程鵬：架起中意美食文化之橋

吳洋

經典電影《教父》中有一句來自老教父維托 · 柯里昂的臺詞，體現了大多數意大利人特別重視家庭陪伴的傳統觀念。臺詞是這樣說的：“不陪家人的男人，不是好男人?！彪娪爸?，有許多鏡頭記錄大家族一起吃飯的場景，這也充分反映出意大利人看重家族感情的維系和人際關系的維護。

在歐洲，很多其他國家和地區的人常常會把意大利稱為“歐洲版的中國”，因為意大利和中國在家庭觀念、人情關系和美食文化上有許多相似之處。B站上有一位知名up主名叫“善美”，這個來自意大利的姑娘用中文介紹了中意之間的三個共通點：第一，兩國都擁有璀璨悠久的古文明歷史，中國的漢朝相當于意大利古羅馬時期，都是世界文明發展中的重要時代;第二，兩國都非常重視家庭關系和人際交往，很多意大利人長大以后會選擇和父母繼續住一起或住在父母家附近;第三，“民以食為天”的中華飲食文化同樣可以用在形容意大利飲食文化，種類豐富、口味獨特的中意美食聞名遐邇。

在有如此多共通點的這兩個國家中，有一群華人華僑往返于兩地、牽系著兩者。他們既飽含深情地眷戀著故土親人，又滿懷熱情地奔赴異國生活，以中意傳統文化、美食文化為紐帶，珍惜重視家庭、親友、鄰里、團體組織之間的人情關系，在中意兩國之間架起一座座崇尚友好的情感之橋?，F任意大利羅馬華僑華人聯合會執行會長程鵬就是其中一位典型代表。

弘揚中餐文化30載

程鵬是青田人。青田位于浙江西南部，山多田少，自然資源十分有限。但青田人卻善于“把一手爛牌打成王炸”，生動詮釋了浙江人自古以來的性格基因——互幫互助、踏實肯干、勇于開拓。改革開放后青田迎來出國潮，目的地大多是歐洲，走出去的青田人主要做“三刀一提”：“三刀”指的是廚師、裁縫、理發師;“一提”即提著籃子賣點小玩意兒。親幫親、鄰帶鄰，從小買賣做到大生意，不少青田人很快便在歐洲各國站穩了腳跟，并逐漸成為推動當地經濟發展的主力軍之一。

就是在那樣的時代背景下，1992年，年輕的程鵬不遠萬里來到德國。1995年，恰逢意大利放開對外國人的移民政策，他又輾轉遷至羅馬。初到意大利的程鵬開始尋找在意大利的謀生之道，餐飲便是他找到的第一條路。沒想到的是，這也是溝通意大利文化與中華文化最直接的路徑，在這條路上，他一走就走了將近30年。由于具有出眾的經商頭腦、經營理念、執行能力和實干精神，到意大利后沒過幾年，程鵬便在羅馬國際機場附近和朋友合開了一家中餐館。當時羅馬的華人華僑并不多，中餐館也很少。程鵬回憶說：“早期我們做的是本地式中餐，菜品單一，制作工序也相對簡單，如春卷、蝦片、廣東炒飯、杏仁雞丁、麻婆豆腐等?！?/p>

20世紀90年代末，歐洲人包括意大利人對中餐文化的了解相對較少，對外來移民者多少抱著“為擺脫貧困而來”的印象。但是，彈指一揮間，幾十年過去了，世界格局正在發生深層次變革，中國綜合國力日益強盛，中華文化、中華美食文化的影響力也隨之擴大到世界各地。這些變化，讓從事餐飲行業、每天能接觸到形形色色之人的程鵬感受頗深。

“曾經遇到過一些年紀大的客人，對中國的認識似乎還停留在20世紀70年代，殊不知中國早已是全新的面貌。最能深切感受到周圍人開始真正了解現代中國的契機，發生在2008年北京舉辦奧運會?！背贴i談到，當時他在餐館里特意添了一臺電視機，讓顧客們能隨時隨地觀看比賽轉播，“很多人看了北京奧運會后會跟我說，你們中國現在真的很棒，和他們想象中的中國完全不一樣。近兩年更是如此，很多在意大利華人企業上班的來自各個國家或地區的員工多多少少都會講點中文，社會上更是掀起了學習漢語的熱潮”。

聊起中國的發展和中華文化影響力的擴大，程鵬言語間滿是激動和自豪。“這種令人欣喜的變化還表現在海外中餐逐漸高端化這一趨勢上。我們現在做中餐越做越專業，菜系也越來越豐富多樣，從餐館裝潢到菜品擺盤都更加講究體現中華文化之美。”程鵬介紹說。

美食讓交流更活躍

“意大利人和中國人一樣，都特別喜愛美食，對吃很講究?！背贴i介紹說，意大利和中國的相似之處還體現在地理特點上，每個地區都有自身特有的自然產物，物產豐富，從南到北都有不同的美食文化。此外，意大利人非常喜歡吃面食，從上百種意大利面到各種制法的披薩不一而足，甚至還有餛飩、餃子，也是意大利傳統家庭菜肴。

