As soon as Ling Zikai and the others sat down, the waiters at the restaurant began to serve the dishes one after another.

"Haven't we ordered the menu yet, why did we serve the food so quickly?" Ling Zikai asked puzzled.

Zhang Hao explained: "The dishes in Bazhen Pavilion are fixed, as long as you reserve a seat, the restaurant has prepared all the ingredients. After such a long delay, I'm afraid that even the dishes are ready in the kitchen!"

"Nowadays, people eat just to have a sense of freshness, these Eight Treasures Pavilion repeats those dishes every day, so they are not afraid that the guests will get tired of eating?" Ling Zikai asked with some doubts.

Zhang Hao replied: "Don't say it, the people who come here to dine are basically here for their signature dishes." It is said that most of them wanted to come here again because they didn't like it after eating it, and the more they ate, the more they wanted to eat, and they longed to come here every day!"

Jiang Hongyuan, who was next to him, interjected when he heard this: "These dishes can't be adulterated*, right?

Zhang Hao shook his head and said: "That's impossible! If that thing was used as an adjunct, the restaurant would have been closed a long time ago!"

Ling Zikai glanced at the table, seven or eight plates of dishes have been placed, although it looks bright in color and fine knife work, but under a closer look, it is nothing more than smoked spicy elbows, shredded pork skin, pepper oil vegetarian chicken, old vinegar pine eggs, as well as braised beef, cold salad chopped pepper fungus, etc., although it looks very exquisite, but it can be eaten in most restaurants and restaurants, and it is not a unique feature at all?

"Like everyone else, it's the first time I've been here, and I really don't know what is unique about this Eight Treasures Pavilion. Zhang Hao said and beckoned to a waitress standing on the side.

The waitress hurriedly walked up, gave a salute, and asked, "Boss, what do you command?"

Zhang Hao pointed to the dishes on the table and asked with a grin, "These are the specialties of your Eight Treasures Pavilion?"

The waitress explained: "Boss, what are the only appetizers on the table now, and those specialties have not been served yet?"

Ling Zikai asked, "Can you first introduce to you what are the characteristics of your place?"

"It's the first time you've come to our Eight Treasures! ”

The waitress smiled and said, "Speaking of which, the original founder of the restaurant was an imperial chef from the Qing Dynasty palace. I don't need to say much about that cooking, you can understand it. Therefore, after the restaurant opened, it became famous throughout Baishan City. It has a history of nearly 200 years. The reason why it has been able to prosper for a long time is because the original imperial chef passed down the secret method of making eight treasured dishes.

The so-called Eight Treasures Cuisine refers to the fact that each dish is made with very precious raw materials and unique cooking techniques.

If it is classified by the attributes of raw materials, it can be divided into four categories: mountain eight treasures, sea eight treasures, poultry eight treasures and grass eight treasures. There are eight dishes in each category, with a total of 4,832 dishes.

It is said that in the beginning, the imperial chef passed down the recipe of 8864 dishes, but because he could not find the ingredients for cooking, some dishes were slowly lost. ”

Although the waitress looked full of regret, everyone was still frightened by the number she reported.

Zhang Nan said a little exaggeratedly: "Wow, there are more than 30 dishes, today is a big meal!"

Sister-in-law Jiang hesitated for a moment and said, "Can you eat all the dishes you have?

"Sister-in-law Jiang, you just have to let go of your stomach and eat, anyway, you don't have to pay!" He Ling glanced at Ling Zikai gloatingly, and added: "It seems that someone is going to bleed heavily today!"

Ling Zikai coughed dryly, and said slowly: "Isn't it just the price of a meal, if you really can't pay for it, it's a big deal to pay off the debt for a month's dishes!

He Ling knew that Ling Zikai was trying to take revenge for what he had just said, arguing with others, but he had never taken advantage of him, so he glanced at him and turned his head to talk to Du Juan in a low voice.

Jiang Hongyuan said suddenly: "Speaking of these eight treasures, if Teacher Lin is present, I'm afraid there will be another argument!"

Ling Zikai asked puzzledly, "Uncle Lin still has research on the Eight Treasures?"

In his impression, Lin Xing'an is very casual about the living conditions, and he will not pay much attention to food and cooking.

Jiang Hongyuan said with a smile: "At the beginning, Mr. Lin once wrote an article on the theme of the impact of traditional culture on the ecological environment, and some of the paragraphs have a detailed introduction to the "Eight Treasures", saying that these Eight Treasures have caused great damage to the ecological environment!"

Ling Zikai asked curiously, "These eight treasures can also be related to the ecological environment?"

Jiang Hongyun nodded: "It's not just related, but it also plays a vital role!"

Jiang Hongyuan's words aroused everyone's interest, and they all looked at him, waiting for his explanation.

Jiang Hongyuan seemed to deliberately want to hang everyone's taste, so he didn't speak immediately, but picked up the teacup in front of him and took a small sip slowly.

