In Shuangfeng County, Hunan, farmers are drying peppers. Nai Jihui Photographed on the family dining table of Cao Yu, a teacher at the School of Liberal Arts of Jinan University, chili peppers occasionally make a "guest appearance". It's not quite "Cantonese". However, he also ad

Farmers are drying peppers in Shuangfeng County, Hunan. Photographed by Nai Jihui

On the family dining table of Cao Yu, a teacher at the School of Liberal Arts of Jinan University, chili peppers occasionally make a "guest appearance".

This is not very "Cantonese". However, he also admits that he is not an "authentic" Cantonese - his mother is from Hunan, which loves spicy food, and his father is from Jiangnan, which loves sweet food, and he grew up in Lingnan, which values ​​light and delicious food. This makes his taste very diverse: roasted pork is his favorite; the hot and sour and salty aroma of his grandma ’s homemade chopped chili pepper is also the most beautiful taste in his memory.

A few years ago, when he was doing an anthropological survey of immigrants and ethnic groups in Enshi, Hubei Province, he thought he was "fairly capable of spicy food" and found the local food "unbearably spicy." Why is it so spicy? He looked around at the geography and came up with the idea of ​​conducting a dietary anthropological study of chili peppers.

While reading history and doing field research, Cao Yu realized that chili peppers have profoundly changed the face of Chinese food since they were introduced to China in the Ming Dynasty. Especially in recent decades, with China's rapid urbanization and food industrialization, spicy flags have been planted on dining tables across the country. At the same time, he also went abroad and got to know this magical plant from a global perspective.

In 2019, Cao Yu’s "History of Spicy Food in China" was published. The book tells the story of the changes in chili peppers over the past four hundred years after they were introduced to China.

Recently, "The History of Spicy Food in China" was republished. He came to Changsha at the invitation of the Star City Science Lecture Hall of Changsha Library, had a meal of spicy Hunan cuisine, and gave a lecture on "The Journey of Chili Peppers".

Cao Yu, a teacher at the School of Liberal Arts, Jinan University

From appreciation to salt substitution, the first people to choose peppers were the Tumin and Miao people.

Until now, peppers are generally called sea peppers in the southwest. "Sea" - not only indicates that chili peppers come from overseas, but also suggests that chili peppers are introduced from the southeastern coastal areas. Cao Yu believes that this hints at the spread path of pepper in China, that is, it first reaches the coast and then gradually spreads to the inland.

The spread path of chili peppers after they were introduced into China is very complicated, but almost all of them can be traced back to the two ports of Guangzhou and Ningbo. Hunan, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, was probably affected by both the chili peppers introduced from Guangzhou and the chili peppers introduced from Ningbo.

But in the first hundred years after the introduction of pepper, it was only regarded as an inedible ornamental plant . Hunan is an important relay point for the spread of "ornamental plant pepper" to Guizhou in the west.

"Sea pepper, the common name is spicy fire, and the soil seedlings are used to replace salt." In Guizhou, Cao Yu found the earliest record of chili peppers being used for food in my country - "Sizhou Fu Zhi" in the 60th year of Kangxi (1721). The background of its consumption is that there is a lack of salt in Guizhou. After the local residents repeatedly tried a variety of salt substitutes, they had no choice but to choose chili peppers. Moreover, the trend of eating it first became popular among the Tu and Miao people.

In Hunan, Changsha, Pingjiang, Xinhua, Xiangxiang were the first to eat spicy food.

Later, records of chili peppers appeared in local chronicles across China in the "Product Records" of Guizhou and the provinces adjacent to Guizhou. middle.

Therefore, Cao Yu speculated that the first people to eat chili peppers in inland China should be Guizhou people. Hunan has experienced the spread of pepper twice, "from east to west" and "from west to east" -

peppers were introduced from the coast to the eastern part of Hunan, and then from the east to the Xiangxi region. Its important trade nodes are It may be Changde, and then spread westward from Changde via Yuanjiang trade to the Miao Tusi area, and then enter the Youshui drainage basin of Guizhou, that is, the jurisdiction of Sizhou Prefecture (today's Youyang, Xiushan, Wuchuan , along the river , Yinjiang). A major transformation from inedible food to edible food was completed here, and a small-scale spicy eating custom was formed in the mountainous areas at the junction of eastern Guizhou and Hunan and Guizhou.

