常山的辣滋味

周華誠

過年過節都要請客吃飯。吃飯主要是吃家鄉味道。我家鄉常山的味道，主要基調就是個辣。辣味當道，席卷海內外，在此大背景下，常山的辣依然獨具神韻，獨領風騷。何也？

我以為：川之辣，在麻;鄂之辣，在干;贛之辣，在香;湘之辣，在烈;云貴之辣，在酸;東北之辣，在辛。而常山之辣，主要在鮮。

常山游子遍布全球，每當春節運動會哨子一響，一個個便急吼吼奔赴歸鄉之途，舟車勞頓，星夜兼程，仆仆風塵中遙望見縣城中央那一座巍巍的文峰塔，兩行熱淚便要忍不住奪眶而出，心中默念道——“常山炒粉干，我來了！兔頭鴨頭，我來了！麥香餅、肉燒餅、雞蛋餅，我，回來了！”

仿佛一個猝不及防的擁抱。對于久別重逢的常山游子而言，辣就是歸途，辣就是家門。什么炒粉干、肉燒餅、鴨頭、兔頭，都辣你一臉，最好辣得涕淚俱下。這幾乎是一種儀式。你少時出門，一碗貢面辣出兩行熱淚;中年歸來，一個熱燒餅依然叫你辣出一腦門汗——這是一次溫暖的回望，一句方言的提醒。還有什么比這更親切的？

一桌團圓飯，不辣都不開席。不辣還是常山菜么？不吃辣還是常山人么？看看過節時的微信朋友圈，單說省內的，沿海甬臺溫的生鮮，蕭紹平原的清淡，杭嘉湖的溫文，而三衢大地的飲食，唯有用“熱烈”二字形容。開化、常山，尤有山鄉特色，紅的紅，綠的綠，煮的煮，燉的燉，厚缽載物，大碗盛肉，這是一個山中人家的家鄉味。

山鄉有什么——竹林的筍、山上的菌菇、枝頭的果實與園子里的菜，還有那溪里的魚、滿山飛奔的雞鴨、自家養的豬，以及那可遇不可求的野味。

山人也要吃魚，尤其是年夜飯，更作興“年年有余”，桌上必有一道魚。最好是鯉魚。鯉魚可以跳龍門。山里有溪，小魚不稀罕，大魚才難得。越少越珍貴，魚就成了年夜飯的重頭戲。以前地主家才有大魚可吃，吃完大魚，順手把魚尾巴貼在板壁上，如同獎狀（鄰縣開化，山里現在清水魚很多很有名，而幾十年前大魚稀少，亦有此風俗）。老輩人說的，從前普通人家吃不起大魚，便用木頭制成一魚，栩栩如生，下鍋一燒，整個正月里都會端上桌，看看甚好，只是不能下箸。

至于雞鴨，那是節日餐桌標配，必不可少。雞是漫山跑的，鴨是溪里吃螺螄長大的，各燉一爐。油膩膩的大豬蹄，燉一爐。油汪汪的紅燒肉，再燉一爐。油豆腐、咸肉筍，再燉一爐。灶下，燉了這樣一缽一缽的食物，炭火噼啪作響，濃香四溢，真像個過節的樣子了。

此外就是小炒。蘿卜絲炒麂子肉，肉切得細碎，蘿卜絲旺火一炒，嘩嘩嘩三大勺干辣椒，下鍋，一大把鮮辣椒，下鍋，直看得人心驚膽戰。麂子肉后來吃不到了，就換成牛肉來炒。常山人的做法，牛肉多是用蘿卜絲炒，這樣的一碗菜端上桌，管它屋外朔風勁吹、冰凌二尺，只要一箸入口，立馬渾身冒汗。

再炒幾個小菜吧，譬如，臘肉炒冬筍、肉片炒蘑菇，辣椒都是重要配角。肉，自然是豐富的，自家殺了豬，各種肉條掛滿檐下，比如臘肉做幾條，醬肉做幾條，咸肉做幾條，腌肉做幾條，制法不同，風味也不同。還有豬大腸一副，豬頭、豬耳朵、豬尾巴各一副，凡此種種，變著花樣炒出來。

燉的雞啊鴨啊豬蹄之類，老實說，并不十分的受歡迎。于是一燉再燉，直到肉質變柴，直到硬梆梆，然而每有客人來，依然要隆重地整罐端出來，同時熱情地請客人享用。客人只好委婉推辭。我小時候去外婆家，外婆一定會把其中的大雞腿夾出來，放進我的飯碗，為了避免我再夾回去，還要用雞腿在飯碗中攪兩下。看著粘滿了飯粒的已燉過很多次的大雞腿，我百般無奈，一邊糾結，一邊勉力吃完。

