Now it is a new society, through the reform of marriage customs after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and at the same time after many years of hard years.

In the marriage of the people in the capital, most families no longer pay attention to any bride price and dowry, and are ashamed to talk about economic conditions.

Whoever wants to give a meeting gift is all consciously voluntary, even if it is a pen or a piece of clothing, the other party must not pick and choose.

As is rumored today, the popular sayings of "thirty-six legs" and "three turns and one ring" in the 70s are true, but in most cases, it is just a perfect vision and pursuit of a happy life. Almost all of these things have to be purchased by the newlyweds themselves after marriage.

Because one is something that few families can do, it is in vain. In addition, in this era, people value reputation more than material things. are afraid of falling into the reputation of "selling girls" or "money fans".

And a series of red tape such as "posting", "marriage", "setting gifts", and "giving dowry" before marriage have long disappeared without a trace.

In the end, the simplified newlywed customs, in addition to the acquaintance of two young people, may also rely on the introduction of the "blind date" link, there is also the step of the man and woman bringing gifts to each other's parents to let each other's parents "look at each other", which is basically the two in-laws meet each other again and have a "Xu Qin meal".

And the current situation of the Hong family belongs to the integration of "looking at each other" and "Xu Qinfan". But it is precisely for this reason that this meal is so important.

It was not only the first step in the initial contact between the two families, but also the celebration banquet that the in-laws had decided.

What is certain is that there are many contents that can be seen from this meal, such as the sincerity, etiquette, living standards of both parties, and even the literacy, tastes and living habits of both parties. will directly affect each other's perception and recognition.

To put it mildly, if something goes wrong with this meal, it will not only cast a shadow on the marriage of the children of both parties, but also make both parents feel guilty for a long time. Even in extreme cases, even the family affairs that have been said can be yellow.

That's not an exaggeration.

In today's society, isn't there an example of a girl who goes to her boyfriend's house as a guest, sees the food in the basin and is so frightened that she wants to break up?

There are also prospective sons-in-law who can't stand the prospective mother-in-law, and treats themselves with chopsticks while serving vegetables, so they retreat.

There are also cases where the father of one party is drunk and drunk, or the parents of one party praise or disparage the dishes or are difficult to swallow, resulting in unhappy breakups.

Anyway, there are all kinds of situations, and there are countless samples that test each other's patience.

But on the other hand, if this meal can really be eaten comfortably and warmly, it will make each other feel the same, and even give birth to the feeling of "we should have been a family". That pair of promoting the relationship between the two parties is really better than giving any pearl agate or saying anything nice.

Once you have this kind of good start and foundation. In the future, even if there is a conflict between children, it will be easy for both parents to understand each other's position and take the initiative to relieve their children. This is, of course, a great benefit and security for the marriage itself.

Therefore, Wang Yunlin is really attentive in the content and form of this meal.

Originally, she was going to talk about pomp and circumstance, but she could have arranged this meal to eat in the big rice village. Today's Hong family can't afford to spend this money.

But considering the noisy, noisy, smoky, and drunken atmosphere in the current Zhuangguan, and the fact that "Aunt Bao" and "Sugar Heart" are both women, it is obvious that this arrangement will only make them awkward, uncomfortable, and even unappetizing.

So what if you eat it at home?

"Aunt Bao" is a native of Huhai, and she is also a top pastry chef. Wang Yunlin was worried about the taste of the family banquet in the capital, and the other party couldn't adapt to it.

Besides, if you really have to make a big table of dishes, cook, fry, fry, stew and boil, then you have to be busy for a while, and there is no time to talk.

In this way, after thinking about it, she finally made a wise decision to eat "spring cakes".

Speaking of food in Beijing, even today, most friends from other places stay in the simple understanding of "roast duck", "shabu mutton" and some well-known Beijing snacks.

I'm afraid I can't say anything other than "lo-lo noodles" and "fried noodles."

But in fact, there are many special foods in the capital. And because of the influence of the Manchu, Mongolian, Tibetan and Miao ethnic minorities, not only the taste is diverse, but also the form of the meal is also very interesting.

