Every day at 17:00 p.m., it is the busiest time for the back kitchen of the Chinese restaurant in Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel, and the chefs are busy in their respective positions in the various dish making areas. Zhu Deqiang, the production director of the Chinese restaurant, wandered around the production sections and controlled the manufacturing and production of various dishes and foods.
The RoastEd Flavor Area is the core dish area of the Chinese restaurant of the hot spring hotel, and it is also the place where the well-known braised Shiqi pigeon is produced, with at least 200 per day. "Put the pigeon soaked in brine into hot oil and fry it, the oil temperature should be controlled at about 180 ° C, and it is almost enough to fry for 4 minutes." In the production room of the roasted flavor area, Zhu Deqiang demonstrated to the chefs the preparation method of braised Shiqi pigeon on the spot. After 4 minutes, the appearance of the fried pigeon in oil gradually turns golden.
As a bright business card of Zhongshan cuisine and even the city, Whether in the field of breeding and cooking, Shiqi pigeon has become famous overseas. In the face of the popularity of IP marketing and the development trend of the catering industry in which consumer groups are constantly subdivided, the brand effect of Shiqi pigeon has been diluted, in this context, how can Shiqi pigeon polish the brand and then "take off"? Recently, Zhongshan City has included Shiqi pigeon in the national geographical indication product protection declaration object, which has become the focus of attention of the media and the industry, and the declaration work is also expected to further sort out the history of Shiqi pigeon and the Zhongshan food culture behind it. In addition, the "Cantonese Cuisine Master" project is being implemented, and under many new opportunities, what new opportunities will Shiqi pigeon have?
It has an annual output of 2 million Ishiki pigeons
At the southern foot of Wugui Mountain, the Shiqi pigeon breeding room of Zhongshan Shiqi Pigeon Breeding Co., Ltd. is neatly arranged, and in the room, the three-story breeding cage is full of white-feathered Shiqi pigeons. Here is the largest Shiqi pigeon breeding base in Zhongshan, with an annual output of 100,000 pairs and 2 million suckling pigeons, which are exported to domestic and foreign countries.
"With high breeding rate, fast growth rate and strong disease resistance, Shiqi pigeon is one of the few dominant breeds in China." The company's managing director Li Zhengsheng has been engaged in the breeding of Shiqi pigeons for more than 10 years and began to deal with Shiqi pigeons in the 1990s. Over the years, he has been engaged in the business of the company while studying the history and breeding techniques of the Ishiki pigeon.
Shiqi pigeons have been breeding in Zhongshan for more than 100 years. In 1915, the overseas Chinese in Zhongshan brought back from the United States the "White Feather King Pigeon", also known as the "Landing King", which was mixed and crossed with the native Shiqi pigeons in Zhongshan and accidentally bred a new breed. Since then, pigeon breeders have crossed this new breed with other exotic breeds. After that, a good breed of pigeons that combines the advantages of the above-mentioned famous pigeons and is suitable for local breeding gradually takes shape. This breed has a short spawning cycle, a high hatching success rate, and is easy to raise, so it is called "Shiqi pigeon" because it is produced in Andi and surrounding areas.
Why Ishiki? Through the review of historical materials, Li Zhengsheng found that the development of Shiqi pigeon breeding in zhongshan area is closely related to the high demand for edible pigeon meat in Hong Kong, Macao and surrounding areas. Zhongshan Shiqi area is the main economic area and population residential area near the pigeon meat demand market such as Hong Kong, Macao and Guangzhou city, under the dual role of innate location and market demand, Shiqi pigeon breeding industry continues to grow, and with the optimization of varieties, the reputation of Shiqi pigeon is gradually rising.
While breeding is expanding, the breeding technology of Shiqi pigeons is constantly maturing. At the beginning of 2000, the research results of the project "Purification and Rejuvenation of Shiqi Pigeons" presided over by a number of experts promoted by Zhongshan Shiqi Pigeon Breeding Co., Ltd. passed the expert appraisal organized by the provincial science and technology department and won the Guangdong Agricultural Technology Promotion Award, and a more high-yield, low-consumption and stable mass-produced Shiqi pigeon breed was introduced.
Tradition + Innovation Ishiki pigeons keep flying high
In the exhibition hall of Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel, old-fashioned imported air conditioners, cash registers, old doors and windows, celebrity photos and other items with distinct historical marks are displayed in it, recording and replaying the development history of Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel. In the historical data display area, a photo showing the chef of Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel making Shiqi braised pigeon at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in 1994 is particularly conspicuous, which is also the only historical photo related to the cuisine in the exhibition hall.