至于蝦或蟹，那自然是沒有的。山鄉遠離大海，我記得小時候吃過的海鮮，只有海帶、帶魚這兩樣。海帶是卷成一團，粘滿了鹽粒的干貨，帶魚也是咸得非同尋常的咸貨，這樣遠距離運輸才不會變質。對了，小時候偶爾能吃到淡菜干，淡菜干煮芋艿，鄉村酒席上一道常見的菜，大鍋煮出來，真的是咸香飄蕩，十分誘人。淡菜干，也是海里來的干貨，那時便覺得，天下美食，非淡菜干莫屬。

大閘蟹或是蝦，是很多年以后才出現在我們家的宴席上的。大約是上世紀90年代的中后期了，父親供職的供電局發年貨，有魚蝦蟹和墨魚之類的，摸索了好多次，才知道怎樣做出好吃的味道來。

然而，終歸也要根據山鄉人的口味進行改良化烹飪。蟹呢，當年時興用年糕切片，放辣椒炒出來。蝦呢，紅燒，放蔥姜蒜，再放辣椒。墨魚這種東西，當然也要重油重鹽，切成絲，爆炒，一大把辣椒，紅紅火火！管你東西南北風，我以不變應萬變，常山人的飲食烹飪風格，就是辣椒侍候，這種一統天下、兼收并蓄的格局，這種傲視群雄、為我所用的能力，體現出開放大氣的胸懷。什么天下名廚、四方佳肴，到了常山人口中一嘗，就說，還可以，不夠辣，味道差了點。

這說的是過去的事情了——這些年變化挺大，席上幾乎可以看成是山與海的合唱。山珍還是必不可少，海鮮卻也成了日常，口味也開始發生變化，不再唯辣獨尊。譬如說，冬筍黃魚湯也能上桌了，黃魚，說是東海黃魚，縣城的超市里就能買到。冬筍黃魚湯的做法，自然不放一點辣了，而是純粹的筍的鮮味，以及黃魚的鮮味，慢火燉出一鍋濃湯來。再譬如說，大閘蟹，也是很日常了，清蒸幾只出來，一人一小碟子醋，這個吃法，已然消彌了地理界限，也拉近了山海湖泊的距離。

雞鴨魚肉，雞鴨還是要燉的，魚肉也是要燉的，否則不成樣子——只是分量減少了，以一兩頓能吃完為限。大家都知道，菜還是要吃個新鮮。青菜，以往過年都不上桌的，現在上了桌，每每總是第一個被搶完。青菜心，甘甜糯軟，比肉還好吃。都不怎么放辣椒了——我們家幾個娃，在杭州、紹興等地生活慣了，拖家帶口地回老家，已無法再適應太辣的口味了，母親總會下手悠著點，能不放辣的，就都不放了。

差點忘了，還有最傳統的一道菜，八寶菜——干蘿卜絲、芹菜、千張、筍，還有別的，七七八八一道炒起來，特別爽口解膩，也尤其適合清晨用來下過粥。這道菜，在常山有多受歡迎？通常一炒就是一大罐子，約摸有七八斤吧，往往沒兩三天就吃完了。

時代變遷，日新月異，真的是在餐桌上看得出來——托網絡信息與線下物流高速發展之福，什么山珍海味，在今日餐桌上出現都不足為奇了。這與從前，或者說20年前，已然有天壤之別。這是時代之變。不變的也有——是什么呢，就譬如說這一道八寶菜吧，時代再過幾十年，估計常山人的餐桌上還缺不了它。而且，沒得說的，八寶菜，一定還要放點辣。

（圖片來自“視覺中國”）

The Hot Essence? of Changshan Cuisine

By Zhou Huacheng

I am a native of Changshan， a county of mountains and a cuisine of hot food in the west of Zhejiang. My ancestral roots and upbringing in the mountainous county explain why I prefer the special hot dishes with Changshan characteristics. Sichuan and many other provinces in other parts of China are famous for hot dishes in their cuisines， but the hot dishes in Changshan are different. In making hot dishes， Sichuan feature spiciness， Hubei tastes dry and hot， Jiangxi is fragrant and hot， Hunan is violently hot， Guizhou and Yunnan tend to be sourly hot， and the Northeast China prefers to be slightly bitter and hot. Changshans hotness is yummy. Natives agree with each other that the hot dishes of Changshan are the best in the world and they are prejudiced against all other hot dishes in the other parts of the world in a highly subjective way. The cuisine of Changshan has helped shaped and conditioned and trained their worldviews as well as their taste buds.