It is not a brag at all, it can often be both frugal and frugal, and can also freely adjust the taste, which is more advanced than the buffet from the West today.

The most typical examples of this are "victory packs" and "spring cakes".

It was mentioned in the biography that at the apprenticeship banquet between Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan that year, Wang Yunlin used to entertain the "Jade Master" was the "Victory Bag".

The flavor food of this flag clan is called "Lack of Ke" in Manchu, and it is written a bit like a curse.

Because of its characteristic of being served as a bowl, it is eaten with rice with assorted contents wrapped in soycoledon leaves or cabbage leaves, and this seasonal food can only be enjoyed after the fifth day of the seventh month.

For those who have never eaten it, just look at the "Korean lettuce mumbap", which is favored by many white-collar workers today, and roughly understand that it is actually an extremely inferior imitation of the sticks that "claim to be all civilized out of Korea".

Interestingly, the "spring cakes" that have something in common with the way to eat the "victory bun" are precisely the opposite of the season, but they occupy the people's table between the "beginning of spring" and summer.

Because in a practical sense, "spring cake" is to use a dough cake that is as thin as rice paper, rolled with seasonal vegetables and stir-fried vegetables that are special products of early spring to eat, and it is called "biting spring".

That's a pretty vivid word. In the eyes of the people of the capital, spring can even be bitten with teeth.

When it comes to this custom, it should have existed since the Tang Dynasty. "The Treasure Mirror of the Fourth Tang Dynasty" recorded, "On the day of spring, eat reeds, spring cakes, lettuce, and call the spring plate".

At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Yelu Chucai, a Khitan person, also had a poem describing in detail the feeling of eating spring cakes.

"I forgot it by chance yesterday in spring, and I tried to make a spring plate. The wooden case is open at the beginning of the silver thread, and the sand bottle is cooked and the lotus root is long. Evenly mix the peas and the onion is white, and finely cut the wilted artemisia and the leek yellow. is also full with He Zeng, why bother to be anointed. ”

It can be seen that this food has a long history. So with the passage of time, it is only natural that eating it becomes more and more abundant and refined.

Speaking of the "spring cakes" rolled by the people of Beijing, in addition to the necessary sauces and shredded green onions, the most important thing is to pay attention to the raw and cooked dishes.

First of all, there are a few things that are essential.

That is leeks, spinach, bean sprouts, vermicelli and "yellow cabbage".

(Note: "Spread yellow vegetables" is to spread eggs, because there are eunuchs in the old Beijing, it is taboo to say "eggs".) Commonly used pronouns are "yellow cabbage", "fruit", "chicken", and "wood". In fact, the dish of "Muxi meat" is, to put it bluntly, "fried meat with eggs", and "Muxi" also refers to "osmanthus". Therefore, if you think about it carefully, the name of the dish "Muxi Meat" created by our predecessors can really be said to be both physical and spiritual, extremely incisive, and fully reflects the artistry of our language. It's just a pity that many people are ignorant today, and many big restaurants actually write the word "mushu meat" on the menu. This is a fallacy and has absolutely nothing to do with the content of the dish. It should be regarded as a kind of cultural regression. ）

Secondly, two main principles are pursued.

One is a cooked meat dish that must be made by "smoking", "sauce", and "grilling" if you want to eat meat. The other is that the seasonal vegetables selected are mainly tender and crisp.

As long as you follow this principle, everything else can be judged as you like.

This makes the roll "spring cake" have a great space and freedom, which can fully meet the special needs of different classes.

Like a poor house, as long as you fry shredded pork, bean sprouts, leeks, spinach, and vermicelli together, and then spread an egg on top to have the simplest "spring cake".

This has a name, known as "spring cake fried vegetables big cap". Listening to it, I feel majestic and heroic.

As for the well-off family, the usual standard is a "scrambled egg with leeks", a "stir-fried vermicelli with spinach and bean sprouts", plus a "pine nut belly" cut into strips and a "sauce elbow" or "sauce beef" cut into slices.

This is a relatively sumptuous "spring cake" meal that meets the basic specifications.

As for today's Hong family, the realm is much higher, and it is undoubtedly the standard of the luxury version of the mansion.

