求張鋒

龍游的飲食文化歷史源遠流長,荷花山遺址將境內的人類活動歷史提早到一萬年前,發現的大量稻作遺存,證明龍游是稻作農業文明的重要發源地之一。
稻米的盛產,激發了人們對米制美食的想象力。龍游發糕是最負盛名的傳統特產之一。據《龍游縣志》記載:龍游發糕的制作始于14—17世紀的明代,具有悠久的歷史,逢年過節家家戶戶蒸制發糕,用作點心,或饋贈親友,成特有風情。據說清代乾隆帝游江南時品嘗龍游發糕后,對發糕的色、香、味、形大加贊賞,之后,龍游發糕一直作為貢品進貢朝廷。
為扶持“龍游發糕”產業做大做強,使之成為龍游縣經濟發展的新增長點、大眾創業就業的新平臺、老百姓增收致富的新引擎,2017年11月,龍游縣人民政府出臺《關于促進“龍游發糕”產業健康發展的實施意見》,從七個方面著手,明確政策享受主體,通過技術改造、科技創新、宣傳營銷等方面的財政扶持,促使“龍游發糕”生產企業做大做強。
一石激起千層浪,大大小小的發糕作坊如雨后春筍般涌現。截至2020年底,全縣共有發糕生產企業(SC)15家、發糕作坊124家、龍游發糕經營門店162家。據不完全統計,龍游縣發糕生產企業、作坊及門店總共銷售收入達到2.75億元,利潤0.8億元。
在“龍游發糕”的創業大軍中,一批“80后”“90后”積極涌入,他們有更好的品牌推廣理念,更新的營銷手段,將傳統美食推上更高的高度。在產業培育中,龍游縣委、縣政府鼓勵“龍游發糕”企業上規模并適度集聚、積極改造提升、引進人才和科技創新,加大宣傳營銷力度,加強品牌建設和管理。
位于龍游經濟開發區的浙江善蒸坊食品有限公司,發糕“非遺”文化技藝傳承人黃雪梅和她丈夫,正著力培育發糕產業,探索制定制作工藝、儲存運輸等一系列標準。
“‘善蒸坊’和發糕的歷史淵源頗深,是龍游的百年老字號。”黃雪梅說起了丈夫藍錦國祖輩和龍游發糕的緣分,娓娓道出“善蒸坊”的前世今生。
話說乾隆三十年(1765年),清高宗愛新覺羅弘歷第四次下江南巡視,行至瀫歲(今衢江),命船拐入靈山江,直奔龍游縣城游賞姑篾古都風采,在品嘗發糕后高興不已,贊曰:“江南人善蒸也!”
此后,龍游人徐明達依“江南人善蒸”一語,將自己的作坊更名為“善蒸坊”,慕名而來的顧客數不勝數,“善蒸坊”作為龍游發糕的一塊金字招牌,也傳遍了大江南北。至民國二十二年,“善蒸坊”傳人徐仁富,因從事他業,無暇顧及,將店面轉給了隔壁經營“德輝餅坊”的藍宏柏,藍宏柏接手后,兩店合并經營,生意蒸蒸日上,更勝從前。
20世紀90年代,藍氏第四代傳人藍錦國脫穎而出,一改往昔現做現賣的作坊模式,華麗轉身,創辦了善蒸坊食品有限公司,實現了龍游發糕的工業化生產和全國性流通。創新發展,厚積薄發。2016年,“善蒸坊”發糕經過層層選拔,作為G20杭州峰會的特供食品擺上了各國首腦的餐桌。同年,在首都北京舉行的“首屆中國金牌旅游小吃”評選中,善蒸坊榮獲金獎。
“新廠房投資近5000萬元,生產工藝、儲存運輸等都具備成熟條件,年銷售額達2000萬元,達到上規模的標準。”善蒸坊董事長藍錦國告訴筆者,廠內還設有全國首個糕餅博物館,通過弘揚中華傳統美食文化,重新擦亮“善蒸坊”這塊百年金字招牌,為飲食文化源遠流長的龍游地方傳統美食開辟出一個嶄新的時代。
“‘龍游發糕’寓意好,口感也受歡迎,已是龍游美食的‘符號式’代表,成為龍游的一張金名片,產業發展勢頭初顯成效,傳統美食文化必將帶動地方經濟發展。”龍游縣美食辦負責人王輝介紹,近年來,龍游縣委、縣政府大力支持以發糕為代表的傳統地方特色菜肴和特色小吃在全國推廣,打造全縣域文化旅游和電子商務“金名片”,實現“旅游+美食”的疊加效應和倍增效應,使龍游美食成為對外宣傳交流的新名片、老百姓增收致富的聚寶盆。
Longyou’s Steamed Sponge Cake Industry Keeps Blooming
By ?Qiu Zhangfeng
The steamed sponge cake is one of the most famous traditional specialties in Longyou county, Quzhou city. According to Longyou County Annals, the time-honored production of Longyou steamed sponge cakes began in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It is said that when Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing dynasty (1616-1911) tasted Longyou steamed sponge cakes during his trip to the Jiangnan area (south of the Yangtze River), he highly appreciated its color, fragrance, taste and shape. Thanks to Emperor Qianlong, Longyou steamed sponge cakes had since been offered as a tribute to the imperial court.
In November 2017, the Longyou government issued a policy to promote the healthy development of Longyou steamed sponge cake industry through financial support in terms of technological transformation, scientific and technological innovation, publicity and marketing. By the end of 2020, there had been 15 steamed sponge cake manufacturers, 124 workshops and 162 stores in the county. According to a rough estimate, the total sales revenue of Longyou steamed sponge cake manufacturers, workshops and stores reached a total of 275 million yuan, with a profit of 80 million yuan.
In the Longyou steamed sponge cake industry, Shan Zheng Fang or Good Steaming Workshop, a time-honored brand, is worth mentioning. The owners, Huang Xuemei and her husband Lan Jinguo, are developing a series of standards about, among others, processing techniques, storage and transportation. In fact, Ms. Huang Xuemei herself is an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of making steamed sponge cakes.
“As a century-old brand in Longyou, Shan Zheng Fang and the steamed sponge cake are closely related in history,” said Huang. The origins of Shan Zheng Fang, according to Huang, went a long way back, when the ancestors of Lan, her husband, first founded the brand.
It is said that in the 30th year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1765), the emperor went on his fourth tour to the Jiangnan area, where he happily declared that “Jiangnan ren shan zheng ye!” (Jiangnan people are truly good at steaming!) — that is where the name “Good Steaming Workshop” came from. Started as a small workshop by a businessman named Xu Renfu, the store quickly gained popularity and then was transferred to a next-door vendor named Lan Hongbai. Lan took over and began to sell steamed sponge cakes with his shaobing (stuffed flatbread) under the brand, which turned out to be even more successful than before.
In the 1990s, Lan Jinguo, the fourth generation of the Lan family, transformed the old freshly-made-and-sold pattern of small workshops into the Good Steaming Workshop Food Co. Ltd. In 2016, the steamed sponge cakes made by Good Steaming Workshop was selected as one of the specials for the G20 Hangzhou summit. In the same year, it won the gold medal in the first competition, held in Beijing, on the best snacks for tourists in China.
“Longyou steamed sponge cakes taste delicious and they are very popular. It has already been recognized as the representative dish of Longyou cuisine,” introduced Wang Hui, who is in charge of Longyou’s food promotion office. Thanks to the efforts of Longyou government, steamed sponge cakes and other typical local snacks have become Longyou’s new “golden name cards”, attracting tourists from home and abroad, and a cash cow that helps local people to generate more income.