Cold Night Guest Arrives — The Second Chronicle of Chinese Food Culture

Author: Lu Yaodong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: Du Fu's poem "To Wei Ba, a Scholar-Gentry" goes: "Children arrange wine and jiu. Night rain cuts spring leeks, new rice mixed with yellow millet. The host says meeting is hard, raises ten cups in one go. Ten cups still not drunk, moved by your kindness long. Tomorrow separated by mountains, worldly affairs two are vast and misty." On a rainy spring night, Du Fu, who had wandered through turmoil, came to Wei Ba's mountain village. The host asked his children to prepare wine and food. The village had nothing to offer, only spring leeks freshly picked from the garden and a bowl of freshly cooked small yellow rice. Thus, the two long-separated old friends, looking at each other with their shoulders, drank heartily, sharing the vicissitudes since their parting. The candlelight flickered on the table, while outside the hall the rain drizzled softly. Truly, one could not tell if it was this day or another—this is a realm of dining. The Song Dynasty's Du Lei's poem "Cold Night" has the line: "In a cold night, guests arrive, tea serves as wine. Bamboo stove boils water, fire first glows red." In a cold night, the north wind blows, wrapped in blankets, one finds it hard to sleep. Suddenly, a friend visits, and one throws off the robe to greet them. Yet there is no extra dish in the kitchen, no aged wine in the cabinet. So one shovels snow, melts water, and lights the fire to boil tea. Outside the cottage, snows the cold branches, silently falling. Inside the bamboo stove, pine charcoal sparks fly with sound. In the pot, tea boils, fish eyes appearing. At this moment, the wind calms, the moon shines brightly, and several sparse plum blossoms are reflected in the window—another realm. The so-called realm of dining is the culinary interest and taste formed by the environment, atmosphere, and mindset. It has nothing to do with the fineness or coarseness of the food, nor with the joyous gathering of guests in a splendid setting with bright lights anding cups and plates. This book collects about 30 articles, which remain true to the author's consistent style—combining historical examination with references and the humanistic sentiment of visiting local cuisines, narrated in a gentle, literary manner. There are essays on the art of dining, tales of famous dishes and historical anecdotes, observations of dietary changes in daily life, blending historical allusions, real-life stories, and nostalgia. "Of all those who spread slander in Zhejiang, none surpass Zhang Dai."