Open the road to rural revitalization with "full color and fragrance"

On November 5, Meijiang District was awarded the "Guangdong Hakka Food City", becoming the first city in Guangdong to receive this honor. Courtesy of respondents

Plum vegetable buckle anchovies, begonia fish in golden sauce, Hakka golden soup fish noodles... In the just-concluded 2019 Meijiang District Vocational Skills Competition in Meizhou City, the Chinese cook (Hakka cuisine) competition, 30 contestants took out the "housekeeping skills" and used the aquatic product "Kedu grass carp" certified by the National Geographical Indication as raw materials to produce a series of Hakka dishes with full color and flavor.

Clear but not light, fresh and not vulgar, tender and not raw... In Meijiang District, the historic Hakka cuisine is being rejuvenated. On November 5, Meijiang District was awarded the "Guangdong Hakka Food City", becoming the first city in Guangdong to receive this honor.

The taste is the food culture, and the painting is the revitalization of the countryside. Taking the honor of "Guangdong Hakka Famous Food City" as an opportunity, Meijiang District will take the "Cantonese Cuisine (Hakka Cuisine) Master" project as an important starting point for actively integrating into the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and promoting the revitalization and development of the Soviet Union, accelerating the brand construction and upgrading of "Hakka Cuisine Green Ingredient Capital, Upgraded R&D Capital, Ingenious Famous Teacher Capital and Famous Cuisine Shop Capital", and opening up a rural revitalization road of "full color and fragrance".

▶ ▷ Food in Meijiang

Old town cuisine evokes Hakka memories

At 6 o'clock in the morning, the sky was just dark, and a burst of fragrance had wafted from the old street of Jiangbei in Meicheng. The shopkeepers of Yau Lo Street opened their doors one after another, heated up the boiler, and prepared to fry the steamed buns.

This is meicheng's famous "fried street". In Meizhou, steamed buns, pumpkin rounds, fried rounds and other fried products are local specialties, oily but not greasy, crispy taste, is one of the foodies that must be punched.

Every New Year's Day, Yau Lo Street is crowded by people who come to buy fried goods. "Many overseas Chinese return to their hometowns and come to Youluo Street to buy a few packs of fried goods to take out as souvenirs." Xiong Yinyuan, owner of the oil Luohou factory, said.

A local specialty is often hidden in the inconspicuous streets and alleys. Jinshan beef offal, Houji fried powder, Rongji tangyuan... Famous Hakka snack shops dotted under the century-old arcade building, condensing the memories and nostalgia of the locals.

"There are three more famous food streets in Meijiang District: a street for pot rice, a street for fried food, and a street for salt-baked food, which are located in Zhongyuan East Road, Youluo Street and Fazheng Road in Jiangnan." Huang Junpeng, president of Meijiang District Catering Industry Association, introduced.

The variety of food and the profound food culture are the basis for Meijiang District to become a "Famous Hakka Food City in Guangdong". The Hakka people are constantly looking for food in the process of migration, such as the roots of the mountains, the freshness of the rivers and ponds, the mushrooms of the forest, and the beauty of the countryside, which are the ingredients of the Hakka.

"Although thousands of years have passed, Hakka cuisine still inherits the cooking techniques and eating customs of the Central Plains. For example, the Hakka meatball 'pounding treasure' technique and the Hakka 'brewing dish' culture are known as the 'living fossils' of the Central Plains food culture. The '粄' food culture is still the mainstream of Hakka food culture and has formed a characteristic. Chen Gangwen, a Chinese cooking master and the discipline leader of the Chinese Hakka cuisine research and development training base, said.

The food business card "salt baked chicken" in Hakka cuisine is not only unique in taste, but also nutritious, praiseworthy and unforgettable, and is a commonly used delicacy at banquets.

The plain straw paper is wrapped in a golden oily chicken, and the slightly burnt skin and tender meat are permeated with the aroma of salt, which is a smell that lingers on the tip of the Hakka tongue. It was born in the arduous migration road of the Hakka people, developed in the era of the Hakka people to expand the territory, and has become a famous Hakka dish in the quiet and peaceful today.

Nowadays, a number of traditional gastronomic skills in Meijiang District have been included in the provincial and municipal intangible cultural heritage protection projects. Among them, The Hakka salt-baked chicken and Hakka Niangjiu in Meijiang District were selected as the intangible cultural heritage protection projects of Guangdong Province and Meizhou City respectively; the traditional production techniques of Qingming Rice, Taste Cellar Dumpling, Steamed Sweet Rice and other kinds of food were listed in the municipal gastronomic intangible cultural heritage.

▶ ▷Famous shops

Recruit talents to lead the development of the industry

At the end of September this year, the evaluation expert group headed by Li Zhaohui, secretary general of the Guangdong Cuisine Association, made a special trip to Meijiang District to review and evaluate the declaration of "Guangdong Hakka Food City" in Meijiang District, and simultaneously carried out the review of "Guangdong Hakka Restaurant" and "Famous Teacher, Famous Dish and Famous Snack".

At the review and feedback meeting, the expert group affirmed the profound gastronomic culture and good ingredients in Meijiang, and also gave high praise to the cooking techniques of famous chefs in the region and a group of outstanding catering enterprises dedicated to inheriting, promoting and innovating Hakka cuisine.

In recent years, Meijiang District has actively implemented the implementation of the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project by the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government and the implementation of the "Hakka Cuisine Master" project by the Meizhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, creating a number of Hakka restaurants with good taste and strong cultural atmosphere.

