Lüshi chunqiu Benwei

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The Lüshi chunqiu Benwei ( Chinese : 吕氏 春秋 本 味; Pinyin : Lǚshì chūnqiū Bĕnwèi) is the culinary chapter of the Chinese work called Lüshi chunqiu ( Chinese : 吕氏 春秋; Pinyin: Lǚshì chūnqiū; "Spring and Autumn of the Lord Lü") des Lü Buwei (died -235) from the Warring States period .

In it, Yi Yin (伊尹) talks to the ruler Tang (汤) about his cooking philosophy.

In addition to the chapters "Bensheng" (本生; "Adaptation to life") and "Zhongji" (重 己; "Taking care of oneself") from Book I on nourishing life, the chapter "Benwei" presented here in the extract本 味 is one of the earliest Chinese writings on Chinese cuisine; it is an extremely valuable source for research into the eating and drinking culture of the pre-Qin period .

Translation (excerpt)

“Of the animals in the three groups, the water dwellers have a fishy odor, the predators have a strong smell, the grazers have a sharp smell. And yet they can taste delicious despite the smell, everything has a reason. When it comes to the origin of every taste, water is at the very beginning. There are five flavors, three materials, nine ways of cooking, nine ways of changing, the heat input is crucial. Sometimes it has to happen quickly, sometimes slowly. This can make the fish smell disappear, remove the foul and strong smell. If you want to be sure of success, you shouldn't neglect the rules for the duration and degree of heat supply. When seasoning, you have to weigh up sweet, sour, bitter, hot and salty correctly, you have to know what is added earlier, what is added later and how much of each one. Bringing this into balance is very inconspicuous, there is a separate order for everything. The changes in the kettle are subtle and inconspicuous, they are inexpressible and cannot be made comprehensible. It is like the finesse of archery and chariot driving, the change of yin and yang , the calculation of the four seasons. That is why something can be kept without being spoiled, cooked without overcooked, sweet without over-sweet, sour without caustic, salty without being too salty, spicy without burning, bland without tasteless, fat without being greasy. "

expenditure

The work is included in the culinary book series Zhongguo pengren guji congkan by the Beijing publishing house Zhongguo shangye chubanshe .

Footnotes

  1. ↑ To be precise, a section from Book XIV, Chapter 2, whose title “Benwei” (本 味) Richard Wilhelm translated “How to get delicious food”. The other translations of the headings are also by Wilhelm.
  2. ↑ From the time of the Shang dynasty , who rose from cook to politician. Further information about this person can be found in the works of Shangshu , Mozi and Mengzi , among others .
  3. ↑ or Cheng Tang成汤, the founder of the Shang Dynasty.
  4. ↑ Water is the first of the five elements (wuxing 五行).
  5. ↑ Salty, bitter, hot, sour, sweet.
  6. ↑ Water, wood, fire.
  7. ↑ On the cooking methods of the old days cf. Zhongguo pengren cidian , p. 260 f.
  8. ^ Translation: Reiner Stoppok (November 19, 2006). See Zhuzi jicheng , VI.396. Our interpretation is essentially based on the text version of the Zhongguo pengren baike quanshu .

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