写出来的一桌好菜读出来的人间滋味

◇ 文|田 东

写出来的一桌好菜读出来的人间滋味

◇ 文|田 东

我是个嘴馋的人。曾向朋友夸耀，从南到北，几乎没有不吃的。前几日读汪曾祺先生的《受戒》，读到了高邮咸鸭蛋，馋得直流口水。正好旁边有本先生的《人间滋味》，一翻开，更是合不上了。

这哪里是本书，分明就是一桌子有温度，有知识，有美味的精美菜肴。非得坐下来细细品尝一番不可。

国人吃宴席，先上冷盘，再上热菜，完了还有甜点和水果。《人间滋味》这本书，虽是先生不同时期的文章辑成的，却也规整有序，先素后荤，纵论古今文人的吃喝文化，续以华夏神州四方食事。读着满口生津，恨不能立马把里面的美味都吃上一遍。

以简短明快的语言，描写一件事物或一个场景，这是汪老先生的“拿手菜”，在这些美食小品文中更见真章。开篇《五味》中写：“延庆山里夏天爱吃酸饭。把好好的饭焐酸了，用井拔凉水一和，呼呼地就下去了三碗。”一句话就把难以下口的酸饭写出了点诱惑力来。

写北京豆汁儿时，先生说到他北京的同学请他喝豆汁儿，“他带我去到一家小吃店，要了两碗，警告我说：‘喝不了，就别喝。很多人喝了一口就吐了。’我端起碗来，几口就喝完了。我那同学问：‘怎么样？’我说：‘再来一碗。’”

爽快！

看到这儿你会不会也想来一碗？

As a foodie,I once assured my friends that I have nearly tasted all kinds of cuisines in China.A couple days ago,I was reading Wang Zengqi’s Ordained when salted duck eggs in Gaoyou greeted my eyes.Another book beside me was his A Taste of Life,which totally attracted my attention.

It is more of a fancy feast tempting my taste buds than an ordinary book.

In China,hot dishes usually come after cold ones,and then dessert and fruit.A Taste of Life,though written in different periods,yet perfectly arranged.When appreciating China’s profound eating and drinking culture in this book,I wished these delicacies were right within my reach.

Mr.Wang is quite a master in writing,for his essays about delicacies are of powerfulevidence.His Five Flavors reads,“Folks who live in Yanqing Mountain have partiality for sour rice.First,seal up the cooked rice until sour smell gives off,then add some cool water from the well and mix them together,three bowls in a row is merely a piece of cake.”I totally surrendered to these plain yet appealing words.

One day,his friends treated him a bowl of fermented soya-bean milk in a snack bar,“Don’t push yourself if you don’t like it.”His friend kindly reminded him.He took the bowl and drank up soon.“So?”asked his friends.“One more,please.”He answered.

Terrific!

Do you want to have a try?

更诱人的是遍布书中的美味。从汪老爷子家乡的炒米，焦屑（锅巴碎末），咸鸭蛋、茨菰汤、野鸭、斑鸠、到几乎大江南北都能吃到的荠菜、豆腐、萝卜、马铃薯。从狮子头、东坡肉、火腿、夹沙肉到白肉火锅、手把肉、鳜鱼……有的寥寥数语，有的长篇大论；短文如猛火爆炒，长篇似慢火清炖，最后出锅装盘上桌的，都是一份美味。

不信？

我们随便挑两样尝尝。

先来个萝卜爽口——“心里美萝卜是北京特色……萝卜都是一个一个挑选过的，用手指头一弹，当当的；一刀切下去，卡擦咔嚓的响。”

再来份干丝提味——“一种特制的豆腐干，较大而方，用薄刃快刀片成薄片，再切为细丝，这便是干丝。讲究一块豆腐干要片十六片，切丝细如马尾，一根不断。最初似只有烫干丝。干丝在开水锅中烫后，滗去水；在碗里堆成宝塔状，浇以麻油、好酱油、醋，即可下箸。”

或者来个老先生自创的塞馅回锅油条下酒——“油条两股拆开，切成寸半长的小段。拌好猪肉（肥瘦各半）馅。馅中加盐、葱花、姜末，加少量榨菜末或酱瓜末、川冬菜末，亦可。用手指将油条小段的窟窿捅通，将肉馅塞入、逐段下油锅炸至油条挺硬，肉馅已熟，捞出装盘。……比炸春卷味道好。”

Cuisines in this book are another allurement.From parched rice in Wang’s hometown to rice crust,salt duck eggs,arrowhead soup,wild ducks,various kinds of vegetables and meat…You name it! Some are written in detail,some just a few lines.Anyway,they all have their own strengths and specialties.

