Observation on the fusion of Chengdu and Chongqing catering ①： Sichuan cuisine is moving towards mutual assistance and symbiosis in historical development

Cover journalist Yvonne Wang

The fragrant rapeseed oil was poured on the beef slices covered with garlic spices, splashing countless small oil beads from jinliang, making a lively and beautiful sound. Sichuan cuisine brings the world a pleasant feeling between lips and teeth and a hot taste experience.

The historical and cultural development of Sichuan cuisine not only benefited from the superior natural conditions and the developed agriculture in Sichuan, but also experienced the collision and integration of new cultures brought about by many immigrants, and there were several innovations in both taste and seasoning. Today’s Sichuan cuisine focuses on "fresh and spicy", and at the same time has the flavor characteristics of "one dish, one grid, one hundred dishes and one hundred flavors". Different regions have also developed special dishes related to local culture, living habits and products.

The development of the times and the construction of the twin-city economic circle in Chengdu-Chongqing region have also promoted the blending of catering in the two places. Sichuan cuisine is more widely loved for its spicy and spicy flavor, and the catering industry in the two places has also ushered in a new stage of mutual assistance, symbiosis and integration, opening a new development pattern of multi-terminal market integration.

Song Shichuan Hotel, which likes to add sugar to ancient Sichuan cuisine, is unique.

Every major development and innovation of Sichuan cuisine is basically related to large-scale immigration. The ancient Shu state more than 3,000 years ago was centered on the capital city of Longyi, with a warm climate and developed agriculture. During the Warring States Period, Li Bing, the commander of Shu County, built Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project, which fundamentally solved the flood problem and ensured the sufficiency and richness of ingredients. In addition, before and after the reunification of Qin, people immigrated to Bashu, which made Sichuan cuisine gradually form its own characteristics.

According to the records of "Four Seasons Food System" and "Imperial Court Letters" in the Three Kingdoms period, fish dishes had appeared at that time, and people liked sweetness, adding honey to meat to enhance flavor. The Records of Huayang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty mentioned the characteristics of Sichuan cuisine, such as "respecting taste" and "good spicy flavor". The overall taste of the dishes is bright, and I like to season with pepper.

In the Tang and Song Dynasties, Li Bai, Su Shi, Du Fu, Lu You and others also expressed their love for "Sichuan food" through a large number of poems, which made us understand that "spicy" was not the main feature of Sichuan food at that time. Li Bai praised the stewed duck, Du Fu’s creation of "five-gorged fish" and various snacks, as well as the Southern Song Dynasty’s "Dream of Tokyo" record that "there are more Sichuan restaurants, but there are noodles with meat, large and small noodles with meat, fried pork, miscellaneous fried events, cooked and cooked rice", all of which confirmed the uniqueness of Sichuan restaurants at that time, except eating in the south and eating in the north.

Steamed duck upgraded Taibai duck

The war in Ming and Qing Dynasties greatly reduced the population in Sichuan. After the unification of the Qing government, the movement of "Huguang filling Sichuan" gradually restored the population and economy in Sichuan, and greatly changed the eating habits and culture. Coupled with the promotion and planting of newly introduced ingredients such as pepper, corn and sweet potato, the use of new seasonings such as Pixian watercress has also emerged, and a variety of flavors and dishes have emerged, which has evolved into a new situation of "one dish, one grid, and hundreds of dishes".

Rong cuisine is elegant, Chongqing cuisine, Jianghu Chengdu-Chongqing cuisine has distinctive characteristics.

Sichuan cuisine is diverse, harmonious but different. Among them, Chengdu cuisine is generally similar to Chongqing cuisine, mainly in cooking techniques and tastes. Chengdu cuisine is elegant and light, paying attention to inheriting traditional taste, and spicy taste is not the main thing. Chongqing cuisine is more bold and spicy, and is willing to innovate and accept new dishes, which is more Jianghu temperament. The difference in emphasis is also related to many factors such as the culture of the two places.

Chengdu has developed its commerce since ancient times, and has also formed a perfect market structure that adapts to various consumption levels and tastes. It can be roughly divided into two kinds: popular dishes and banquet dishes. Popular dishes are spicy and spicy, and banquet dishes are mainly salty, juicy and delicious.