The traditional way of eating shiqi pigeon is stewed soup, and the braised food method was introduced from Macau. The banquet of the opening ceremony of the Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel was an important event to promote the "return" of Shiqi's pigeons to Zhongshan. In 1980, on the day of the opening of the hot spring hotel, a "braised Shiqi pigeon" became the final dish for entertaining guests, and the reputation of the Ishiki pigeon was greatly enhanced for a while. Today, although the Shiqi pigeon is all over the large and small restaurants in and around Zhongshan, there is no shortage of diners from Hong Kong and Macao who go to the hot spring hotel to taste the traditional taste of the braised Shiqi pigeon, and "packing and taking away" has also become the practice of gourmets.
Zhu Deqiang, who has been in the industry for 31 years, is a veteran chef who makes braised Shiqi pigeons, and is now the director of Chinese restaurant production at Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel. In 1988, he entered the back kitchen of the ishiki hotel at that time, and the first dish he learned to make was the braised is the braised is the ishiki pigeon. "At that time, all restaurants in Zhongshan would cook this dish." Zhu Deqiang said that under the fame of Shiqi pigeon, the local diet of Zhongshan has continued to develop, and at the same time, the production method of Shiqi pigeon has also been innovated. In 2011, Zhu Deqiang entered the Zhongshan Hot Spring Hotel, and then the Chinese restaurant of the Hot Spring Hotel successively launched a series of new dishes such as braised lemongrass pigeon and "glass pigeon".
"This is to adapt to the needs of the development of the times, but all innovations are based on the improvement of tradition." Zhu Deqiang said that innovation on the basis of tradition is the key to maintaining the activities of Shiqi pigeons. To this day, many Hong Kong, Macao and foreign diners still come to taste the braised Shiqi pigeon.
In addition to the production method, the business model of the catering industry around the Shiqi pigeon is also changing, and a number of local Shiqi pigeon-themed catering enterprises such as the Shiqi Luo Zhongshan Restaurant have appeared successively, becoming the "punching point" for citizens and tourists to taste the Shiqi pigeon.
Add food culture IP to Ishiki pigeon
The news that Zhongshan has applied for the protection of national geographical indications for Shiqi suckling pigeons has aroused heated discussion in the industry and Zhongshan. Some people see a new opportunity for the promotion of Shiqi pigeon breeding, and some people hope to further standardize and clarify the production standards of Shiqi pigeon and polish the brand.
A national geographical indication protected product is a product produced in a specific geographical area whose quality, reputation or other characteristics are essentially dependent on the natural and human factors of the place of origin, and are approved to be named by geographical name after review. From the definition point of view, the rated products need to have significant characteristics in terms of product quality, production technology, and regional human factors. From this point of view, if the Shiqi pigeon declaration is successful, it will bring certain positive effects to the Shiqi pigeon industry chain and promote the development path of standardization of the Shiqi pigeon.
However, the declaration work is not a "panacea", and polishing the brand of Shiqi Pigeon still needs to consider many factors. It is understood that at present, Zhongshan has 3 geographical indication product protection products, namely Huangpu Wax Flavor, Zhongshan Crispy Meat Fish, and Shenwan Pineapple. Judging from the current situation of the development of this part of the product, the product protection products of the declared geographical indications play an obvious role in promoting the setting of industrial standards and standardizing the market order, but the market promotion and marketing and brand establishment still need to be improved.
In this regard, some experts believe that enterprises themselves should play a greater subjective initiative in it. Compared with other geographical indication product protection products, after years of development, Shiqi Pigeon is a variety with a wider audience, higher recognition and more marketing potential, which also provides a basis for enterprises to take advantage of the development. However, at present, the business philosophy of Zhongshan's local catering industry needs to be innovated, and the lack of innovation in traditional Zhongshan local Cantonese restaurants, the old customer group, and the lack of attraction to young consumer groups are prominent, and the local cuisine audience group is being lost. Zhongshan enterprises should pay more attention to reshaping the Zhongshan food culture behind the Shiqi pigeon, and use cultural charm to enhance the attractiveness of food and improve the added value of products. To this end, enterprises can learn from the marketing and promotion experience of Sichuan cuisine and other specialties and "net red food", and use the power of film and television and the Internet to create food IP.
In this regard, Zhongshan City at the end of last year issued the "Zhongshan "Cantonese Cuisine Master" Project Implementation Plan" also deployed, proposed to "innovate the 'Cantonese cuisine master + tourism', 'Cantonese cuisine master + culture' and other models to enhance the influence of Zhongshan food culture", the implementation of the Cantonese cuisine master project is also expected to provide impetus for the re-take-off of Shiqi pigeon.
【Text】Nanfang Daily reporter Lei Haiquan
【Photo】 Nanfang Daily reporter Ye Zhiwen
【Author】 Lei Haiquan; Ye Zhiwen
【Source】 Southern Press Media Group South + client