江孙芸与她的福禄寿

编者按：美国华裔历史研究中心主任邱彰博士一直从事旅美华人的历史研究，2016 年出版了《Herstory： The Legal History of Chinese American Women（她的历史）》，2020年出版了《Herstory 2： The Legal History of Chinese American Women（她的历史2）》。两本书分别记载了1852年至2012年35个华人女性在美国的奋斗事迹和1912年至2020年17个发生在美国的华人重要法律案例，以及2000年至2018年10位华人女性政治人物。这两本书明示了华人女性在美国社会地位提升的轨迹。邱彰博士认为：“我写的不是英雄，而是伟人，她们将青史留名。”本刊从两书中摘选成《江孙芸与她的福禄寿》，文章讲述了百岁老人江孙芸改变中国餐饮在美国餐饮业的地位和历史的故事。

2016年，耶鲁大学历史教授保罗·弗里德曼（Paul Freedman）写了一本名为 “Ten Restaurants That Changed America” （十个改变美国的餐馆）的书。其中，江孙芸（Cecilia Chiang）和她的福禄寿餐馆 （The Mandarin）被弗里德曼教授从209页写到了250页，自此，1920年生于上海的江孙芸正式进入美国历史。2020年10月28日，美国各大新闻媒体—— CNN、CBS、NBC、 《旧金山纪事报》（San Francisco Chronicles）等都报道了百岁老人江孙芸过世的消息，这足以看出她作为中华美食教母的地位在美国社会倍受肯定。

2017年，经由旧金山图书总馆国际中心主任卢慧芬（Doris Tseng）女士的介绍，我访问了江孙芸，并撰写了她生平唯一的中文口述历史——《美国中华美食教母》（Cecilia Chiang — Godmother of Chinese American Cuisine），2019年她拿到了书，爱不释手。

我是看人家做菜长大的

我于1920年出生在上海，是十二个兄弟姐妹中的第七个。 父母从上海搬到北京后，我们一时吃不习惯北方的馒头、包子和各式各样的面食，于是父亲从上海请来了厨师。过一阵子后，父亲说，既然我们都搬到北京了，应该也学吃北方菜，又从北京找了一个厨子，会做各种面食，所以，我们家的饭菜算是“南北合作”。

中国菜有季节性，如同每一季开的花不同，当季菜也有所不同;而在美国，一年四季什么蔬果都有。跟中国比起来，在美国过年没有气氛，也没有什么特别的东西想吃。

我在家是大小姐，不管是大学毕业后，还是结婚生了两个孩子后，都没进过厨房。到了美国之后，自己开餐馆，怎么办呢 ？只能拼命回想小时候的菜，拼命想办法自己做。所以，我做菜不是科班出生，我是看人家做菜长大的。

在美国开餐馆的初心不是为了赚钱

有人問我，“自从你退休以后，怎么没有一个中餐馆能像你做得那么轰轰烈烈、菜色那么好、服务那么好、饭碗那么美呢？”我尴尬地回答他：“因为目的不同。当初开餐馆不是为了赚钱，是为了替别人开餐馆的。”

当年，我去探望姐姐时遇到两个朋友，他们想开餐厅，希望我能帮忙协商租约。尽管当时我的英文不好，仍然决定帮忙，还自掏腰包付给房东订金1万美元。没想到那两位朋友跑了，沉重的租约让我心一横，豁出去一搏。另一方面，我确实也觉得应该把最道地的中国菜介绍给外国人，让他们明白什么才是真正的中国菜。所以我的目的跟一些中餐馆老板完全不同。

还有一点，我喜爱美食。我几乎天天都在外面吃，米其林各星级的餐馆都吃过，而且不仅是吃中国菜，全世界的菜我都吃，所以吃得多也看得多。 更重要的是，我有一个法宝——那就是我的舌头！好的舌头可以让你懂得什么是好口味， 懂得领悟好菜，当你品尝菜时，能明白菜色里的组成是什么，这就是天赋，而有这种天赋的人并不多。