My taste buds are irrevocably conditioned by the childhood years I spent there. Then I left Changshan for the outside world. Whenever I am back in Changshan nowadays， I always take my favorite food one by one on the first few days as if I were trying to rediscover myself and my birthplace. The burning sensation of hot noodles and hot cakes， for example， brings out teardrops and sweat drops， confirming I am really home and home is more than a distant memory in space or time. What else could touch my soul deeper than does the chili ebullience in my hometown？

As nowadays I am back in Changshan essentially for the traditional Chinese New Year， the family reunion banquet on the eve of the Spring Festival is the only chance I have for a full range of local cuisine. As other parts of Zhejiang offer different styles for this special banquet， Changshan is best known for its vehement pursuit of color and taste. Most ingredients are from local mountains： mushrooms， fruits， fish netted from mountain creeks， ducks and chickens raised in mountains， bamboo shoots. In the past， wild boars and rabbits， and muntjak occasionally， were available on market during Spring Festival. Nowadays， hunting is banned and no one sees wild animals on the market anymore. Fish is a must for the yearend banquet in Changshan， but in the past it wasnt affordable for most local families. Only landlords were able to enjoy a dish of real fish. Some local people put a wood fish on the dinner table for the purpose of auspiciousness. Nowadays， fish is widely available for local people. It was not until the mid 1990s that seafood began to find its way into Changshan. Home residents spent a long time learning how to cook sea crabs， shrimps， and cuttlefish. Of course， red chili is the only way to tame exotic seafood and make it in Changshan style.

As time goes on， local people have changed a little bit about the chilly style. Nowadays， they have learned to enjoy the original tastes of seafood and bamboo， for example. The soup of yellow croaker and bamboo shoots， prepared with no chili at all， is very popular in Changshan. The hairy crab， nowadays， is made available in Changshan， and local residents have learned to enjoy the delicacy cooked in its original flavor， that is， without chili. In celebration of the Spring Festival， the hairy crab is a big treat for both children and for visiting relatives.

After all， the change is attributed to the opening up to the outside world as Changshan is now connected to the outside through a network of high roads and it makes people and goods travel with greatest ease. The local cuisine has changed a great deal if compared to what it was twenty years ago， let alone before 1949， the year when the Peoples Republic of China was born. Part of the change happens largely because local people are no longer confined to Changshan alone. In my family， some children were born beyond Changshan are growing up eating something other than the local cuisine. When we are back home， food on the table isnt very hot at all. After all， some of us were not born with chili.

Eight Treasures， a dish of eight vegetables， remains unchanged and remains popular in Changshan， especially during the Spring Festival. It is on the table at every household. It is served in a huge bowl of vegetables of more than 4 kilograms. As soon as it is gulfed down in a couple of days， a new bowl of Eight Treasures will be cooked.

none of them is in her possession as a memento. She has only a set of photos of her prize-winning paper fan drawings. In 1999， she brought her paper fans to the China Cultural Week in Paris， France. It was her first international exhibition. All the fans she brought to Paris went into private collections in France.

A turning point in her life occurred in 2010 when she demonstrated her fan-painting art at World Expo in Shanghai. She asked her daughter You Xiaoting to help her out at the expo. The daughter hadnt wanted to carry on her moms career. The girl liked to draw and was a good designer of paper fans， but she didnt want to commit herself to such a career， thinking her mothers total dedication was spiritually exhausting and unbearable. She chose to study environmental art at college. But attending the Expo in Shanghai changed her mind about paper fans. After seeing her mothers fans attracted so many people， the daughter found the work meaningful. She decided to focus on painting paper fans. Even now， the mother and the daughter feel amazed how a month at the expo in 2010 changed the life of the mother and the daughter forever. “I wouldnt want to force her to engage herself in this field. In this line of work， only a real passion can last a lifetime. Such a total dedication must come from within. It would be futile trying to impose it from without，” says the mother.

Now You Xiaoting works with her mother at the two-story studio in downtown Hefang Street. Her fan products are a little different from those by her mother. Zhao Pingjias paintings are more traditional in both subjects and skills whereas Yous works incorporate some modern elements. She will continue to do what her mother has been doing： design and create special paintings on black-paper fans. Works in this category are time-consuming and expensive. Traditional fans appeal only to a small group of people. She wants to develop paper-fans that appeal to more popular tastes of ordinary people. A series of fans that integrates paper-cutting and silk， jointly developed by the mother-daughter team， has won a gold medal in three consecutive years from the tourism authorities of Hangzhou.

The daughter is full of ideas she wants to try out in the future. While the young woman talks， Zhao Pingjia listens attentively and lovingly， knowing the fan painting art is now in the safe and youthful hands.