马列:把杭帮菜的美秀到北欧
2018-08-06郭闻刘安琪
郭闻 刘安琪
如果不是遇到全挪中国和平统一促进会会长马列,我还不知道,杭帮菜在国外已自成天地,有了如许影响。
说实话,在我的印象中,虽然杭帮菜位列中国八大菜系的浙菜之中,但它既不如川菜有那么多的接受人群,又不像粤菜有那么广的幅射面,也没有鲁菜那么悠久的历史……仅仅是江南地区的一个地方菜而已。
但是如今,出身温婉江南的杭帮菜,却在寒冷的北欧,找到了许多人高马大、金发碧眼的知音。它用温润的东方瓷器、典雅的菜肴色泽和别致的味觉,征服了挪威人,同时也扭转了许多当地人对中餐的印象。因为28年前在马列刚踏上奥斯陆的土地时,当地小而少的中餐馆,带给挪威人的印象是简单、粗陋及没有美感。
作为一个从杭州走出去闯世界的杭帮菜大厨,看到这一局面时是痛心的。于是,他花了28年时间,做了一个厨师能够达到的高度——把杭帮菜介绍给世界,让挪威的政商各界从杭帮菜里了解中国文化,知道杭州。
曾经百废技重生
马列是上世纪80年代崛起的新一代杭帮菜厨师,曾与如今的中国烹饪大师、杭帮菜掌门人胡忠英同一时期学艺。不过后来两人走向了不同的发展方向。当胡忠英在实践一线带徒弟的时候,马列则成了杭州烹饪学校的老师,收徒授艺。
那会儿,马列做了件看上去并不是很大,但其实对于中国烹饪界来说非常有意义且影响深远的事——培训食堂厨师。
上世纪80年代的时候,还没有厨师考级、业余厨师培训班。厨师一般是通过学校的培训学习,由国家分配,就业多集中在国营饭店以及大型企事业单位和机关食堂。对于厨艺的交流和提高,厨师彼此间并不像现在这么有欲望,竞争也不激烈,所以,食堂菜给人的印象就是填饱肚子而已。
1986年,有感于食堂飯菜水平低下,马列和杭州烹饪协会的几个同事决定,办一场食堂厨师大比武。据说这个比武搞得轰轰烈烈,到最后,各单位的厨师彼此间都“打出了火气”。评奖结果倒是其次,最直接的结果就是,全杭州大型企事业单位的食堂菜水平大幅度提高,职工顿时有了口福。那几年,大家都能以到浙江麻纺厂、杭州汽轮机厂、杭州玻璃厂蹭饭为荣。“小灶”的概念也是那会儿出现的,因为厨师水平的提高,使得去食堂能像下馆子一样,实现炒几个菜喝两杯酒的愿望。
一场大赛带来了副产品,马列编了本教材《食堂烹饪知识》,通过杭州市总工会开了个厨师培训班。刚开始的时候,这本教材只是个油印小册子;后来用的人越来越多,就慢慢变成了简单的铅字书;再后来用的人更多了,居然成了全国16个省市培训厨师的专用教材。一直沿用到社会上各种厨师培训班纷纷出现之后,厨师培训教材才慢慢丰富和完备起来。
远赴万里觅知音
1990年,应朋友之邀,已经42岁的马列去了挪威,成为挪威一家国际饮食公司的大厨。没多久,他接到一个任务:去首相家做一顿中餐。因为当时首相的儿子要到中国做副大使,这一顿中式宴会,算是提前预热。“宋嫂鱼羹、炸春卷、宫保鸡丁……首相吃完非常喜欢,还告诉我他曾去过杭州。”马列至今还能清楚地记得当时的菜单。
4年后,马列自己开了一家中餐馆,主打的便是杭帮菜。
如何让中餐入乡随俗,更加适应当地人的口味?马列想了不少办法。“挪威人喜欢清淡、酸甜的口味,这与杭帮菜不谋而合。我发现,他们不爱吃有骨头的肉,于是就把糖醋里脊按照广东菜的做法,做成咕咾肉。又比如挪威没有草鱼,我就用当地盛产的鳕鱼,按照西湖醋鱼的调味方式烧制,很合当地人口味。”
看马列餐馆的主打菜,是不是感觉有些熟悉?是的,G20杭州峰会招待宴会的菜单,就有其中的影子。当时,在准备招待宴会的菜单时,杭帮菜大师、主厨胡忠英及叶杭生大师就与马列有过多次越洋电话交流,一起讨论商量宴会菜单和原材料问题。马列根据20多年来在国外经营餐饮的经验,提供了非常有用的思路。