作為兩大美食之國的溝通使者，程鵬和他的餐館對中意餐的融合頗有研究。程鵬特別舉例提到了對杭州傳統名菜——西湖醋魚的本地化改良。意大利人很喜歡糖醋這一口感，比如對粵菜咕咾肉的喜愛由來已久，但又不擅長吃西湖醋魚的原材料——草魚這一類多細刺的淡水魚，于是他的中餐館便把魚種換成了海鱸魚，既保留了糖醋這一中華傳統美食特有的烹制方式，又遵循了包括意大利人在內的歐洲人普遍不吃骨頭、不吐刺的飲食習慣，受到了當地人的歡迎和好評。

另一方面，意大利人和中國人同樣都非常重視人情交往，而節日是大家聚在一起交流溝通、加深感情的最佳時機。程鵬說，中國傳統節日是傳承中華優秀傳統文化的重要載體，因特定節日誕生、發展而來的民俗活動和美食習慣是中華文化的精髓。因此，每逢中國傳統佳節來臨之際，程鵬總是會熱情地邀請當地政經界要員、文化圈的名人和華人華僑朋友等一起過“中國節”，一起品嘗各種具有時令文化特色的中華美食，一起開展如端午賽龍舟、中秋節聆聽團圓海潮曲等節慶民俗活動。

此外，在程鵬所屬的意大利羅馬華僑華人聯合總會的支持和幫助下，與孔子學院合作，與以漢語為第一外語的羅馬住讀理科高中積極開展有關中國文化的活動，更是邀請到中國的乒乓球教練遠赴意大利當地，現場教授學生們打乒乓球，進行體育方面的跨國交流與互動。

探索中意文化交流新模式

程鵬透露，2019年，他準備了一籮筐的中意文化交流與合作計劃，想要大展抱負。“和意大利政府進行了溝通探討，研究了各種方案，希望能以意大利各地區和中國各城市的美食文化為紐帶，建立城市與城市、地區與地區之間點對點的聯系與交流?！背贴i接著說，他當時還準備和浙江商業職業技術學院展開合作，想把浙江菜系的烹制技術作為專業學科引到意大利，并將意大利菜的專業知識帶回浙江。

在突如其來的新冠肺炎疫情影響下，一切似乎都被打亂了。然而，程鵬又開始了新的嘗試。2020年10月30日，程鵬的第一個系列視頻《去哪兒鵬哥》在抖音APP發布，該系列視頻的受眾主要是因疫情無法前往意大利旅游的中國游客，向他們介紹比較小眾卻是原汁原味的意大利文化。盡管是第一次錄制短視頻，他還是組建了一個專業的視頻小團隊，該團隊主要由影視傳媒專業的中國留學生組成，引起不少當地華人華僑的興趣與關注，紛紛向他“取經”。

程鵬表示，今后還將在視頻中體現中華文化和意大利文化源遠流長的跨國交流歷史，同時介紹中國各大城市的歷史文化特征和現代發展特色。“只有親眼看到中國如今的真實樣貌，感受到中國的變化，外國人才能真正了解中國。這些視頻將用意大利語、英語錄制，并發到海外各大視頻端口，例如海外版抖音（TIKTOK），讓更多海外社交媒體用戶可以多渠道、多視點地了解中華文化和中國發展。”程鵬補充說，“除了短視頻，還將大力推動中國品牌進入歐洲市場，積極推動兩國中小企業間的交流與合作”。

值得一提的是，中國和意大利這兩大美食王國還從各自博大精深的古文明中繼承了一個共同的思想文化精髓——包容。包容的基礎是找到共通點，包容的目的則是實現共享，正是因為清楚地知道這個邏輯和道理，在積極促進中意之間相互交流和理解上，無論是以美食為紐帶推進中意交流的程鵬，還是用中文解說意大利文化的B站up主意大利姑娘善美，都在盡心竭力地不斷努力，不斷發出友好之聲，不斷點燃兩國人民交往中的善意之光。相信萬點微光方能匯成海，最終點亮中意兩國的朗朗星空。

Cheng Peng：

Building a Bridge between Two Gourmet Countries

By Wu Yang

“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man，” thus admonishes Don Vito Corleone， the Godfather. The line best captures the strong sense of family commonly found in many Italians. In the movie， scenes of a big family having dinner around a large table can be seen everywhere.

Because of the similarity in family values， ways to deal with personal relationships and food culture， Italy is often regarded “China in Europe”. On Bilibili， a Chinese streaming and video-sharing website， Micaela Russo， an Italian lady better known by her Chinese name “Shan Mei” （literally Good Beauty）， argued — in flawless Chinese， no less — that there are three commonalities between China and Italy.

