born in a teahouse in Kunming."< /p>

The first article is "Tea House", which describes the situation when students at Southwest Associated University loved to go to tea houses. The "Drum" in the big teahouse; the small teahouses each have their own characteristics: the "director's son" in the Ludong Teahouse, the "blind rap" in the Jiexi Teahouse, the "American movie star" in the Chengmen Teahouse, and the class reunion of the Guangfa Teahouse, which they jokingly call "Guangfa Society" has not erased these old memories even after forty years.

What impressed me the most was what Mr. Wang said about the influence of teahouses on Lianda University students. First, it cultivates a noble spirit. Although those Lianda students are poor, they are self-righteous and unwilling to bow to evil forces. The so-called silt comes out of the mud but does not stain; secondly, teahouses produce talents. Students from Lianda University did not chat in teahouses, but spent most of their time reading in teahouses. Even Mr. Wang himself said that he wrote his thesis in teahouses. I wrote it when I was in a teahouse; third, I can get in touch with society. The various people in the teahouse arouse strong interest in people. The more stories they listen to, the more they turn into stories in writing. This reminds me of Mr. Gu Long and Mr. Lin Qingxuan, both of whom enjoy a very high status in the literary world, and they are all based on their rich market experience.

Mr. Wang said that if you want to study the history of Southwest Associated University, you must not understand the teahouses near the Associated University. After reading this, I seemed to see the students of Lianda University, Zhu Ziqing, Wen Yiduo, Luo Changpei, Shen Congwen, who held their heads high and were indomitable in that war-torn era... full of passion and righteousness. Falling into the world of fireworks, cute and tough.

Southwest Associated University has many famous teachers. A university with masters is a university.

In a difficult environment, a legend was created that is still praised by the world.

If one day I come to Kunming, I must visit the old teahouses written by Wang Lao; visit the legendary and ancient site of the Southwest Associated University, and pay tribute to those masters and students one by one.

Pay tribute to the Southwest Associated University and pay tribute to the immortal spirit.

I have always longed for Yunnan, including bridge rice noodles, flower cakes... countless special delicacies. After reading Mr. Wang’s book this time, I became more determined to take a trip to Yunnan.

Mr. Wang’s love for Kunming is reflected in every aspect of his life. When writing about Kunming's fruits, the delicious and juicy "Baozhu" pears make you choke when you read them; the Yiliang pomegranates are as big and bright as rubies, and are as sweet as honey when you bite them; the names of the Huotan Yangmei are enough to make people laugh. Appetite; the thinly sliced ??papaya is soaked, slightly sour and crispy, which is endless aftertaste... and the best sugar-roasted chestnuts in the world, turned into a dreamlike story in Wang Lao's pen: "I have had it several times Riding through the chestnut forest is like entering a painting. ”

Life is interesting and refreshing.

When Wang Lao recalled Kunming, he was always full of praise for Kunming’s food. In his painting, it is as if he can see a banquet between Manchu and Han Dynasty. Delicious food that has never been heard in the world before, as if this thing should only be found in heaven.

Dongyuelou’s pot stickers and mullet are cut into pieces as big as cloud cakes, added with a piece of ham, and cooked over slow fire. It can be called “the most delicious thing in the world”; Chicken, can be said to be one of the masterpieces of Kunming cuisine, "the most original flavor of chicken"; the oil-drenched chicken reflecting the spring season is cut into large pieces and seared repeatedly with hot oil, sprinkled with pepper and salt, and finally slid into the mouth. The skin is crispy and the meat is tender; there is also the dim sum of jade and wheat cakes. The jade and wheat are ground into large pieces and wrapped in bayberry leaves. It tastes slightly salty and has a refreshing fragrance...

The best thing is Can't forget the rice noodles and bait cubes. "Burn the bait...", the voice lingered for a long time.

However, when I look back decades later, everything has changed. Instead of braised chicken rice noodles and eel rice noodles, there are Changwang rice noodles, which are probably introduced from Guizhou. The cross-bridge rice noodles are not as good as before, there are no such chicken slices, kidney slices - no such knife skills, no such soup, and no such fat hen. The bait block is no longer as thick as before, but as thin as a mirror.

Such changes are all regrettable.