外国人饮食习惯与中国人的最大不同点在于鱼、肉必须去骨;并且习惯食用深海鱼而不是河鱼。所以在宴会提供的菜品里,肉和鱼全部经过了去骨处理。招待宴会主菜里的东坡牛扒,用的就是马列餐馆里糖醋里脊的思路。而午宴工作餐的主菜狮子头,用的原料是鳕鱼。
G20杭州峰会的招待宴会非常成功,用胡忠英的话说就是:每个菜都吃光了。可见是既符合了各国领导人的饮食习惯,也赢得了口味。
去年,在马列的牵线搭桥之下,一场名为“杭州美食文化挪威行”的活动在奥斯陆举行,挪威王国政府多位高级官员、奥斯陆市政府主要官员悉数出席。
为了拉近挪威朋友和杭帮菜的距离,马列和来自杭州的几位大厨别出心裁,结合挪威当地食材特点搞起再创作。
腐皮鱼卷中特别融入挪威三文鱼作为主材之一;用挪威盛产的鳕鱼代替猪肉,制作“狮子头”,再配以当地清冽的雪水;将当地人爱吃的牛肉,以“东坡肉”的烹饪方法制作成“东坡牛肉”……熟悉的食材,新鲜的口感,让在场挪威宾客赞不绝口。
那次活动之后,挪威当地不少中餐馆门庭若市,许多此前从未尝过中餐的挪威民众纷纷慕名前往。
如今牵线文化行
现在马列最想做的,不仅仅是让挪威美食爱好者光顾他的餐厅,他还想让更多的人知道杭帮菜,爱上杭帮菜。
“我们不仅要以此吸引更多的外国朋友来当地中国餐馆吃饭,还想借此让他们认识杭州,知道那是一个风景秀美、文化深厚的好地方。”马列说。
向海外推广中餐,用美食结交朋友,最近这些年马列扮演了连通中外的“桥梁”的角色。凭借多年来扎根海外积累的资源,他几乎每年都会邀请杭帮菜、淮扬菜等各大菜系的烹饪大师,出国交流,推介色香味俱全的中国美食。
出国久了,马列渐渐发现,舌尖上的美味,让人回味的不仅是那份刺激味蕾的鲜美,还有蕴藏其中的那份极为丰厚的文化。他想让更多朋友品尝流传百年的中国味道,更想让他们了解古老悠久的中华文化。他要传播的不只是杭帮菜,还有杭帮菜中的中国故事。
于是马列策划制作了一本小册子《杭帮菜传奇》。“东坡肉”记录了苏东坡在杭州修建苏堤时与百姓共享美食的故事;“桂花栗羮”源自中秋之夜天上人间同赏湖景的美丽传说;“宋嫂鱼羹”则与宋高宗巡游西湖时的一次偶遇有关……每一页,四句诗,一段话,一张图,对杭州的人文地理娓娓道来。
细细读来,千年杭城的文化范儿跃然纸上。马列在小册子中专门配上英文译文,外国读者读来也是一目了然。
“我花了两个多月时间,大概写了150多个故事,就是希望用通俗易懂的方式,让国外的朋友认识杭州,认识中国。”如今,这本小册子已经成为欧洲不少中文学校的课外阅读教材。
在马列看来,美食是一个很好的窗口,从中可以窥见的,不仅有中华文化的源远流长,还有中国發展的日新月异。
“我们海外华侨华人有责任也有条件向世界讲好中国故事。”马列说。通过美食,让外国朋友在一点一滴之间领略中华文化的魅力,他乐此不疲,并将锲而不舍。
If I hadnt met Ma Lie (which rhymes nearly with beer), president of the All-Norway Union for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, I wouldnt have learned that Hangzhou Cuisine has already established itself in Norway. Hangzhou Cuisine is a significant part of Zhejiang Cuisine, one of the eight major cuisines of China, but I was under the impression that citys cuisine was no more than a regional flavor of Jiangnan, or the south of the Yangtze River Delta.
