Master vs. Master

Gourmet Cooking

Peng Wenjie， Zhou Yunlin

Central South University Press

January 2022

77.00 (CNY)

Gourmet Cooking， a root-seeking long documentary book， starts from Hunan cuisine and explores the innovation and development of Chinese gourmet culture. This book tells some detailed life stories， delves into the inner world of characters， vividly narrates the difficult course that three generations had gone through to start the new brilliant days of Hunan cuisine， reveals the personalized entrepreneurship required for this era of creation， ingeniously sketches out multiple features of Hunan cuisine， and excavates the historical and profound relationship between Hunan cuisine culture and Hunan culture as well as Chinese civilization from multiple aspects and perspectives.

Peng Wenjie

Mr.Peng is a senior media expert and planner， cultural scholar， spokesperson of Hunan cuisine culture， and master of Chinese dietary culture. He is the writer of several published collections of essays， such as The Great Debate of the Century on China’s Stock Market and The Power of Idols.

Zhou Yunlin

He is a member of the Hunan Writers’ Association， and his novel Battle won the first prize in the seventh Ding Ling Literature Award.

Mr. Wang， the chef at the Fire Palace， was rated as a first-class cook for the first time in 1979 and was exceptionally promoted to a special first-class cook in 1980. In 1989， he was honored as an “Ambassador of Hunan Cuisine.” Mr. Wang is understanding and talkative. Regarding the standard of a good chef， Mr. Wang has a classic saying: “Upon seeing the dishes， customers drool; while eating， they applaud; after eating， they are still immersed in a lasting aftertaste.”

Hearing that the master of Chinese studies focused on diet culture and was interested in Zu’an cuisine， Mr. Wang and Nie Houzhong looked at each other with a smile and tried to frighten Mr. Chen upon the first sentence. “Professor， do you know who is the greatest person served by this restaurant where you’re staying now?”

Mr. Chen immediately sat upright when he heard the question. “The greatest person? Chairman Mao once lived in Rongyuan Hotel when he returned to Hunan， which is no secret. My pleasure， my great pleasure.”

Seeing that the first question was not difficult for Mr. Chen， Mr. Wang deliberately showed off his insight into Hunan cuisine and said， “Hunan cuisine has a long history， which can be traced back to the Chengtoushan culture 6，000 years ago. During the Warring States Period， a variety of dishes were recorded in Qu Yuan’s Summoning the Soul. In the Western Han Dynasty， there were 109 dishes and 9 kinds of main cooking methods in Hunan， which can be confirmed by the cultural relics excavated from the Mawangdui Han Dynasty Tomb in Changsha in the early 1970s.” Mr. Wang was not in a position to show off his knowledge of history in front of Mr. Chen’s， so he just made a brief introduction and then came to the point. His following words aroused Mr. Chen’s curiosity. “According to Qu Yuan’s Summoning the Soul， the food in the Chu State was already quite abundant. Staple foods included rice， millet， new wheat， and yellow millet; the dishes included stewed beef tendon， braised turtle with soy sauce， barbecued mutton， boiled swan， stewed duck， pot-stewed chicken， braised soft-shelled turtle， frozen sweet wine， and plum syrup for dispelling the effects of alcohol; and the cooking skills included the harmony of salty， bitter， pungent， spicy and sour flavors.”

Many people have translated Qu Yuan’s Summoning the Soul， and Mr. Chen certainly knew it. He saw that Mr. Wang， who was in his prime， wanted to show off but failed to explain the quotation in detail， so he deliberately tried to upset him. He glanced at Wen Da with a smile and recited one of the passages of Summoning the Soul so fluently that everyone present was surprised.

After Wen Da finished his translating， Ren Weizheng， who had just come from the kitchen to watch the battle between the two masters， took the lead in applauding， and all the waiters then applauded. This was the first time Wen Da had met Nie Houzhong’s third apprentice， Ren Weizheng， a tall and handsome man.

Wen Da was such a person who would stay in his show quickly when it came to poetry， dancing while reciting with a silver voice and deep feeling. It was just like what a singer would do upon hearing music.

Mr. Wang looked more like a scholar than a chef. He and Wen Da admired each other， and they clicked immediately and became close friends at first sight.

“Professor Chen， impressive!” Seeing that Mr. Chen was really talented and worthy of his fame， Mr. Wang added， “The spirit rapping dishes of the Chu State were actually used to call back the soul of King Huai of Chu.”