尼克松访华让美国人开始“举起筷子”走近中餐

决定走上餐饮之路后，我就开始参照美国餐馆的标准，给我的餐馆——福禄寿的员工买医疗保险，也给福利，我是当时唯一一家这么做的中餐馆。

赫布 · 凯恩（Herb Caen）是《旧金山纪事报》（San Francisco Chronicle）报纸的著名专栏作家。1963 年，他在友人的推荐下，到我们餐厅用餐。他后来在专栏中写着：“这家‘墙上有一个小洞的餐厅做出了太平洋以东最好吃的中国菜。”

我没看到这篇专栏文章，但第二天餐厅开门时，我被吓到了，平常很安静的营业时间，客人却多到在门口排成一长排。从那以后，靠着这个专栏的安利、保证品质的好菜肴和我的好客，福禄寿成了当时最著名的餐厅。还有一个重要因素，便是“天时”的配合——尼克松访华。

1972年尼克松总统开始了访华之行，当尼克松总统和基辛格国务卿在北京国宴上熟练地使用筷子，和周恩来总理大口干杯喝茅台酒时，坐在电视机这头的美国人看得目瞪口呆。从此，他们也拿起了筷子，到现在都没放下，火辣的四川菜、口味浓重的湖南菜等都跟着流行起来了，使得当时包括福禄寿在内的美国所有中餐馆都门庭若市。

从1885年纽约只有6家中餐馆，到今天（2019年）全美大约有4万家中餐馆 ，中餐馆数目比麦当劳、肯德基加起来还多，这就是中华美食历尽千辛万苦打拼出来的成果，无可否认的是中餐如今已成为美国多元化文化的一部分，各个种族对彼此文化的理解或有不同，但他们的味蕾却一致地对中国菜饱含喜爱的热情。

成功的秘诀就是待人如己

20世纪80年代是我们餐馆发展的高峰期，最鼎盛时同时拥有4家餐馆，1个在旧金山，3个在洛杉矶，那时我将洛杉矶比弗利山庄分店交由儿子来打理，他是那里的经理。再后来，餐馆的总经理和会计师却因癌症相继过世，我决定把福禄寿转卖出去，买方继续经营，一直到2006年才永久关门，至此结束了50年的经营。

那以后，我儿子也开了一个很成功的中餐连锁餐馆 —华馆（P.F. CHANG'S），我没有教过他做菜，他大概就是在我身旁看我做吧。他觉得我的做法过于传统，他决定不走我的这条路，他选了十几个菜式，走年轻化、经济型路线，结果他的路走对了，他现在有 400 多家连锁店。2019年，有人花了 7亿美元把他的连锁店买了下来，但他现在也在帮忙打理这个连锁品牌。

我的女儿也曾在旧金山开过一间饭馆，经营了9年还是失败了，最后还赔了一栋房子。两个孩子个性不同，有些东西靠教，有些东西也要靠运气。

回顾我的餐饮之路，之所以能成功，原因不仅有菜单上的，也有菜单下的。而菜单下的秘诀就是我待人很客气，即使是送货的，跟我的交情也非常好。外出用餐时，厨房的杂工或洗碗工常会过来打招呼，我總记得他们的名字，也记得在哪里见过他们。我让大家都觉得被记住、被重视。还记得20世纪70年代杰佛森飞船合唱团 （Jefferson Airplane）来到我们餐馆，当时他们还没走红，用餐时点了瓶香槟王，服务生觉得他们应该付不起，便请我来处理，我毫不犹豫地为他们开瓶。团员杰克·卡萨迪（Jack Casady） 和约玛 · 考克宁（Jorma Kaukonen） 都说，让他们愿意一来再来的原因，就是我对他人的尊重。后来杰佛森飞船合唱团成了餐厅的忠实顾客，我也偶尔会去看他们的表演。

独门养生秘谱

光吃好东西是不会长寿的，要活得久，还要靠动，这才是长寿的关键。我爸爸常说“活动、活动， 人活着就要动。”

