Humanism is a culture in China since ancient times, and everyone's important moments such as birth, education, marriage, childbirth and death need to be witnessed by relatives and friends.
Therefore, feasting naturally became a necessary way to entertain relatives and friends.
Banquets across the country have unique styles, and the richness of the banquet may be affected by the local food culture and the level of economic development. As a result, in some provinces the feast looks opulent and atmospheric, while in others it may appear simple and unsatisfactory.
While locals may be very satisfied with eating, it may take some time for out-of-towners to get used to these different banquet styles.
Where are the feasts the most confusing? After a lot of comparison, the following four places are eye-catching. Sometimes, I even feel that I have been wronged with a gift of 200. When it comes to feasts that fool people, Hubei can be said to be polarized.
Although some banquets can taste Hubei special food, such as dry roasted Wuchang fish, pearl balls, steamed fish cakes, fried lotus roots, steamed pork, roasted eel, as well as chopped pepper fish head, grilled elbows, braised prawns, etc., such as Jingzhou, Enshi and other places will also serve four pot dishes with stoves, which are hotter to eat.
However, there are also some banquets where the dishes are not as good as they could be. Although these dishes may not be expensive, they always feel insincere.
Some places in Hubei pay more attention to simplicity and practicality when holding banquets, such as Tianmen, Xiantao, Yingcheng and other places. Prepare only about 10 large bowls, and the dishes may not look tempting, but it is best to have stewed pork ribs and buttoned pork.
In some places, there are even 10 dishes of fried peanuts, braised eggs and steamed potatoes, and the cold lotus root ribbon is accompanied by a large bowl of cold vegetable soup, which is a funny scene.
Although Anhui's presence in China's provinces is relatively low, Anhui's banquet also contains a unique charm. If you look closely, you will find that the dishes in these feasts do not directly reflect the characteristics of Anhui, but are closer to Yulu cuisine, such as roast chicken, Sixi meatballs and braised carp.
In addition, there is a range of salads, probably from the northern Huibei region, which is close to Shandong and Henan.
Although some of the dishes look good, there are not many main dishes, only roasted elbow, stewed soft-shelled turtle or braised large carp. In addition, although there are many kinds of soup dishes in Anhui, many vegetarian and meat dishes have soup and need to be served on dark plates or large bowls, which makes it difficult to identify specific dishes, and the color is light and not so appealing to the appetite.
Although Anhui's banquet is very solid, it is indeed not so rich compared with the seafood-based banquet in Fujian, Zhejiang and other coastal provinces, or the banquet in the northwest and northeast that are mainly all meat dishes.
The poor reputation of the Henan banquet is mainly due to the cold dishes. Locals in Henan have a habit that no matter how cold the weather is, they will accompany it with cold dishes.
Therefore, Henan banquets usually consist of eight cool and eight hot soups, one sweet and one salty.
Before the official opening of the banquet, the table was already filled with eight plates of cold dishes, which may be a little surprising to newcomers. Then, the hot dishes basically include braised Yellow River carp, red grilled elbow, stewed chicken and hard meat dishes such as pork buckle bowl.
Most of the soups are common egg soups, followed by staple dishes such as eight-treasure rice and steamed buns.
For those who love hot dishes and seafood, Henan's feasts can be difficult to satisfy their tastes and may make them put their chopsticks down quickly.
The "poor" banquet in Guizhou is famous, which makes many Guizhou locals feel dissatisfied. Although you can see two or three hard dishes such as fish, pork knuckle, and chicken in some banquets, there is not even a single meat dish worth tasting in some banquets.
However, this "badness" is not absolute, and may only be in pursuit of more unique flavors and cooking methods. In any case, the Guizhou banquet is still a unique cultural experience that is worth exploring and appreciating.
In some places in Guizhou, the culture of nine bucket bowls is unique, and nine vegetable bowls form a nine-square grid, and there are only nine dishes from beginning to end. Among them, tamales are the most classic, fat but not greasy.
Boiled tofu in white water is also sometimes seen, which, despite its simple appearance, is a unique local flavor.
On the dining table in Guizhou, the feeling of homely is particularly strong. On the surface, it may not seem like a particularly attractive main course or hard dish, but if you look closely, you can find many delicacies to go with rice.
Therefore, when eating a banquet in Guizhou, you can see a big pot of rice on the table before the banquet, and when the meal is officially opened, everyone will fill a full bowl of rice, and everyone rarely drinks alcohol, and more directly holds the rice bowl to eat and eat.
This way of eating makes people feel extra intimate and warm.
We hope that by comparing the banquets in various provinces across the country, more people can understand and appreciate the food culture of each region. However, some of the banquets we have chosen may not be comprehensive, as the conditions of each family are different, and everyone does their best to prepare the feast.
The feasts in every place are excellent and average, and we have no intention of belittling or exalting any place. As mentioned above, each of the four provinces has its own unique cuisine, and all of them are worth trying.
If you have a feast, please share it in the comment area.