If you want to trace its history, Taifeng Lou can be traced back to the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the founder is a royal chef surnamed Jiang, the earliest in Guanwai, moved to Beiping during the Republic of China. Because it has not been opened for many years and has been war-torn in the middle, this restaurant has not been well-known, and it may only be remembered by a few older people. Tai Fung House was closed for more than 70 years, and I never had the opportunity to witness his old glory, but I was told to me a few years ago when I chatted with Master Peng Changping on the other side of the ocean.

Master Pang greatly admires and even admires the former chef of Tai Fung Building, Jiang Chengde, saying that he is the only Chinese food master who concentrates the strengths of hundreds of schools, and even Master Peng's father was guided by Master Jiang Chengde in his early years. The two chefs of Taifeng Building are the third and seventh sons of Master Jiang Chengde, Mr. Jiang Weiming and Mr. Jiang Weiguo.

At first, I didn't meet the two chefs, but I only tasted a few of their dishes. I was honored to be invited to participate in the opening of Taifeng Building because of my friend Han Guishan, and I was amazed by a few dishes at the banquet, all of which were made by Mr. Jiang Weiming and Mr. Jiang Weiguo.

Before I talk about the dishes, I have to say a few digressions, Mr. Jiang Weiming is 99 years old this year, and Mr. Jiang Weiguo is also 84 years old this year. Because of their age, these two chefs usually don't cook on weekdays, and most of the time they stay in the back kitchen to guide other young chefs to coordinate the overall situation. It is precisely for this reason that even though I had a little selfishness when interviewing the other three young chefs, I wanted to ask the two old gentlemen to cook a few dishes for me, but I finally held back.

Through a brief chat with the two old gentlemen, I learned that although their father, Master Jiang Chengde, was a rare culinary master who gathered the strengths of a hundred schools of thought and almost established a sect, due to the turbulence of the times, they did not have all the dishes and skills of Xide Jiang cuisine, and basically still mainly based on Shandong cuisine.

Mr. Jiang Weiming has been in circulation since the fall of Beiping, and finally settled in Shudi, where he has been engaged in the chef industry until his retirement. It is precisely because of this that he is actually a master who is proficient in both Sichuan and Shandong cuisines. It is reported that Mr. Jiang Weiming's best Sichuan cuisine is actually chicken bean curd, but because I didn't have the opportunity to taste it, I can only talk about a few dishes I have tasted.

The first dish is the cold dish Jinji Mingchun, which I rarely recommend, because in my opinion, in most cases, cold dishes do not fully reflect the true level of a chef. This is a platter, the material is very rich, meat and vegetarian are available, the caragon is made of shredded radish, shrimp, cucumber shreds and sashimi and other ingredients spliced out of the golden chicken is semi-three-dimensional, the head is high, the tail is slightly upturned, when it was first served I almost thought it was a piece of art for ornamentation. Among them, the largest and most conspicuous, the most complex skills, the knife work requirements are also the highest Jinji lifelike, occupying 80% of the area of the entire platter, the composition of the whole color platter is very complete. The shredded cucumbers and shredded radishes are as thin as a hair, and I know that there are only a handful of chefs who can have such superb knife skills.

I rarely feel extravagant when I eat a dish, even if it's made with the most expensive ingredients. But when I eat another platter of colors that I don't usually pay attention to, I feel that every time I stretch my chopsticks is a luxury and a waste, because this dish is not only excellent in knife work, but also in its impeccable taste. Each ingredient in the spring is carefully cooked and then processed and shaped for the platter, and the combination between different ingredients is also carefully considered, which is not only a dish that will give people a strong visual impact, but also a dish that will give people taste enjoyment.

If you want to rate this dish, there is no doubt that it will score more than 95 points, and as a suit of colors, I don't think there is any problem with a perfect score. As a diner, I highly recommend this dish, even if the price may turn many people away, as this décor platter not only sells for four figures, but also cannot be sold a la carte as a banquet dish. Considering Mr. Jiang Weiming's advanced age, I believe that even if it is sold as a banquet dish, it may not be sold in large quantities. If you are always at home and want to spend some money on a big event, you may want to consider Tai Fung House, this color platter will definitely not disappoint you.

Another dish is also made by Mr. Jiang Weiming - cannon porpoise. It's definitely a great dish, and before I describe it, I would like to remind diners that this dish is also expensive and needs to be ordered at least three days in advance. The price may be several times more expensive than the most expensive roast suckling pig you've ever eaten, but as the old saying goes, it's worth the money.

At present, most of the roast suckling pig or cannon dolphin on the market have abandoned the ancient method and no longer fill the pig's belly with dates, but fill in more wonderful and valuable ingredients. This practice is understandable, after all, the ancient method of filling dates is due to the lack of ingredients, and chefs naturally will not stick to the old ways in today's increasingly abundant ingredients. It is precisely because of this that Mr. Jiang Weiming's cannon dolphin gave me a greater surprise.

Although I have never seen how this dish was born, Mr. Jiang Weiming did not hide his secrets, and generously told me the general preparation method of this dish, and also answered some of my questions at that time. Mr. Jiang Weiming's pork is very interesting after cutting, the pork belly is fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, duck meat, pigeon meat, glutinous rice, pigeon eggs and other ingredients, among which the pigeon is filled in the duck's belly. In addition to the pigeon, the duck's belly is also filled with fresh bamboo shoots and mushrooms, and the pigeon belly is filled with glutinous rice and pigeon eggs, which is somewhat similar to the three sets of ducks, a famous dish of Huaiyang cuisine.

This dish is layered when tasting, the suckling pig is crispy, the meat is delicate, the ingredients filled in it do not look like roasted but seem to be carefully cooked through the broth, and the glutinous rice stuffed in all corners of the three animal attachments has a hint of sweetness in addition to the fresh aroma and meat aroma. It's an amazing feeling, and it's a wonderful dining experience to eat multiple clever ways to cook food in one dish at the same time.

If you want to rate this dish, there is no doubt that it must be above 95 points, and the only drawback is that the portion is too large for one person to enjoy. It may be a selfish idea to have it alone, but believe me, when such a dish is placed in front of you, as long as you can eat it, you will definitely want to have such a piece of pork alone.

Readers who know me well will probably know that I like to comment on a chef in the middle or at the end of an article from my personal point of view, which may not be professional. Mr. Jiang Weiming is undoubtedly a very good chef, and I can even venture to guess that he may be in the top 5 in this year's celebrity chef list. After tasting these dishes, I regretted more than once why I didn't know him decades earlier, after all, even a foodie like me would have the heart to ask a 99-year-old man to cook for me just to satisfy my appetite. Of course, what makes me happy is that although Mr. Jiang Weiming has become a little less cooking, he is still trying his best to teach his cooking skills to the younger generations, after all, the inheritance of cooking skills is the most important thing.

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