Sister-in-law Jiang glanced at him dissatisfiedly and said, "Okay, don't show off your sour appearance of the stinky old nine!"

was robbed of a sentence by his wife, Jiang Hongyuan looked a little embarrassed, and hurriedly said: "Because the teacher's article is very unique and novel, I have read it several times, and I still remember some of it.

According to the teacher's discussion, these eight treasures are just a recipe in a broad sense.

As early as the ancient times, it has been recorded in the "Zhou Li, Tianguan": "Where the king's gift, eat six grains, eat six livestock, drink six Qing, shame use one hundred and twenty products, treasure eight things, and use one hundred and twenty urns ......for sauce; The "Eight Treasures" mentioned in the book are probably the original recipes or eight different cooking methods.

Later, in the Han Dynasty Zheng Xuan's book "The Book of Rites: Inside" also appeared: "Zhen, which means: Chun boil, Chun Mu, cannon dolphin, cannon pot, pound Zhen, stain, boil, liver cheek, etc., refers to the eight cooking methods that can be called precious food at that time, and was designated as "Eight Treasures of the Zhou Dynasty" by later generations.

After arriving in the Three Kingdoms, a complete "Eight Treasures" title appeared in the history books.

In "The Biography of the Three Kingdoms, Wei and Wei", there is "the food of food must have the taste of eight treasures." But it has not yet been explained what the specific "eight treasures" refer to.

In the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu's "Beauty Walk" wrote: "The peak of the purple camel comes out of the cui kettle, and the plate of the water spirit is lined with plain scales; the rhino is not down for a long time, and the luan knife cuts the empty and the wind; the yellow door flies and does not move the dust, and the imperial kitchen sends the eight treasures", and the poem says that "the peak of the purple camel comes out of the cui kettle, and the plate of the water spirit is lined with simple scales", which is inferred to be "the scorching hump" and "steamed white fish", and there is a precedent for the inclusion of mountain goods and aquatic products in the "eight treasures".

It's just that in Du Fu's poem "Beauty Walking", only the "two treasures" are written, and the rest of the "six treasures" are famous, but no one knows. But one thing is certain, at that time, these eight treasures were already a symbol of the luxurious life enjoyed by the wealthy aristocracy.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the "History of Food" called "Eight Treasures" as "dragon liver, phoenix marrow, leopard fetus, carp tail, owl burn, scarlet lip, bear paw, crisp cheese cicada";

But the outlandish name is hard to understand.

Because there are no "dragons" and "phoenixes" in this world, where do the dragon liver and phoenix marrow come from?

Later generations deduced that the so-called "dragon liver" may have only been the liver of a white horse, or the liver of a baby fish or a pangolin, and that the "phoenix marrow" was made from the bone marrow of the golden pheasant.

The "leopard fetus" may be the leopard's coat when it is on the plate, and the "scarlet lips" refer to the flesh of the orangutan's lips. The "carp tail" is probably the tail of the pangolin, because in ancient times the pangolin was called "dace carp"; "Owl" is a harrier such as a roasted owl, and "butterhopper" may be a dairy product similar to a cicada's belly.

In the Qing Dynasty, because there was a "prosperous Kangqian era" with a history of more than 100 years, the people's life was stable, and the business was unprecedentedly prosperous, which created a luxurious and pompous food environment, such as "Qiansuo Banquet", "Whole Sheep Banquet" and "Manchu and Han Full Banquet" and so on.

Different regions also have different names for Bazhen, such as Beijing Bazhen in the capital, Huainan Bazhen in the south, Yangzhou Bazhen and so on. The names of the dishes are also varied, and there are all kinds of strange names, and their connotations can be said to be no fixed pattern. The ancients put too much effort into eating, and it is not an exaggeration to call it food culture!

But one thing is certain: the raw materials that are listed in the name of the Eight Treasures are the most precious things of that era.

The reason why it is said that the eight treasures have an important impact on the ecological environment is that no matter in which period, as long as the animals or plants that are listed as the "eight treasures" are on the verge of extinction in the process of a large number of human beings and unscrupulously hunting. ”

After listening to Jiang Hongyuan's speech, everyone felt that it was really like that, and they all felt a sigh in their hearts.

In silence, Zhang Hao suddenly slapped his thigh and said to the waitress: "By the way, the reason why your Eight Treasures Pavilion is so famous is that you are secretly cooking dishes of rare wild animals and plants that are banned by some countries!"

The waitress was startled when she heard this, and hurriedly said, "Boss, you can't make this joke! Some of the dishes we listed are made with alternative raw materials, and some are artificially cultivated. If you really serve a few plates of braised bear paws, steamed dogfish, braised swan meat and other dishes, tomorrow our Bazhen Pavilion will be closed. ”

After thinking for a while, Zhang Hao said: "I said that all the dishes on this table are home-cooked food, and after working for a long time, it turned out that you were selling dog meat on the head of a sheep! This is not right! Aren't you also guilty of deceiving customers?"

The maid was a little embarrassed and said, "We can't help it, but rest assured, among these dishes, there are eight dishes made with the most authentic ingredients, and I believe it will bring you a perfect enjoyment!"