现在，我是早上 8点多起床后用30分钟左右的时间出门走走、动一动，从来不睡午觉，平时有很多电话要接或者采访的事情要忙。

做餐饮这行真的很难早睡，所以我养成习惯，尽量让自己晚上 12 点以前就寝，早餐就是水果、麦片、半片面包或是喝点茶，中午有时候吃饺子或是面条，就是简单地吃，晚上通常都有饭局，经常有人请客，偶尔喝点香槟、红酒。我的酒量一直都蛮好的。

至于甜点的话，说来也奇怪，我对甜食就是没有太大的兴趣，偶尔吃一些，量并不多，我们家族里既没有癌症等重疾的病史，也没有糖尿病病史，也没有人近视。我做的运动大概都是适合老年人的运动，比如甩腿、甩手，很多人看到我的手，都说我的手变形了，使用过度才会变成这样。但是我并不觉得苦，我也很会吃苦。

我熬的鸡汤非常好喝，就是纯鸡汤，汤是精华。每周我都会做鸡汤或是牛肉汤，上海菜绝不用葱、蒜，熬汤的秘诀就是用绝对新鲜的肉品，最好是活鸡，这样熬出来的汤才会够新鲜。

至于牛肉汤的话，就先买一大块牛毽子，或是牛尾也可以，慢慢地炖，千万别放酱油，可放点南杏和红枣，开小火慢慢地炖。

也要多吃点鱼和新鲜蔬菜，鱼清蒸的办法有很多种，上海的做法就是放火腿和一点酒去蒸;在广东的话，就用香菜、姜等调料一起和鲜鱼蒸。

美国知名慢食教母——爱丽丝·华特丝（Alice Waters）被问到如果明天是世界末日，最后一餐想吃什么时，她说，她要吃江孙芸做的鱼翅汤。为什么爱丽丝·华特丝这么喜欢中国菜 ？ 其实她原来对中国菜似乎没有太大兴趣，后来我带她去了中国两次，她发现中国菜的做法跟其他国家的菜差别很大， 慢慢就有兴趣了，然后她看我炒个青菜也能那么清脆、那么绿、那么好吃，就入门了。她常来我的店里吃饭，之后我们就成了很要好的朋友。

后记

弗里德曼教授说，“江孙芸于2013年获得詹姆斯 · 比尔德基金（James Beard Foundation）终身成就奖， 实至名归，证明了她的影响力和成就。这个奖来得有点晚，因为早在20世纪70年代美国人就知道江孙芸和福禄寿餐厅永久提升了美国人对中餐的品位。”

江孙芸住在旧金山50多年了，成为旧金山最吸引人的风景之一。退休后的她每天都会由孙女陪同，光临湾区的各家米其林星级餐厅享受美食。她的到来，让餐馆老板无不受宠若惊，众星捧月，把她视为巨星。

江孙芸是华人女性创业的典范，但在她所有的“拿手菜”中，“优雅、贵气、替别人着想”，才是她的菜肴中最令人难忘的味道。在旧金山，如果你也是名人，而你却拿不出来一张跟江孙芸的合照，那绝对是不符合名人标准的。

In 2016， Paul Freedman， a history professor at Yale University， published Ten Restaurants that Changed America， in which he dedicated over 40 pages to Cecilia Chiang and her restaurant the Mandarin. Since then， Cecilia Chiang officially entered American history and was recognized in the American society as the godmother of Chinese food. Many major media channels and news outlets in the United States， including CNN， CBS， NBC， San Francisco Chronicles， reported her passing away on October 28， 2020.

In 2017， through Doris Tseng， a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library， I interviewed Cecilia Chiang and wrote the book Cecilia Chiang： Godmother of Chinese American Cuisine， the only written record of her oral history in Chinese.

Cecilia Chiang in Her Own Words

In 2016， Paul Freedman， a history professor at Yale University， published Ten Restaurants that Changed America， in which he dedicated over 40 pages to Cecilia Chiang and her restaurant the Mandarin. Since then， Cecilia Chiang officially entered American history and was recognized in the American society as the godmother of Chinese food. Many major media channels and news outlets in the United States， including CNN， CBS， NBC， San Francisco Chronicles， reported her passing away on October 28， 2020.

