说到中国文化，一定不能缺席的就是中国的饮食文化！
中国饮食文化之丰富，我作为一个中国人也没能够尝遍所有的中国菜系。
但是有一个外国人却做到了。那就是《鱼翅与花椒》的作者扶霞。
《鱼翅与花椒》这本书就是讲述她是如何爱上中国美食，然后以此作为她接下来几十年的生活和职业中心的。
如果你对中国的饮食文化感兴趣，或者对一个外国人在中国的生活体验感到好奇，那么扶霞的《鱼翅与花椒》就是很推荐的一本书！
但我想特别分享的，是这本书结尾部分的一个小故事：
扶霞在扬州做淮扬菜的研究，同时在那里的一个园林参观。在她和几个老人交流完园林里的老式厨房之后，有两个中国人靠近，解释说他们是这里的管理者，想邀请她去喝茶。她同意之后，他们走到了园林的背后。扶霞发现她走进的是一座「洋楼」。
这两个人解释，这个园林是1900年代宁波的一个商人过来买地建造的，当时他建造这栋洋楼是为了让他的「外国商人们」来居住。但是最后这个商人也没再回来，这整个园林，包括这栋洋楼，就被充公，作为博物馆和医院使用。
也就是说，在跨越了一百年之后，扶霞是第一个造访这栋洋楼的「洋人」。这也是为什么他们想邀请扶霞来这里，因为他们想「圆了这个梦」。
如果你真的读了这本书的话，欢迎和我分享你的感受 🙂
When talking about Chinese culture, one thing that cannot be left out is Chinese culinary culture!
The richness of Chinese cuisine is so vast that, as a Chinese person myself, I have not been able to taste all the different regional cuisines.
However, there is a foreigner who has managed to do so. That is Fuchsia Dunlop, the author of Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper.
This book tells the story of how she fell in love with Chinese cuisine, which then became the focal point of her life and career for the next several decades.
If you are interested in Chinese culinary culture or curious about the life experiences of a foreigner in China, Fuchsia’s Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper is a highly recommended read!
But what I especially want to share is a little story from the end of this book:
Fuchsia was in Yangzhou researching Huaiyang cuisine while also visiting a garden there. After she had finished conversing with some elderly people about the old-style kitchen in the garden, two Chinese individuals approached her.
They explained that they were the managers of the place and wanted to invite her for tea. After she agreed, they walked to the back of the garden. Fuchsia found herself entering a “Western-style mansion.”
The two explained that the garden was built by a businessman from Ningbo in the early 1900s. He had constructed this Western-style mansion to accommodate his “foreign business partners.” However, the businessman never returned, and the entire garden, including the mansion, was confiscated and used as a museum and hospital.
In other words, a century later, Fuchsia was the first “foreigner” to visit this mansion. This is why they wanted to invite her here—because they wanted to “fulfill this dream.”
If you have read this book, feel free to share your thoughts with me 🙂
This is the content from our newsletter on Sep 21, 2024. Want to stay tuned for more Chinese learning tips? Subscribe to the newsletter!