Exquisite Chengdu cuisine

In modern times, a large number of foreign officials, wealthy businessmen and people from all walks of life entered Sichuan, which also brought a variety of foreign flavors, blended them with Sichuan cuisine, and enhanced the delicacy of dishes on the basis of retaining traditional Sichuan cuisine. During this period, "Mansion Cuisine" with Chengdu characteristics was born. "This is because the owner of the mansion is very particular about food and clothing, and the pursuit of cooking skills is even more’ not tired of eating fine and fine’, so there is a mansion dish." Qu Xiaoqiang, editor-in-chief of Sichuan Folk Culture Grand Ceremony, explained that orange, cordyceps, duck and braised pork in mash are all classic old mansion dishes.

Chongqing is located at the intersection of Jialing River and Yangtze River, and its historical and cultural development is closely related to the waterfront wharf. Between the bow of the river bank and the bow of the river, various occupations such as porter, dockworker, water bearer, club and so on were born, which gradually formed an open, inclusive and advancing with the times dock culture, and the character of Chongqing people became more and more generous in honest and frank, and these characteristics were also reflected in Chongqing cuisine.

Chongqing Tongxin yuan Yuanyang hotpot

Chongqing hot pot, Chongqing Jianghu dishes, Chongqing Xiao noodles, etc. all have very obvious characteristics of "hemp, spicy, fresh, fragrant and tender". Chen Xiaolin, a senior expert in Chongqing’s food culture, also summed up the characteristics of Chongqing’s Jianghu dishes in "Chongqing Jianghu dishes", such as flamboyant seasoning personality, thick oil, rough and natural raw materials, strange cooking skills and strong Jianghu flavor.

Facing various challenges together and working together to strengthen the influence of Sichuan cuisine

With the impact of diverse diets and unclear understanding of the concept of Sichuan cuisine, Chengdu-Chongqing’s rich food culture needs to be further excavated and passed down. Under the development opportunity of the construction of the twin-city economic circle in Chengdu-Chongqing area, the communication between the two places has become more and more frequent. Nowadays, you can eat authentic Chongqing hot pot, Jianghu dishes, small noodles and other Chongqing specialties in Chengdu, and you can also find many restaurants specializing in Chengdu exquisite Sichuan cuisine and Zigong Yanbang cuisine on the streets of Chongqing, which promotes the exchange and learning of Sichuan-Chongqing catering and makes up for the lack of common development of enterprises in the two places in previous years.

However, the development of Sichuan-Chongqing catering still faces many challenges. First, the impression of foreign tourists on Sichuan cuisine is getting thinner and thinner. The most famous ones are hot pots and skewers, which do not show the richness of Sichuan cuisine. The second is the weakness of branding. Sichuan cuisine is found everywhere, but there are very few representative brands. Under such circumstances, further strengthening cooperation and communication between Sichuan and Chongqing, and holding a group development are also the key points that catering people in the two places need to think together.

In order to implement the work requirements related to the construction of the twin-city economic circle in Chengdu-Chongqing area, strengthen exchanges and cooperation between Chengdu and Chongqing, promote the integrated development of Sichuan-Chongqing catering industry, talk about the innovative path of Chengdu-Chongqing catering industry, and build the cohesive force of Chongqing catering industry. The "Centripetal Joint Force 2023 Chengdu-Chongqing Catering and Drinking Integration Development Summit Forum" will be held at Chongqing International Expo Center on October 27th. The forum is directed by Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce, sponsored by Cover News, Huaxi Dushi Bao and the 15th China (Chongqing) Hotpot Food Culture Festival Organizing Committee, and assisted by Chongqing Hotpot Association and Sichuan Gourmet Association.

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This forum will start from the perspectives of Chengdu-Chongqing catering industry data judgment, cooperation case analysis and hot pot discussion, and accelerate the co-construction and sharing of Sichuan cuisine resources through various forms such as sharing, in-depth dialogue and round-table forum, so as to better promote the development of Sichuan cuisine in the two places. There are many highlights and many dry goods. If you want to participate in this discussion together and listen to the sharing of industry leaders at close range, you can identify the poster QR code and sign up for participation for free, and talk about the development of consumption vitality in Chengdu-Chongqing catering market!