In 2017， through Doris Tseng， a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library， I interviewed Cecilia Chiang and wrote the book Cecilia Chiang： Godmother of Chinese American Cuisine， the only written record of her oral history in Chinese.

Cecilia Chiang in Her Own Words

I was born in Shanghai in 1920， the seventh among twelve brothers and sisters. Later our family moved to Beijing. My father hired chefs from both Shanghai and Beijing so that the family could get used to both southern and northern flavors.

Living in a well-to-do family， I did not go to a cooking school or have any cooking experience even after my graduation and I had my own family and children. So when I went to America to run my own restaurant， what I could do was to recall the dishes I have eaten in my childhood and try to cook them by myself.

I have often been asked： why cant other Chinese restaurants be as good as mine， whether in terms of taste， service or even tableware？ I think the most important reason is that from the very beginning， I did not open it for money. I have had a strong desire to introduce the authentic Chinese cuisines to foreigners. Another reason is that I love food and enjoy tasting delicacies from all over the world. My tongue is very sensitive， which helps me to understand and feel the subtle change of taste. This is a rare talent.

In 1963， Herb Caen， a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle， came to our restaurant at the recommendation of his friends. He praised the Mandarin for “serving the best Chinese dishes in the east of the Pacific”. Thanks to his report and the quality of our food and services， the Mandarin became the most popular Chinese restaurant in the US.

In 1972， Nixon visited China. When the Americans saw on TV the president and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger skillfully used chopsticks at a state banquet in Beijing and drank Maotai with the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai， everything seemed so incredible. But very soon， they picked up the chopsticks too and havent put them down since then. All the Chinese restaurants including the Mandarin were crowded with guests. The number of Chinese restaurants increased from six in 1885 to over 40，000 in 2019， even more than McDonalds and KFC combined. This success owed a lot to the hard work of every Chinese in the catering industry. There is no denying that Chinese food has become one part of America. Different races may interpret the others cultures differently， but there is no denying the fact that they all love Chinese food.

The Mandarin reached its high point in the 1980s， when we had four restaurants at the same time， one in San Francisco and three in LA. Years later， after our general manager and accountant passed away， I decided to sell the restaurant. The buyers continued to run the Mandarin until 2006， when they shut it for good， ending its 50 glorious years of history.

My son also opened a very successful Chinese restaurant chain， called P.F. Changs. His restaurant is more modern and economic， serving only a dozen of dishes. It proved to be a good choice and the number of the franchisees has surpassed 400 in these years. In 2019 he sold the chain for $700 million， although he still helped with the business from time to time.

Looking back on my experience， I found that the secret of my success lies in the way I treated people. I was considerate to everyone and could always remember my employees names – even a dishwashers， and where I met them， which made them feel valued and respected. I also remembered an interesting story. In the 1970s， the rock band Jefferson Airplane ordered a Dom Perignon while dining in our restaurant. The waiter was afraid that they couldnt afford it and asked for my advice. I opened the bottle for them without any hesitation. Since then， they had become regular customers to the restaurant. Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen said it was my respect shown to the customers that had called them back again and again.

At this stage of my life， Im trying to explore my own ways of staying healthy. If you want to live a longer life， you should not only eat healthy food but also keep doing exercises. I take thirty minutes walk every day after I get up around eight in the morning. I cook very simple food at home and Im especially good at cooking soup， such as beef or chicken soup. Alice Waters， godmother of the slow food movement， was once asked what she would like for her last meal if tomorrow was the end of the world. Her reply？ Shark fin soup made by Cecilia Chiang.

Epilogue

“She received the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013， a belated mark of her influence and accomplishments. It seemed long overdue， because already by the 1970s， it was obvious that Cecilia Chiang and the Mandarin had significantly transformed American appreciation of Chinese food，” wrote Paul Freedman in his book. Living in San Francisco for more than half a century， Cecilia Chiang herself became one of the most iconic attractions in the city. After retirement， she was accompanied by her granddaughter every day to enjoy delicious food at Michelin-star restaurants in the bay area. She was a model of Chinese womens entrepreneurship. In all of her “signature dishes”， elegance， dignity and consideration for others are the most unforgettable tastes.