This trend spread eastward back to Hunan, westward to Yuzhou , into Sichuan, and southward into Yunnan. In Hunan, it also experienced spread from west to east.The Daoguang period was an important time point for the spread of peppers in Hunan. "Changsha County Chronicles", "Xinhua County Chronicles", "Pingjiang County Chronicles" and "Xiangxiang County Chronicles" all listed peppers in the product records during this period, which shows its popularity. However, places such as Yongzhou, Shaoyang, Hengyang, and Chenzhou in the hilly areas of southern Hunan are the latest to eat chili peppers.

But at least Tongzhi years ago, chili peppers were already popular in the province. By the beginning of the 20th century, the habit of eating chili peppers had spread to most areas in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and a "spicy area in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River" had been formed with Guizhou as the geographical center.

From "poor people's non-staple food" to popular on the dining table

"Famous Minister of ZTE" in the late Qing Dynasty Zeng Guofan is a loyal lover of chili. When he was the governor of Liangjiang, some of his subordinate officials wanted to know his dietary preferences to gain favor, so they secretly bribed his cook. Before serving the food, the cook took out the chili powder and sprinkled it into the bowl. This greatly exceeded the expectations of subordinate officials. Why is this?

Cao Yu analyzed that chili peppers are popular among farmers in the southern mountainous areas, giving chili peppers a class brand of "poor people's non-staple food". Even in spicy-eating areas, chili peppers find it difficult to find a place in large cities and wealthy families. Spicy food is regarded as a dietary habit of the poor and is rejected. Therefore, subordinate officials thought that Zeng Guofan's taste was "noble".

In fact, in villages during the late Qing Dynasty, even wealthy households often had the habit of eating spicy food. Zeng Guofan's taste for spicy food should have been brought over from his hometown in Xiangxiang.

It was not until a series of revolutions in modern times shattered the old class dietary pattern, and the trend of aristocrats as the benchmark was completely overturned, and the diet of the lower class became the object of imitation, that chili peppers were accepted by all classes in society. Prerequisites.

But it will take until the reform and opening up for chili peppers to really spread across the country. China's rapid urbanization has brought hundreds of millions of immigrants into the city. The huge population flow has made spicy food more widely spread. These immigrants have a huge demand for dining out. Cao Yu concluded that the popularity of spicy eating after the reform and opening up was influenced by three factors: the immigration era, food industrialization, and economic development. After immigration, a large number of people gathered in cities, and the food supply in the surrounding areas was insufficient. Materials needed to be supplied on a large scale, which inevitably led to food industrialization. Industrialized mass-produced food requires long-distance transportation with cold chain preservation, as well as storage and cooking methods to extend the shelf life. The heavy flavor of chili pepper can cover the poor taste of low-quality ingredients, which allows spicy food to increase in revenue. Not popular among immigrants.

Spicy dishes are also a good social food. For immigrants with a relatively new background, nothing can “break the ice” better than a hearty spicy meal. Therefore, it was "Jianghu cuisine" that really brought about the popularity of chili peppers across the country.

In addition, Chinese people have developed a taste preference for salty and sour flavors over a long period of time. In the pre-industrial era, the main flavors of Chinese snacks were salty, and the addition of spicy flavors complemented them and promoted the popularity of spicy snacks.

With the deepening of urbanization, there are fewer and fewer consumers who do not eat spicy food at all.

江湖菜

Can Chinese people eat spicy food?

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China's pepper production ranks first in the world. However, China's pepper production is far less than India's, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Why is there such a difference between

? This is because the pepper statistics of the United Nations are based on plants of the genus Capsicum containing capsaicin. Most peppers in China are fresh food varieties and are included in the United Nations statistics as "vegetables." category. In other words, the chili peppers in the dish " Fried Pork with Chili Peppers" commonly eaten by Hunan people are not included in the United Nations' "chili pepper consumption".

China has about 500 million spicy-eating people, but the per capita consumption of dried chili peppers nationwide is only about 210 grams per year, which is lower than India (800 grams) and Thailand (700 grams).Judging from the situation of chili seasoning, China is actually a country where eating spicy food is relatively common, and the number of people eating spicy food is increasing rapidly, but overall it is not a country that eats very spicy food.

The proportion of Chinese people who eat spicy food is not as spicy as India, Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries from a macro perspective. It is also slightly weaker than Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam in Southeast Asia. It is roughly the same as the spicy food in Latin American countries. Degree related. The hottest peppers in the world, including Naga Viper , Habanero , and Indian ghost pepper, are rarely cultivated in China.

Indian ghost pepper

Exclusive interview with Cao Yu: Eating spicy food to "remove dampness" is a kind of "cultural imagination"

Xiang Yu: Why did the mountainous area at the junction of eastern Guizhou and Hunan and Guizhou first form the habit of eating spicy food? Chili peppers have experienced two spreads in Hunan, "from east to west" and "from west to east". Why were chili peppers not eaten in the eastern part of Hunan at the beginning?

