过年过节都要请客吃饭。吃饭主要是吃家乡味道。我家乡常山的味道，主要基调就是个辣。辣味当道，席卷海内外，在此大背景下，常山的辣依然独具神韵，独领风骚。何也？

        我以为：川之辣，在麻；鄂之辣，在干；赣之辣，在香；湘之辣，在烈；云贵之辣，在酸；东北之辣，在辛。而常山之辣，主要在鲜。

        常山游子遍布全球，每当春节运动会哨子一响，一个个便急吼吼奔赴归乡之途，舟车劳顿，星夜兼程，仆仆风尘中遥望见县城中央那一座巍巍的文峰塔，两行热泪便要忍不住夺眶而出，心中默念道——“常山炒粉干，我来了！兔头鸭头，我来了！麦香饼、肉烧饼、鸡蛋饼，我，回来了！”

        仿佛一个猝不及防的拥抱。对于久别重逢的常山游子而言，辣就是归途，辣就是家门。什么炒粉干、肉烧饼、鸭头、兔头，都辣你一脸，最好辣得涕泪俱下。这几乎是一种仪式。你少时出门，一碗贡面辣出两行热泪；中年归来，一个热烧饼依然叫你辣出一脑门汗——这是一次温暖的回望，一句方言的提醒。还有什么比这更亲切的？

        一桌团圆饭，不辣都不开席。不辣还是常山菜么？不吃辣还是常山人么？看看过节时的微信朋友圈，单说省内的，沿海甬台温的生鲜，萧绍平原的清淡，杭嘉湖的温文，而三衢大地的饮食，唯有用“热烈”二字形容。开化、常山，尤有山乡特色，红的红，绿的绿，煮的煮，炖的炖，厚钵载物，大碗盛肉，这是一个山中人家的家乡味。

        山乡有什么——竹林的笋、山上的菌菇、枝头的果实与园子里的菜，还有那溪里的鱼、满山飞奔的鸡鸭、自家养的猪，以及那可遇不可求的野味。

        山人也要吃鱼，尤其是年夜饭，更作兴“年年有余”，桌上必有一道鱼。最好是鲤鱼。鲤鱼可以跳龙门。山里有溪，小鱼不稀罕，大鱼才难得。越少越珍贵，鱼就成了年夜饭的重头戏。以前地主家才有大鱼可吃，吃完大鱼，顺手把鱼尾巴贴在板壁上，如同奖状（邻县开化，山里现在清水鱼很多很有名，而几十年前大鱼稀少，亦有此风俗）。老辈人说的，从前普通人家吃不起大鱼，便用木头制成一鱼，栩栩如生，下锅一烧，整个正月里都会端上桌，看看甚好，只是不能下箸。

        至于鸡鸭，那是节日餐桌标配，必不可少。鸡是漫山跑的，鸭是溪里吃螺蛳长大的，各炖一炉。油腻腻的大猪蹄，炖一炉。油汪汪的红烧肉，再炖一炉。油豆腐、咸肉笋，再炖一炉。灶下，炖了这样一钵一钵的食物，炭火噼啪作响，浓香四溢，真像个过节的样子了。

        此外就是小炒。萝卜丝炒麂子肉，肉切得细碎，萝卜丝旺火一炒，哗哗哗三大勺干辣椒，下锅，一大把鲜辣椒，下锅，直看得人心惊胆战。麂子肉后来吃不到了，就换成牛肉来炒。常山人的做法，牛肉多是用萝卜丝炒，这样的一碗菜端上桌，管它屋外朔风劲吹、冰凌二尺，只要一箸入口，立马浑身冒汗。

        再炒几个小菜吧，譬如，腊肉炒冬笋、肉片炒蘑菇，辣椒都是重要配角。肉，自然是丰富的，自家杀了猪，各种肉条挂满檐下，比如腊肉做几条，酱肉做几条，咸肉做几条，腌肉做几条，制法不同，风味也不同。还有猪大肠一副，猪头、猪耳朵、猪尾巴各一副，凡此种种，变着花样炒出来。

