Cracking a classic culinary code
Food historian attempts to re-create old recipes described in Cao Xueqin's book, only to discover that there is more to the story, Xu Fan reports.
Yet, it is precisely this extravagance that has made readers crave qiexiang. Recently, the dish was brought to life by food historian and cultural scholar Lu Ran as part of the Ideas project, an initiative launched by Tencent News to help aspiring individuals bring their good ideas to fruition.
Lu first conceived the idea of re-creating the delicacies from the classic novel in 2019 while working on a research program about the seasonal food traditions of the Cao family. The family's rise began with the author's great-grandfather, Cao Xi, and peaked with his grandfather, Cao Yin, whose mother served as the wet nurse of Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and who was a study companion to the emperor.
Surprisingly, one of Lu's most important reference texts is not the novel itself, but Lian Ting Ji, a collection of Cao Yin's literary works, including 730 poems and 23 essays, some of which offer glimpses into his personal life, social circles, and culinary tastes.
"Cao Yin was a close childhood friend of Kangxi. As the emperor's study companion in the palace, he received a rigorous literary education. That training allowed him to capture the nuances of fine food in his poetry," Lu explains to China Daily.