Cao Yu: In the eastern part of Hunan, life is relatively stable, and the first season in the vegetable garden , Everything planted in the second season is fixed; thanks to the better transportation location, there is no shortage of salt. So farmers don't have enough incentive to try new species. "If you are poor, you will want to change." This motivation exists in remote mountainous areas.

The spread of peppers is accompanied by the "involution" of China's agriculture. The increase in population has made land-deficient farmers have fewer and fewer non-staple food options. They have to use a large amount of land to grow high-yielding staple foods, which require low land and Seasoned and non-staple foods with high yield are favored by more and more farmers, because a small amount of pickles and peppers can be used to accompany a large amount of staple food. This constitutes the main reason for the spread of pepper in the southern mountains.

Xiang Yu: The degree of spicy food varies greatly in different regions of China, and Hunan people are often proud of their ability to eat spicy food. Based on your observation, how do Hunan people rank in the world in terms of their ability to eat spicy food? How many levels can it be considered?

Cao Yu: If level 10 is the full level, it would probably be level 6. Globally, there are many countries that can eat spicy food better than us, such as Mexico , southern India, Ethiopia ... Hunan is indeed not too spicy.

And when it comes to being proud of eating spicy food - because spicy food is a kind of pain, not a taste. After all, eating spicy food is about the ability to endure pain, so there will be a "competition" and the "winner" will be proud of it. At some dinner tables, the show-off behavior of eating spicy food is similar to people drinking wine together at the dinner table.

During a light show, a drone transformed into a pepper shape over Changsha. Photo by Gu Pengbo

Xiangyu: This is somewhat unexpected. You mentioned before that the Chinese use peppers as a vegetable. Is this common around the world?

Cao Yu: Not common. Other countries generally use peppers as a seasoning. Many hot pepper varieties with high spiciness have been cultivated abroad, but the Chinese do not have such high pursuit of spiciness and spiciness. Today, the two major varieties of chili peppers cultivated in China - Hangjiao and Xianjiao, have high oil content and are both high-flavor varieties. Nowadays, when we make some dishes, we use several kinds of peppers. Some peppers are responsible for spiciness, some are responsible for aroma, and some are responsible for color.

Xiang Yu: Are we the only ones in the world who prefer the aroma of chili peppers?

Cao Yu: Hungarian cuisine prefers chili peppers with a smoky aroma, but most countries have no requirements for aroma. When I was doing research abroad, I couldn't stand the food. Their chili peppers were all "hot and spicy" and had no flavor.

I personally feel that the more mixed the taste, the less spicy it is. For example, Hunan's "fresh and spicy", Guizhou's "sour and spicy", and Sichuan and Chongqing's "spicy" are all compound seasonings with the addition of other spices. Jiangxi is spicier, because Jiangxi cuisine does not highlight other spices, so it is "hard and spicy".

Xiang Yu: Based on your observation, at present, spicy eating habits are still strongly related to the economy?

Cao Yu: It is still strongly related.It may not be obvious when observing individuals, but overall, the more developed the economy, the lighter people's tastes tend to be. This is not just a region that eats spicy food. For example, in Japan, which does not like chili peppers, people with poor economic conditions have a taste for more oil and salt than people with better economic conditions.

Xiangyu: There is a saying that the reason why Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing are addicted to spicy food is because of the humid climate. People need to eat chili peppers to remove moisture, which is a physical need. What do you think?

Cao Yu: Based on my observation of global food preferences, this statement is not reliable. For example, in Mexico and some countries in Africa, their climate is suitable for the growth of peppers, and the people there can also eat spicy food. However, the climate in these areas is dry.

I think these statements are closer to a "cultural imagination". Whether eating chili peppers "causes internal heat" or "removes dampness", it is not the reason why people do not eat or eat chili peppers, but a kind of supplementary psychological comfort. As long as the preference for spicy food persists, people will continue to look for reasons to explain their behavior and weave a "web of meaning." And in contact with other ethnic groups, it has become a standard and symbol of recognition.

Xiangyu: Let’s make a prediction! Will chili pepper occupy more dining tables next?

Cao Yu: I don’t think so. It is unlikely that the number of immigrants will increase on a large scale now. In addition, due to the aging of the population, people will gradually eat less spicy food as they get older. Spicy food should become a "specialty food" in the future. For example, after arriving in Changsha, we wanted to have a spicy meal.