Believe it or not？

Let’s start our culinary journey.

First is watermelon radish,a specialty in Beijing.Every radish is carefully selected,and you may hear sweet and pleasant melodies with only one flip or cut.

Would you like to try dried bean curd threads? Its recipe goes like this: divide square-shaped dried tofu into 16 pieces,and threaded the pieces into thin yet firm stripes.Put the stripes into boiled water and add some sauces to penetrate those drained stripes.Then the dish is ready with perfect combination of color,aroma and taste.

How about fried bread stick stuffed with minced pork?Here comes the recipe: first you need to prepare some minced pork,and evenly stir it with such sauces as salt,minced scallion,ginger,and pickles.Then cut fried bread stick into several segments,cram the mixed pork into these segments.Finally fry these stuffed segments until they got stiff….It tastes even better than fried spring rolls.

书页翻动间，吃一口搭配薄荷叶的石斑鱼，来两嘴蒙古的手把肉，叫上一碗云南的米线，再喝两口豆汁儿，抹一抹嘴，听老爷子摆一下唐宋古人吃喝的龙门阵，或者去昆明打个望，瞧瞧老爷子读书时的各种美味，那感觉，不仅口齿留香，还有一股岁月的味道。

这也是本书取名《人间滋味》而非《人间美味》的原因之所在吧。

滋味，是有穿越时空的历史感的。就好像汪老爷子在字里行间不时慨叹的那样，“我很想喝一碗咸菜茨菰汤”“自离家乡后，我没有吃过这样好吃的萝卜”……偶尔闪现的这些句子，乍看是大白话，甚至有一两篇文章，如《沽源》《故乡的元宵》，没有直接描写具体的食物，可字里行间的乡愁就如同盐，让这本书读来更有滋味。

This book presents you perfect visual feast.You can enjoy grouper matched with mint leaves,hand grilled meat in Mongolia,rice noodles in Yunnan,and fermented soya-bean milk,or appreciate those eating and drinking culture in Dang and Song dynasties.You can also go to Kunming and taste those exquisite delicacies during Wang’s school days.It is not only a taste of flavor,but also a taste of times.

That’s probably why this book is named A Taste of Life rather than A Taste of flavors.

Spanning through time and space,tastes possess their own history.It is like,now and then,Mr.Wang sighed with feeling that “I really want to have the Arrowhead Soup with Pickles”,“I’ve never eaten such a delicious radish since leaving home”….Although those occasionally flashing sentences are very simple and some articles,such as Guyuan County and The Lantern Festival of My Hometown,are even not describing specific food directly,the nostalgia reveals in between the lines just like salt rendering this book with more flavor.

书里还有一种盐，那就是汪曾祺老先生和文人们的食事。

写菜写吃喝，对美味的临摹，对童年美食的追忆，这些我们也可以写，然而与各式文人在美食上的交际，却是独一份儿的经历。

这就好比独门秘方或者独家菜品了。

看到老先生和林斤澜钻进乐山的街边小店，只为一碗豆花饭，两人在武夷山吃着蒜苗拌的豆腐；或是他为美籍华人女作家聂华苓亲自下厨做煮干丝，你会不会和我一样，感叹文人的日常生活和我们一样又不一样。你别说，好吃之人一般厨艺都不差，汪老先生的手艺更是蜚声海外：刚招待了美国的客人，一位台湾女作家去北京，又点名要他亲自做顿饭。老先生给她烧了一个小萝卜，女作家赞不绝口。那味道想来不会差——最好时候的萝卜加上干贝一起烧，不好吃才怪呢！

There is also another kind of salt in the book,that is,the stories relating food on Wang Zengqi and his literati friends.

Everyone can write down their experiences of enjoying delicious food,impressions to tasty food and memories of childhood delicacies,however,the communication on gourmet with various literati is unique.

It is just like the special recipe or exclusive dish.

Reading the scenes that Mr.Wang and Lin Jinlan came to a corner store in Chongqing only for a bowl of Bean Paste Rice and eaten Tofu Mixed with Garlic in Wuyi Mountain,or Wang cooked Braised Shredded Chicken with Ham and Dried Tofu by himself for Nie Hualing,a Chinese-American female writer,will you,just like me,wonder that the daily life of intellectuals is seemingly the same with us,but somehow different.Foodies are usually adept at cooking,Mr.Wang’s culinary skill is even renowned overseas.Just seeing an American guest off,he had to serve another Taiwanese female writer who came to Beijing and would like to feast on his cooking skill.In the end,Mr.Wang cooked a braised radish for her,being made from the bestradish with dried scallop,this cuisine was no doubt winning a full compliment.