First， both have a long and splendid civilization and history. Second， both attach great importance to family and interpersonal relations. Many Italians choose to continue to live with their parents or near their parents when they grow up. Third， the idea that “food is paramount”， which the Chinese people hold dear， is equally applicable to the Italian people.

Like Micaela， a multitude of Chinese have also been traveling between the two nations， building bridges of friendship through the traditional culture and food culture of China and Italy. Cheng Peng， executive chairman of the Overseas Chinese Federation in Rome， is one of them.

Born in Qingtian county， Cheng Peng was among the first waves of local people seeking opportunities abroad. Situated in Wenzhou city， the southwestern part of Zhejiang province， Qingtian is known for its mountainous terrain and scarce natural resources. But nature’s endowment， or lack thereof， has never deterred Qingtian people. With their hardworking attitude， entrepreneurial spirit and pragmatism， they began to travel overseas — mostly to Europe — after the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy. Chefs， tailors and barbers were the most popular jobs they took on， apart from small businesses， which would soon make them a major force driving local economic development.

It was against this backdrop that Cheng reached Germany in 1992， before he went on to Rome， Italy when the immigration policy there relaxed. The first business that Cheng tried was food business， Unbeknownst to him then， food is also the most direct route to connect China and Italy， along which he has treaded in the next three decades.

Several years later， with outstanding business acumen， Cheng was able to open a Chinese restaurant with his friends close to the Fiumicino International Airport. There were not many Chinese in Rome and few Chinese restaurants. “In the early days， we cooked localized Chinese food， including spring rolls， shrimp chips， Mapo tofu， among others，” recalled Cheng.

In the late 1990s， the Italians， and the Europeans for that matter， knew little about Chinese culture and China’s modern development. They held the belief that immigrants came here to “get rid of poverty”.

“I have met some elderly patrons whose knowledge of China is still that of the 1970s， and that is very very outdated，” said Cheng. “I think it was during the 2008 Olympic Games that people around me began to truly understand modern China.” At the time， he set up a new TV in the restaurant for his guests to watch the Games.

“A lot of people told me after watching the Beijing Olympics that China is really great now and it’s totally different from their perceptions，” said Cheng. “In the past few years， employees from different countries or regions working in Italian Chinese companies can speak some Chinese， and learning Chinese is in the vogue.”

China’s rapid development and growing influence can also be seen in the fact that overseas Chinese food is increasingly making inroads into high-end restaurants. “We are becoming more and more professional in preparing Chinese food， and the cuisine is ever more diverse，” said Cheng. “From decorating restaurants to presenting the dishes， diners are now seeing more of the beauty of Chinese culture.”

The Italians， like the Chinese， are fastidious eaters， according to Cheng， and the resemblance between Italy and China is also reflected in geographical features. From the south to the north， each region has its own unique natural resources and rich food culture. Italians are quite into wheaten food as well： from the hundreds of varieties of pasta to pizza， and from wonton to ravioli， they are all traditional Italian food.

As a “messenger” between the two gourmet nations， Cheng has done a lot of work on the fusion of Chinese and Italian food. One case is the adaption of the traditional Hangzhou dish， West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy， to local palates. The Italians like the sweet and sour taste —the Sweet and Sour Pork has long been a local favorite. However， they mostly refrain from taking West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy， as the fish used for the dish， the grass carp， is too bony. So Cheng replaced it with sea bass， not only retaining the sweet and sour taste， but also agreeable to the habits of European people， including the Italians， who generally prefer filleted fish.

In addition， as a way of bonding with local people， Cheng often invites them to experience traditional Chinese festivals， such as the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. His federation regularly organizes exchange activities in culture and sports.

“We have held in-depth discussions with the Italian government and studied various plans， hoping to take the food culture of different Italian regions and cities in China as the link and establish point-to-point contact and exchange between them，” Cheng revealed. In fact， he was planning to introduce the cooking techniques of Zhejiang cuisine to Italy as a professional discipline and bring Italian culinary expertise back to Zhejiang.

Unfortunately， all the plans he came up with in 2019 were disrupted by the breakout of COVID-19. Undeterred， Cheng turned his eyes to social media. On October 30， 2020， he released a series of videos titled “Where Are You Going， Brother Peng？” on Douyin， China’s TikTok， introducing Italian culture and attractions to the Chinese audience.

Looking to the future， Cheng planned to produce more short videos that will show the long history of mutual exchanges between Chinese culture and Italian culture， and present the historical and cultural heritage as well as the modern development of major Chinese cities to his Italian audience. “Seeing is believing， and only by seeing with your own eyes what China really looks like today and feeling the changes in China can foreigners truly understand it，” Cheng said. “The videos will be recorded in Italian and English and uploaded to major overseas video-sharing platforms， such as TikTok， so that more overseas social media users can learn about Chinese culture and China's development.”

Besides， Cheng added that more efforts will be spent to vigorously promote the entry of Chinese brands into the European market， and exchanges and cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises of the two countries.