Under Wang Yunlin's control, there are three kinds of light sauce. Yellow sauce, sweet pasta sauce, marmalade.

She also peeled and cut the horn shallots, radishes, and cucumbers into pieces for food.

Of course, stir-fry is also not old and young.

There are "yellow cabbage", "fried garlic sprouts", "fried coconut white", "fried green and white snake" (fried bean sprouts with leeks), "fried vermicelli with spinach", and "fried fungus with golden needles".

Don't look too much, the dishes have been washed out early, and they are all fried in hot oil, and there is no steaming and stewing, in fact, it is not troublesome at all.

And cooked meats are even more so.

Wang Yunlin made a special trip to the "Tianfu" yesterday and bought all the sauce elbows, sauce pig's head meat, small belly, smoked chicken, roast duck, bacon and bacon.

After a while, they were all shredded and placed on the table, just like a delicatessen shop.

Although compared with the Wanyan family back then, there is still a lack of "Sura sauce" in the palace and the "Eight Treasures Roast Pig" in "Jinhua Building". Compared with the Hong family back then, there is still a lack of "sauce beef" of "Fushun Zhai" and roast mutton of "Yuesheng Zhai".

But this is already the most complete scale that Wang Yunlin can prepare at the moment.

And don't forget, there is also the sauce meat and barbecued pork of "Pu Wufang" given by "Aunt Bao".

This has to be said, another extremely interesting coincidence. It's as if the two families thought of going together, and some of them were cut out and put on the table, which added a lot of color to the table.

As for the last baking of lotus leaf cakes, "Sugar Heart" rushed to show a small hand. She made the bread unprecedented, and burned the dough with sesame oil to form a doublet, that is, it was neither hard nor loose.

The most amazing thing is that she not only has an unusually beautiful posture, but also her two hands flutter like butterflies. And there was almost no paste on the cake. This really can't help but make Wang Yunlin praise a few words. Let Xu Manli and Hong Yanru both sincerely admire.

Actually, there's something they don't know. This is the first time that "Sugar Heart" has scalded a lotus leaf cake.

And the reason why she was so successful for the first time all relied on the training of "Aunt Bao" on weekdays, and also because "Sugar Heart" herself was responsible for a high level of plagiarism.

As the so-called "one pass is all the way", she has a pair of skillful hands that can hold soap heads in boiling water, and hold people's watches in front of her, and it is nothing to grasp the heat of a little pancake.

All in all, the quality of the meal was almost perfect.

The dishes are good, the cakes are good, there are a lot of dazzling dishes, and the table is full.

In terms of taste, "Aunt Bao" and "Sugar Heart" are not at all uncomfortable.

They put in seasonal vegetables and meat according to their preferences, and after tasting it, they all said that it was their favorite food in Beijing. It's refreshing and fragrant, even if it's rolled elbows and pork head, I don't feel tired.

Actually, it's no wonder. Even the emperor can't put it down.

"The First Half of My Life" records that the last emperor Pu Yi ate six spring cakes in a row, and the foreman eunuch knew that he was afraid that he would hold on, so he asked the two eunuchs to lift his arms on the left and right, and squatted on the ground like a rammer to eliminate his food.

With that, you can figure out if this thing tastes good or not.

In addition, the atmosphere of the meal is quite casual and fun. Through harmony and beauty, smooth and smooth.

Outside, the sun is shining, the clouds are sweeping the ground, the flowers and trees are flourishing, and the bees and butterflies are flying.

The hall of the Hong family, warm wine, warm love.

The big guys sat around the table, passing cakes to each other with smiles and smiles, humbly conceding to who would put down the chopsticks first and who could roll them up the most neatly. Oily mouth, oily hands......

This is really a picture of a family feast with laughter and uproar. It can be called the spring of heaven and earth!

In fact, the meaning of "spring cake" is also eclectic, casual, pleasant and harmonious, just like the life attitude of the old Beijing people.

It is not so much that this is a rare delicacy, but that it can meet people's spiritual needs and emotional sustenance at the same time, and can let people taste a kind of happiness that goes straight to their hearts from their appetite and feel a taste of home.