这本书2014年4月就出版了，今年5月还印刷了一次，书的前面部分还有汪老爷子手绘的十来幅画作。就一点遗憾，天上飞的，水里游的，地上跑的，地里长的，各式美味说了这么多，连烟都写了洋洋洒洒一大篇，怎么就没一篇关于酒的呢？

不过书里冷不丁的小惊喜弥补了这种遗憾。

在《葵•薤》一篇中，老爷子引用《植物名实图考长编》作者、清代文人吴其濬的话，说葵就是冬苋菜。那么冬苋菜又是什么呢？老爷子在武昌餐餐都吃，绿色的叶菜，吃到嘴里滑滑的，在武昌的街头见到过：叶片圆如猪耳，颜色正绿，叶梗也是绿的。看到这里我总觉得眼熟，上网一查，就是我们重庆人口中的冬寒菜。

按汪曾祺的说法，“葵本来是中国的主要蔬菜。《诗•邠风•七月》‘七月烹葵及菽’……后魏《齐民要术》以《种葵》列为蔬菜第一篇。……元代王祯的《农书》还称葵为‘百菜之主’”。原来，我喜欢吃的冬寒菜还有这么辉煌的过去。

还有，汪曾祺去内蒙古的时候，在草原上看到一种植物，叶子细而长，下有鳞茎。这就是薤。而这种植物的鳞茎，在湖南湖北江西四川一带成为“藠头”。老爷子特别加了一句，“藠”音“叫”。“藠头”是我经常买来泡泡菜吃的，原来早在汉代，就有诗歌对其进行歌咏。

汪老先生也留着一手，有的食材在不同时期、不同地域的演变，他并没有写出。比如，他提到一种叫䀚嗤鱼的鱼，“头扁嘴阔，有点像鲇鱼，无鳞，皮色黄，有浅黑色的不规整的大斑。无背鳍，而背上有一根很硬的尖锐的骨刺。用手捏起这根骨刺，它就发出䀚嗤䀚嗤小小的声音。”老爷子说这种鱼汆汤，汤白如牛乳，所谓“奶汤”。约莫觉得这鱼我吃过，上网一查，“䀚嗤鱼，学名黄颡鱼，又名黄腊丁。”

这种美妙的发现，相当于一顿大餐呀。

Being published in April 2014,and reprinted this May,there are also a dozen paintings produced by Mr.Wang in the previous part of the book.It refers different kinds of delicacies from birds,fish,poultry to vegetables and even cigarettes,the only regret is that no article gives a portrait to wine.

Fortunately,some abrupt yet unexpected surprises make up for this regret.

In the passage of Hollyhock • Chinese Allium,Mr.Wang cited from Wu Qijun,a writer of Qing Dynasty ,that hollyhock is exactly curled mallow.So what is curled mallow? In his book,Mr.Wang described that he once eaten it in Wuchang,it’s round leaf just like the ear of a pig,its leaves,even its stalk,are of pure green.Reading that,a familiar sense flashed to my mind,then,to my surprise,I found it is also called Chinese mallow by our Chongqing people.

According to Wang,“ Hollyhock once，being called as‘King of the Vegetables’was the major vegetable in China.It appeared in many ancient masterworks,such as The Book of Songs,Essential Techniques for the Peasantry,Agricultural Books and so on.What a surprise that my favorite Chinese mallow have such glorious history.

Besides,when he went to the Inner Mongolia,Wang saw a kind of plant that grows thin and long leaves and bulbs below which is known as “Chinese Allium”in Hunan,Hubei,Jiangxi and Sichuan Provinces.As a matter of fact,early in the Han Dynasty,the Chinese Allium which I often purchase to make pickles had been written into poems.

The evolution of some ingredients in different periods and regions are not indicated by Mr.Wang on purpose.For example,the yellow head catfish,it has “flat head,wide mouth,yellow skin and irregular light black spots.Instead of scales and dorsal fins,there is a very hard and sharp bony spur on its back,through pinching which the fish will make a little warning sound”.Mr.Wang depicted that the soup of this fish is as white as milk,so,it is also called as “milk soup”.Indistinctly thinking that I’ve eaten this fish,therefore I searched for it on the Internet and realized that the yellow head catfish is just the yellow catfish.

This wonderful discovery is no less than a hearty meal for me.

A Taste of Book，A Taste of Life

Article | Tian Dong