Old house beams, exquisite brick carvings, old sitting railings. Walking into the Jinyuan Restaurant in Meijiang District, the unique Hakka decoration condenses the cultural essence of the Hakka Dragon House. "The name of the restaurant's private room is taken from the name of the Hakka place in Fujian, Guangdong, Ganbian and the name used in Meizhou, which is also a way to show Hakka culture." Meizhou Jinyuan Catering Management Co., Ltd. Vientiane Branch relevant person in charge of the introduction.

As the only restaurant in Meizhou to be awarded the title of "Chinese Restaurant Famous Restaurant" by the China Cuisine Association, Jinyuan Restaurant is a microcosm of the rapid development of Meijiang's catering industry.

At present, a number of outstanding catering enterprises have risen in Meijiang District, and the development of the catering industry has shown a vigorous trend. Here are the Hakka Dragon House "Chengde Lou" Xingyuan Restaurant, which means "inheriting the first and starting the future, Virtue Hou Naichang", Meizhou Jinfan Ruiyuan, which was awarded the "Food in Guangdong" catering brand enterprise by the Guangdong Catering Service Industry Association, as well as the objective world, the old Hakka Cuisine and the Xinghuayuan Restaurant that have just been awarded the title of "Guangdong Hakka Restaurant"...

According to statistics, a total of 5732 catering enterprises in the region have been registered for industry and commerce. Among them, there are 3 catering enterprises with a registered capital of more than 10 million yuan, 34 enterprises with a registered capital of 5 million to 10 million yuan, and 151 catering enterprises that have been operating for more than 15 years.

These excellent enterprises also provide opportunities and platforms for absorbing and cultivating more talents in the catering industry. In October 2018, Meijiang District launched a series of Hakka cuisine master activities, and Chen Gangwen's national skill master studio was officially settled in Meizhou Jinyuan Catering Management Co., Ltd. The studio combines R&D training institutions with catering enterprises, giving full play to the important role of high-skilled leading talents in passing on skills, tackling skills, passing on skills, and promoting skills.

In recent years, the students trained by Chen Gangwen have participated in the National and Guangdong Provincial Secondary Vocational School Skills Competition, of which 3 have won the national third prize, 5 first prizes, 18 second prizes and 22 third prizes in Guangdong Province. The hotel cooking technicians he guided participated in the national, provincial and municipal skills competitions, and 22 people won the national special gold and gold medal awards... "These high-quality service talents with professional ability are the pioneers of the future development of Hakka cuisine, and also the solid force for Hakka catering enterprises to go to the national market." Huang Junpeng said.

▶ ▷ Kitchen out of Jiaying

Create "four capitals and one product" to promote rural revitalization

"In terms of talent cultivation, in addition to cultivating chefs in the industry's 'passing on the help' method, Meijiang District mainly relies on modern education and cooking professionals to cultivate talents." Xiong Ruisheng, secretary general of the Meijiang District Catering Industry Association, said.

As early as 2008, Meizhou Agricultural School cooperated with Meizhou Catering Industry Association to open a Chinese cuisine major, with Hakka cuisine teaching as a professional feature, and in 2012, it was recognized by the Chinese Cuisine Society as a Research and Development Training Base for Chinese Hakka Cuisine.

"Exquisitely crafted products, cooking dishes with oil, salt, sauce and vinegar", this is a slogan pasted in the cooking training room. "Fried green pepper shredded potatoes in 8 minutes, potatoes can not be less than 350 grams after peeling, shredded potatoes should be cut as fine as toothpicks... This is the most basic requirement I have for my students. Chen Gangwen, the leader of the discipline of the base, said.

After graduating from junior high school, Zhang Honghua came to Meizhou Agricultural School to learn cooking, and he learned knife skills for a month alone, and his fingers were cut countless times. Now, after the knife rises, the ingredients are neatly arranged under his hands. Zhang Honghua has long planned his career route: "After graduation, first go to a famous restaurant to learn to cook, and open your own restaurant in the future!" It is understood that the employment rate of students trained by hakka cuisine teaching majors has reached 99.8%, mainly in hakka cuisine famous enterprises and famous stores.

Using cooking as the medium to "make blood" for poverty alleviation, the "Hakka Cuisine Master" project is also active in various villages in Meijiang District. For rural poor households, farm farm workers and other groups, the base has carried out high, medium and primary cooking skills training, contributing to rural revitalization and accurate poverty alleviation. In the past 10 years, 3 people have won the second prize of the national competition, 5 people have won the first prize of Guangdong Province, 18 people have won the second prize of the province, and 22 people have won the third prize of the province. Local cuisine has driven the local characteristic industries to become famous. Fish, shrimp and crabs in shantang rivers and streams, snakes and eels and frog snails in the fields... Working eating, Meijiang District has made Hakka cuisine culture the golden key for rural revitalization. Zhang Yingtao has been engaged in aquaculture for more than 10 years, and he has farmed more than 200,000 catties of grass carp in Huangkeng Village, Jinshan Street, Meijiang District. After the "Kedu Grass Carp" successfully obtained the National Geographical Indication Certification, the annual production of grass carp in Meijiang District is further increasing, and more entrepreneurs are flocking to share the dividends of the gastronomic economy. With food as the medium, many sleeping rural tourism resources have been revitalized. At present, the catering industry in Meijiang District takes the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project as the link, innovates the "Hakka Cuisine Master + Cuisine + Tourism" model, and creates a number of rural gastronomic tourist attractions and boutique routes to promote rural revitalization.

"In addition, with the creation of 'four capitals and one product' as the starting point and the catering association as the platform, Meijiang District will also comprehensively promote talent training, dish research and development, and food export, publicize and excavate Hakka food culture, and deepen the impression of 'Guangdong Hakka Food City'." The relevant person in charge of the Meijiang District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau said.

Southern Daily reporter Huang Sihua

Trainee reporter Liang Shiyu