海纳百川的上海味道

“民以食為天”是中国人的一句古话。著名作家梁实秋，在搜尽中国大江南北的美味佳肴后，著成了《雅舍谈吃》。在此书中，他不仅谈吃喝，更谈出了他的一种社会心态，一种处世哲学，一种审美趣味或人生追求。我们可以看出，饮食文化从古至今一直被中国人所推崇，并与之结合到了精神层面。

上海作为中国的重要城市之一，以“本帮菜”而出名。“本帮菜”，以浓油赤酱、咸淡适中、保持原味、醇厚鲜美为其特色，常用的烹调方法以红烧、煨、糖为主。家常、平民化都是本帮菜的特色。而当海派饮食在海派文化影响下发展起来后，苏、锡、宁、徽等16个地方的风味，甚至西洋风味也被吸收到海派饮食中。菜肴就逐渐由原来的重油赤酱趋向淡雅爽口，并形成了海派饮食的特色。

如果说，如川菜是固执的老头子，那么上海饮食就是个能屈能伸的大丈夫，而这也是移民城市的特点。包容性与适应性是海派饮食的第一个特点。可以说，只要可以适应上海人的口味的菜，基本上都可以被上海人所接受。

同北方大盘的菜肉相比，上海一盘的量堪称袖珍，海派饮食的第二个特点是精细。如上海菜的“红烧鱼”，利用其富含的明胶蛋白质，需小火焖烧45分钟，使胶质溶出，再移至旺火入稠浓卤汁。成菜不用一点芡粉，却浓粘似芡，入口酥糯，颇具特色。就是这种精细活，使上海饮食可以与川菜、粤菜相媲美。

海派饮食的第三个特点就是创新。有筷子、也有刀叉，有西菜、也有中菜，更多的是中西菜的分解、打通、融合。食客一般是说不清自己到底吃的是什么菜，但就是这个菜、这个做法、这个味道牢牢地抓住了顾客的胃。这种海派饮食的创新显示了上海人对中华饮食文化真髓的深刻理解和对各帮菜的再认识。

There is an old Chinese saying that “food is the most important thing for the people”. Liang Shiqiu， a famous author， wrote “Views on Food in Elegant Shed”. In this book， he not only talked about food， but also talked about his social mentality， a philosophy of life， an aesthetic taste or life pursuit. We can see that food culture has been respected by Chinese people since ancient times， and combined with the spirit.

As one of the most important cities in China， Shanghai is famous for its local cuisine. Shanghai cuisine usually looks red and shiny， for they are often pickled in wine and their cooking methods include baking， stewing， teaming， deep-frying， etc. It stresses on using condiments and keeping the original flavors of the materials and has features of being fresh， smooth and crispy. Shanghai cuisine aims at lightness in flavor， and beautifulness in decoration. When the Shanghai cuisine developed under the influence of the Shanghai culture， the flavors of Suzhou， Wuxi， Nanjing and other 16 places， even the western flavor has been absorbed into the Shanghai cuisine， and formed the characteristics of Shanghai cuisine.

Inclusiveness and adaptability are the first characteristics of Shanghai cuisine， and they are also characteristics of immigrant cities. It can be said that as long as can adapt to the taste of Shanghainese， basically can be accepted by Shanghainese.

Compared with the northern dishes， the amount of Shanghai dishes is small. The second characteristic of Shanghai cuisine is its delicacy. For example， the“braised fish” in Shanghai cuisine， using its rich gelatin protein， need to be simmered for 45 minutes， so that the gelatinous dissolve， and then is put into the thick marinade. The dish does not need a little starchy flour， but it is crisp and glutinous， which is quite distinctive. It is the delicacy that makes Shanghai cuisine comparable to Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine.

The third characteristic of Shanghai cuisine is innovation. There are chopsticks， knives and forks， western food， Chinese food， more is the fusion of Chinese and Western food. Diners often can’t tell what they’re eating， but it’s the taste that grabs the customer’s attention. This innovation of Shanghai cuisine shows that the Shanghai people have a deep understanding of the essence of Chinese food culture and a new understanding of various cuisines.