Recently, " Flavor of the World " , known as the "ceiling" of domestic food documentaries, has returned. On the day
premiered, its Douban score soared to 9.3 points.
Once the experts took action, it really lived up to expectations.
This is already the fourth season of the "Flavour World" series, and it is still the same production team. One of the chief directors of
is still Chen Xiaoqing, known as "China's best eater" - the chief director of the first two seasons of "A Bite of China ". The
consulting team is also still quite experienced - Shen Hongfei, Chen Li, Cai Lam, Yun Wuxin and other big names in the food industry are here.
In the first three seasons, "Flavour World" has expanded its horizons to the world, taking us to experience delicious food from all over the world. In the fourth season of
, what other tricks can you come up with?
What is unexpected is that this season, the program team returned to its original roots and focused the camera on the food that everyone is most familiar with - cereals.
Cereals are the staple food we eat every day, so what’s there to take pictures of?
But the more ubiquitous it is, the easier it is to be ignored by us.
For example, we may not be able to remember the specific types of cereals. This season of
, the program will be divided into 6 episodes, covering: wheat, rice, millet, beans, potatoes, and various grains.
Each of them, when expanded, is a rich and colorful story.
For example, the first episode - "Mai Surges for Ten Thousand Years", just talking about Mai is already eye-opening.
continues to subdivide wheat into the familiar wheat, barley, oatmeal , highland barley and so on.
Wheat
Wheat, as we all know, can be ground into flour, and the flour can be used to make dough and make dumplings.
As for dumplings, there are hundreds or thousands of kinds in the world.
Let’s talk about the local ones first. Inner Mongolian people like to eat lamb chop dumplings the most.
The meat with the ribs is both fat and lean. Use the most delicious part of the whole sheep to make dumplings, not to mention how delicious it is.
Thick lamb chop dumplings with solid fillings, steamed on the stove for 45 minutes.
Tear open the dough and it will be filled with juice.
When Turkish people make dumplings, they pay attention to smallness and lightness.
A huge piece of dough, divided into two centimeter square pieces.
The fillings are minced beef, chopped onions, and seasoned with red pepper powder and black pepper.
Dot the meat on the dough and seal it with a cross. It is small and cute, one bite at a time.
When Italians make dumplings, they pay attention to the beautiful shape.
Mash the cheese and spinach into a coarse puree.
The vegetable juice is sweet and the cheese is soft and slightly sour.
Use a lace hob to cut into pillow-shaped dumplings.
is then combined with sage and Parmesan cheese to create a rich flavor.
Use one dough and include thousands of fillings.
Dumplings are almost a common food language in Eurasia continent.
But did you know? Dumplings are a food that spread from China to all over the world.
In the Song Dynasty, the method of eating steamed dumplings was introduced to the grassland.
arrived in Yuan Dynasty , and followed the expansion of Mongolian Empire and went further.
Watch "Flavour World" and you will find that it is about food, but it is not just food.
It uses food to tell the history of global civilization that spreads along with food.
Let’s talk about wheat.
In addition to making dumpling wrappers, there are many other familiar ingredients that are also made from wheat.
For example, gluten.
Knead wheat flour into dough and repeatedly knead it in water -
The starch granules in the dough are transferred to the water.
Pour away the starch water, and the remaining gliadin and glutenin form elastic gluten, which is common gluten.
In Fuyang, Zhejiang, people use minced meat, pickled mustard, dried wild bamboo shoots, and carrots as fillings, and add millet peppers and leeks to add flavor.
Use a small piece of gluten, wrap it in a large ball of fillings, and fry it in a pan.
is the local specialty food - oil gluten .
With a little force on your teeth, you can feel the elasticity of the gluten, and then dive into the delicious flavor of the filling.
In Fuyang, Zhejiang, the discarded starch water has transformed into another delicacy in the hands of Guangzhou people.
removes all the protein, leaving only the precipitated and dried wheat starch .
This completely gluten-free powder is called Chengmian by Guangzhou people. You may not be familiar with
Chengmian, but with some skillful hands by the chefs, it has become the dough of the common crystal dumpling.