        炖的鸡啊鸭啊猪蹄之类，老实说，并不十分的受欢迎。于是一炖再炖，直到肉质变柴，直到硬梆梆，然而每有客人来，依然要隆重地整罐端出来，同时热情地请客人享用。客人只好委婉推辞。我小时候去外婆家，外婆一定会把其中的大鸡腿夹出来，放进我的饭碗，为了避免我再夹回去，还要用鸡腿在饭碗中搅两下。看着粘满了饭粒的已炖过很多次的大鸡腿，我百般无奈，一边纠结，一边勉力吃完。

        至于虾或蟹，那自然是没有的。山乡远离大海，我记得小时候吃过的海鲜，只有海带、带鱼这两样。海带是卷成一团，粘满了盐粒的干货，带鱼也是咸得非同寻常的咸货，这样远距离运输才不会变质。对了，小时候偶尔能吃到淡菜干，淡菜干煮芋艿，乡村酒席上一道常见的菜，大锅煮出来，真的是咸香飘荡，十分诱人。淡菜干，也是海里来的干货，那时便觉得，天下美食，非淡菜干莫属。

        大闸蟹或是虾，是很多年以后才出现在我们家的宴席上的。大约是上世纪90年代的中后期了，父亲供职的供电局发年货，有鱼虾蟹和墨鱼之类的，摸索了好多次，才知道怎样做出好吃的味道来。

        然而，终归也要根据山乡人的口味进行改良化烹饪。蟹呢，当年时兴用年糕切片，放辣椒炒出来。虾呢，红烧，放葱姜蒜，再放辣椒。墨鱼这种东西，当然也要重油重盐，切成丝，爆炒，一大把辣椒，红红火火！管你东西南北风，我以不变应万变，常山人的饮食烹饪风格，就是辣椒侍候，这种一统天下、兼收并蓄的格局，这种傲视群雄、为我所用的能力，体现出开放大气的胸怀。什么天下名厨、四方佳肴，到了常山人口中一尝，就说，还可以，不够辣，味道差了点。

        这说的是过去的事情了——这些年变化挺大，席上几乎可以看成是山与海的合唱。山珍还是必不可少，海鲜却也成了日常，口味也开始发生变化，不再唯辣独尊。譬如说，冬笋黄鱼汤也能上桌了，黄鱼，说是东海黄鱼，县城的超市里就能买到。冬笋黄鱼汤的做法，自然不放一点辣了，而是纯粹的笋的鲜味，以及黄鱼的鲜味，慢火炖出一锅浓汤来。再譬如说，大闸蟹，也是很日常了，清蒸几只出来，一人一小碟子醋，这个吃法，已然消弥了地理界限，也拉近了山海湖泊的距离。

        鸡鸭鱼肉，鸡鸭还是要炖的，鱼肉也是要炖的，否则不成样子——只是分量减少了，以一两顿能吃完为限。大家都知道，菜还是要吃个新鲜。青菜，以往过年都不上桌的，现在上了桌，每每总是第一个被抢完。青菜心，甘甜糯软，比肉还好吃。都不怎么放辣椒了——我们家几个娃，在杭州、绍兴等地生活惯了，拖家带口地回老家，已无法再适应太辣的口味了，母亲总会下手悠着点，能不放辣的，就都不放了。

        差点忘了，还有最传统的一道菜，八宝菜——干萝卜丝、芹菜、千张、笋，还有别的，七七八八一道炒起来，特别爽口解腻，也尤其适合清晨用来下过粥。这道菜，在常山有多受欢迎？通常一炒就是一大罐子，约摸有七八斤吧，往往没两三天就吃完了。

        时代变迁，日新月异，真的是在餐桌上看得出来——托网络信息与线下物流高速发展之福，什么山珍海味，在今日餐桌上出现都不足为奇了。这与从前，或者说20年前，已然有天壤之别。这是时代之变。不变的也有——是什么呢，就譬如说这一道八宝菜吧，时代再过几十年，估计常山人的餐桌上还缺不了它。而且，没得说的，八宝菜，一定还要放点辣。

The Hot Essence of Changshan Cuisine

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. Changshan’s 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 wasn’t 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 People’s 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 isn’t 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.  

(Executive Editor: Xunnan Zhou)