Times have changed, development is rapid, and everyone is beginning to pursue low cost and high profits. They no longer have the dedication and patience to work in the past, and only think about how to make money. The delicious food in the past has become ordinary, and even some food has become Lost in history. Instead, they may be Western fast food, kimchi, McDonald's and KFC... Modern people may no longer be able to eat those real delicacies.

Is this the progress of society or the sorrow of the times?

I can’t help but lament the same as Mr. Wang: “How did these changes happen? Why did they happen?”

When people get old, they like to be nostalgic.

Friends who once had a deep conversation broke up while walking. The delicacies of the world that I have tasted are like yellow rice that has disappeared without a trace.

The most memorable scene is the story about an ordinary tea talk in Laoweier.

"Old friends don't live in the east of Luoyang, but now I'm facing the wind of falling flowers. The flowers are the same every year, but the people are different every year." There is nothing better than this to feel the sadness of things changing and people changing. .

The aged fragrance of the old flavor is not covered by the years. I will never forget the old friends from the past.

Wang’s life was full of ups and downs. He went through the war years and was labeled as a "rightist". He traveled to a foreign country, and his homesickness was reflected in his affectionate words. Writing about fried rice and burnt crumbs reminds me of the poverty in my hometown during the turmoil; I write about the wild vegetables in my hometown. Water shield was used as a food to escape famine in my hometown, but eating it now is like trying something new; I also miss the pickled vegetable Cigu soup. On snowy days, my family would pickle pickles and add slices of tsaki to make soup. I always say that when I miss the snow in my hometown, I miss the pickled vegetable and Cigu soup in my hometown!

Mr. Wang said in his memories that once he went to Mr. Shen Congwen’s house for dinner, and his wife Zhang Zhaohe made pickled vegetable and Cigu soup, which was delicious.

Those people, those things, those delicious foods...

As I get older, I always remember the scene when I was young. Reading it makes my nose feel sour, but I feel even more moved. .

Even though he is old, he can still laugh at himself and say with a smile: "Sherwood Anderson's "Little Town Freak" records an old writer, 'His body is old and no longer of much use, but he There is something in the body that is truly youthful.

’ I hope I can be like this old writer, with a childlike innocence. ”

Mr. Wang did it. His indifference, peace, love and sincerity for life shine in this complicated world.

Forever young, always full of tears. .

Finally, let me end with a sentence from a book review written by a reader I read before: "Both the intriguing food in Kunming and Wang Zengqi have passed away forever. However, this book, in the ancient Chinese language, displays all the places Mr. Wang and he visited, the various foods he tasted, and some intriguing past eras in front of readers one by one, allowing us to live in this spiritually deficient world. There is something interesting to be found in this era. "

Year after year, I have a bed of books, amuse myself with pens, and amuse myself. There is also an ordinary place to laugh, six square meters as a kitchen.

In short, a person's The taste should be wider and more complex, "sweet in the south, salty in the north, spicy in the east and sour in the west". This is true for food, and it should be the same for culture.

I hope young people can accumulate more knowledge about life. . The ancients said that the functions of poetry are: it can be observed, it can be grouped, it can be complained, and it can also be used to understand the names of plants, trees, insects and fish. This last point seems to be incomparable with the previous points. In fact, it is very important. It is closely related to people's lives. Being interested in plants, insects and fish shows that he also has a broad interest in people.

His toiletries are placed in this teahouse and he goes to the teahouse to wash his face. Brush your teeth, then sit down, make a bowl of tea, eat two sesame seed cakes, and read until noon, then get up and go out for lunch. After dinner, another bowl of tea. The lights on the street were dim, so I went back to the dormitory to sleep with a thick book.

I don’t like to go shopping. I like to go to the vegetable market and look at the green and fresh vegetables. I feel the joy of living... People who cook generally eat very little. After my dishes are served, I just try two chopsticks of each dish, and then sit and smoke, drink tea, and drink. From this point of view, I am willing to cook. People who give food to others are less selfish.

I advise everyone not to have too narrow a taste and to try everything, whether it is ancient food or food from other places, such as sunflower and sage. . A person who eats cabbage all year round will not be happy. Many vegetables that everyone has become accustomed to, such as spinach and lettuce, are actually foreign vegetables. They were not available in China a few decades ago, and many people are not used to them. , don’t you all love to eat it now? There are many things that you can’t get used to at first, but after eating them, they taste bad.