However, the cuisine from Hangzhou has long since won the hearts of many people in Norway in northern Europe. The success of Hangzhou Cuisine in the Nordic country owes a lot of Ma Lie. Ma came to Oslo 28 years ago and found Chinese restaurants in the capital of the country were in a poor and bad situation. There were not many Chinese restaurants. And they were crude, shabby, and unaesthetic. A master chef, Ma was embarrassed and pained by this situation.
Ma was a new-generation chef in Hangzhou in the 1980s. Hu Zhongying, now a Chinese national chef and master of Hangzhou Cuisine, studied side by side with Ma in their apprentice years. While Hu worked in kitchen and made a career, Ma taught at Hangzhou Cooking School.
What he did at the school appeared insignificant, but it ushered in a new age for the Chinese cuisine industry. Back then, chefs were trained in schools and then assigned to work in state-owned restaurants and dining halls of large-sized factories and government departments. In 1986, Ma and a few colleagues at Hangzhou Association of Culinary Professionals organized a citywide competition for chefs working at institutional eateries. The competition was fierce and chefs challenged each other for making best dishes. The competition raised the level of dining halls across the city and resulted in a textbook compiled by Ma. Sponsored by the citys federation of trade unions, Ma ran a training course for chefs. At first, the textbook was a mimeographed pamphlet. As it became increasingly popular, it became thicker and was published and adopted by 16 provinces and municipalities as the designated textbook for chef training courses.
Ma arrived in Norway in 1990 when he was 42. He worked as a top-class chef at an international restaurant business. Before long he was invited to prepare a simple Chinese banquet at the home of Norwegian Prime Minister because the prime ministers son would soon work as a deputy ambassador in Beijing and would like to get familiarized with Chinese food. Ma cooked some best known dishes from Hangzhou. Ma still remembers the menu today. The banquet was a huge success.
In 1994, Ma started a Chinese restaurant in Oslo, which presented Hangzhou Cuisine. He adjusted and localized Hangzhou Cuisine to appeal to the culinary preferences of the local population. A look at the menu at Mas restaurant in Oslo will suggest similarities with the menu for a state reception banquets at G20 Summit Hangzhou 2016. Yes, there was indeed a connection. While Hu Zhongying and Ye Hangsheng, two top masters of Hangzhou Cuisine, were preparing the menu for the reception, they phoned Ma in Oslo for advice and suggestion about the menu and food ingredients. Mas suggestions were adopted: bones must be removed from steak and fish before they are cooked; no river fish; only fish from deep sea; Dongpo Steak, the main course at the reception, was prepared in the same way as a popular dish is prepared at Mas restaurant in Oslo. “Lion Head” Meatball, a main course for a working dinner at a G20 Summit event, was prepared with cod fish.
Ma is now an active promoter of Chinese cuisine in foreign countries.
In 2017, “Hangzhou Cuisine in Norway” was held in Oslo. Ma was the one behind the promotion. The event was attended by high-ranking officials of the state government of the Kingdom of Norway and officials of the city government of Oslo. Local food materials such as salmon, cod, and beef were prepared in the Hangzhou style. The guests enjoyed the food very much. After the event, Chinese restaurants across Norway were visited by a lot of local residents who had never tasted Chinese food.
Nowadays he promotes Chinese food across the world annually. He organizes chefs from Hangzhou and other major Chinese cuisines to entertain prospective customers across the world.
What Ma Lie most wants to do is more than find a larger cliental for his restaurant in Oslo. He wants more people to know about Hangzhou Cuisine and love it. In order to promote the cuisine from his hometown, he has written a book on the stories behind local dishes in Hangzhou. He spent about two months writing 150 stories. Each story is accompanied with a four-line poem and a picture. The pamphlet is about Hangzhou, its history and culture, and its fine food. Now the pamphlet is a reader by some Chinese schools in Europe.
“We Chinese in overseas communities take it upon ourselves to tell Chinese story to the world,” says Ma Lie. He feels happy to introduce Chinese culture to international friends.