{"id":6314,"date":"2019-11-12T07:30:47","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T07:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-culture\/dream-of-a-banquet-of-china\/"},"modified":"2019-11-12T07:30:47","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T07:30:47","slug":"dream-of-a-banquet-of-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/fr\/dream-of-a-banquet-of-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Dream of a banquet of China"},"content":{"rendered":"
Red-robed shrimps is said to be a favorite dish of Jia Baoyu(\u8d3e\u5b9d\u7389Ji\u01ce B\u01ceoyù), the decadent protago<\/em>nist(a protago<\/em>nist in a play, novel, or real event is one of the main people in it) of A Dream of Red Mansions(\u7ea2\u697c\u68a6Hónglóumèng).<\/p>\n

In Yangzhou(\u626c\u5ddeYángzh\u014du), diners get a taste of the cuisines described in the literary classic A Dream of Red Mansions, complete with the right ambience.<\/p>\n

A 300-year-old food style in a very prosperous part of China is revived for present day gourmets in the Huaiyang culinary capital of Yangzhou. Cuisine masters of the city have recreated food recorded in A Dream of Red Mansions, one of the four most im<\/em>portant ancient Chinese novels.<\/p>\n

Called the Red Mansions banquet, the special dishes are served in Yangzhou State Guesthouse.<\/p>\n

Not o<\/em>nly does the meal bring back memories of a lifestyle that is three centuries old, the entire ambience of the guesthouse projects nostalgia. One musician plays guqin, a very soothing ancient stringed instrument, while waitresses clad in ancient Chinese gowns serve beautiful, delicate plates of dishes in a colorfully decorated room.<\/p>\n

Guests get to try tasty and thoughtfully named dishes, such as "red-robed shrimp", "eight treasure" bean sauce, and "emerald" shaomai.<\/p>\n

A waitress will tell you the red robed shrimp is a favorite of Jia Baoyu, the male protago<\/em>nist in the novel, and the purple ginger sprout is the favorite of Lin Daiyu, the female protagonist.<\/p>\n

Several of the dishes are named after roles in the classic novel. Qingwen bun has a special stuffing of bean curd. It is named after Qingwen, Jia Baoyu’s servant girl and close friend with a strong personality. A crisp cake with turnip stuffing is named after Taijun, Jia Baoyu’s grandmother, because it has black sesame on top, resembling the hairstyle of old women in ancient China.<\/p>\n

One delightful thing a<\/em>bout Huaiyang cuisine is, the dishes may look simple but they’re tasty because of the complicated cooking methods. For example, dazhu gansi, water-boiled bean curd slices, and yangchunmian, or "plain noodle", with shrimp sauce, and pieces of green onion.<\/p>\n

Located in the center of Jiangsu province, Yangzhou is a stro<\/em>nghold of Huaiyang cuisine, one of four major cooking styles of the country.<\/p>\n

With the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal flowing past it, the area around Yangzhou saw the biggest flow of the country’s salt business. In what was co<\/em>nsidered China’s most flourishing ages, under the reign of emperors Kangxi (1654-1722) and Qianlong (1711-99), Yangzhou rendered one third of the country’s annual revenue.<\/p>\n

That’s the reason why the two emperors often visited the area by boat, adding to the city’s fame and prosperity. Visiting officials and business people co<\/em>ntributed to the buoyancy of the local restaurant industry. Rich salt traders built their houses adorned beautiful gardens, and have their own chefs.
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