The rough wheat is like solid and chewy gluten in the hands of Zhejiang people, but in the hands of Guangzhou people, it is exquisite and clear noodles.
The same ingredients can create countless possibilities.
and tempura , a Japanese food that many people like to eat nowadays, can also see the shadow of wheat.
It originated in Portugal.
In the Middle Ages, people had to eat vegetarian food during the Easter fasting period.
The Portuguese use kidney beans, pat them with dry noodles, coat them in egg batter, and fry them until golden.
This kind of delicacy is not forbidden, but it also satisfies the appetite and breaks the dullness of the dining table during the fasting period.
It also has a refreshing name - Garden Fish.
Nowadays, this kind of delicacy can still be found in many restaurants in Macau.
Four hundred years ago, three Portuguese missionaries who originally planned to go to Macau accidentally went to Japan and brought this Lent eating habit to this land.
The Japanese learned from the Portuguese, adding water to wheat flour, stirring it into a batter, wrapping fish or vegetables and frying it, which became today's tempura.
Just like this, a "little fish in the garden" has traveled a long distance from the Atlantic to the Pacific . From the original simple green beans, it has developed into a Japanese national dish that can be used as tempura in everything.
Barley
Mature barley has a rough texture and is not suitable for direct consumption, but it has transformed into a rich and diverse world of delicacies.
For example, the maltose we are all familiar with is made from sprouted barley.
After the glutinous rice is steamed, add the mashed malt and let it sit for a day.
The magical catalyst in germinated barley - amylase , can break down the starch in glutinous rice and turn it into sugar.
As the water continues to evaporate, the concentration continues to increase, and maltose gradually reveals its true form.
In addition to being made into snacks such as dragon whiskers, maltose is also the finishing touch in many delicacies.
For example, the honey-glazed barbecued pork that Cantonese people love to eat is actually the most authentic, with maltose added instead of honey.
Because maltose has stronger adhesion than honey, it not only has a soft sweetness, but also adds an attractive luster.
In Cantonese, the pronunciations of Mai and Mi are similar, which is why many people confuse them.
is originally from Qingyuan, honey sauce barbecued pork, originally it was wort barbecued pork.
The wonderful uses of barley are also familiar to us in making wine.
In addition to common beer, whiskey that many people like to drink is also made of barley.
In Scotland people spread barley on the floor and waited for five to ten days.
The humid environment allows the malt to grow to three-quarters of the length of the kernel. At this time, the ratio of sugar and starch is just right.
The barley is dried with local peat to produce a unique smoky aroma.
In the final clear liquid, the aroma of the grains is wrapped, condensing a world of flavor.
This brewing technique appears in almost all human civilizations.
In the beginning, surplus food, combined with the fermentation technology invented by humans, produced wine, an exciting, liberating, and blood-boiling liquid.
On the Tibetan Plateau , people use highland barley - a variety of barley that only exists in China.
Food is the common language of mankind
After talking so much, it is actually only one-fifth of the food introduced in the original film.
It is almost impossible to introduce all the food about wheat in one article.
But if you take a closer look, you may also be able to feel the charm of "Flavour World".
On the one hand, its vision is extremely broad. Any kind of food can bring out the story and history behind the food from the process of origin, spread and evolution.
On the other hand, it has a sharp vision. A small grain requires the use of various technologies such as CG + 360-degree shooting and high-definition micro cameras. No matter how small the ingredients are, it can be broken open and crushed to tell a rich world.
Just like what is said in Buddhism, one flower is one world. What "Flavour World" allows us to see is that every particle is the world.
Every food is of course related to taste and texture, but it is not just as simple as delicious food, but also about the world and human relationships.
It allows us to see that food is indeed a common language for mankind, and the pursuit of food, clothing, abundance, and a better life is also common to all mankind.
In this sense, it has surpassed those "electronic pickles" and rice-feeding variety shows. It is called the ceiling of domestic food documentaries, and it is indeed not an exaggeration.
dofu