“I know that.” Mr. Chen felt that Master Wang was indeed knowledgeable， so he asked at the right time， “Master Wang， you just mentioned Chengtoushan and Mawangdui. Would you please tell me what people in Chengtoushan as well as in Duke Dai’s mansion ate? How did they eat?”

Mr. Chen’s questions actually stumped Mr. Wang. He majored in dish cooking but was not good at dietary history. What did people in Chengtoushan， as well as in Duke Dai’s mansion， eat? How did they eat? Mr. Wang did not know the answer. He felt that Professor Chen looked gentle but had a firm character behind his gentle appearance. So he smiled slightly and immediately threw the questions at Mr. Chen. “Professor， if you are interested in the questions， you can study them. After you have the answer， I’ll be all ears.”

“Master Wang， in terms of these two questions， I think I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer when I leave Hunan. Do you believe it?” Mr. Chen smiled， knowing that his reply would embarrass Mr. Wang. Seeing that Mr. Wang was stunned， he asked the third question. Before asking this question， he deliberately talked in a roundabout way. “Master Wang， according to the available information， there are 312 bamboo slips of 2，063 characters unearthed from Mawangdui Tomb No. 1. There are silk manuscripts of more than 100，000 characters unearthed from Mawangdui Tomb No. 3， covering the aspects of ancient philosophy， history and science and technology. After collation， there are 28 kinds of books totally. Also， there are several picture books， most of which are lost ancient books. As far as diet culture is concerned， I know that there is a book Gourmet Cooking which is recorded in Han History: Logs of Gourmets. I thought that it was in Mawangdui Tomb， but it was not. Do you have this book in your school? I’m too humble to expect to see it， and I just want to make sure whether it is in your school.”

“Gourmet Cooking?” Mr. Wang was unhappy when he heard that Professor Chen was asking another question difficult for him， and he said with a forced smile， “I’m so ignorant that I have never heard of the book Gourmet Cooking in the Han Dynasty.”

Nie Houzhong had fun watching the battle between Mr. Chen and Mr. Wang， and he added: “Professor Chen has a solid historical foundation， and Master Wang has a good grasp of Hunan cuisine theory.”

Mr. Chen just smiled. Seeing that Master Wang gave no answers to his three questions， he knew that Master Wang was professional in cooking， but he had only limited knowledge of diet culture. Therefore， Mr. Chen descended to Hunan cuisine， asking， “Master Wang， as a Hunan cuisine master， how do you summarize the characteristics of Hunan cuisine in one sentence?”

Hunan cuisine can be divided into three branches according to the region， including the local cuisine of the Xiang River region in Changsha， represented by Zu’an cuisine; also the freshwater cuisine of Dongting Lake region， represented by Changde pot cuisine and Yueyang fish feast; and western Hunan cuisine and southern Hunan mountain products cuisine， represented by western Hunan cured meats. To summarize the characteristics of Hunan cuisine in one sentence? No one had ever asked Master Wang such a question.

Seeing that Professor Chen was gloating again， Mr. Wang deliberately pondered for a moment and then said with a smile， “Professor， it is impossible to summarize the characteristics of Hunan cuisine in one sentence. I’ll leave you to study the ancient Hunan cuisine. Speaking of introducing modern Hunan cuisine in one sentence， I will have a try. First， in terms of ingredients， you can eat anything， including animals flying in the sky， walking on the ground， swimming in the water， as well as other delicacies from the mountains and seas; secondly， in terms of cooking techniques， there are eight major types， including frying， steaming， stewing， simmering， saucing， braising， stir-frying， and roasting， which can be used in any combinations; thirdly， in terms of seasoning， the five different flavors of sour， sweet， bitter， spicy， and salty should be in harmony. Besides， the spicier， the better， especially spicy with sourness.

Master Wang’s summary contained a lot of information. Mr. Chen wanted to ask him a lot of questions after listening to it， but seeing that the restaurant was about to be closed， he only asked one question: “What’s the difference between stewing and simmering?”

What was the difference between stewing and simmering? According to Mr. Chen’s experience， both stewing and simmering required water， but gentle fire should be used for simmering. But after careful consideration， it seemed that big fire and gentle fire could not be used to distinguish these two cooking techniques.

Master Wang was after all a Hunan cuisine master specializing in cooking. In one sentence， he defined the difference between stewing and simmering.

Master Wang smiled lightly and said: “The difference between stewing and simmering lies in the fact that when all liquids are reduced and absorbed， it is simmering. Otherwise， it is stewing.”