In Shandong, pastry is not only delicious food, but also represents celebration. Making pastry into flowers also conveys Shandong people's attitude towards life.

01

Bobo, a special pasta in Shandong, especially the big bobo in Jiaodong area, also known as the most famous. According to textual research, Jiaodong Huadang has a history of more than 300 years. In 2009, Jiaodong Huadang folk custom was included in the intangible cultural heritage of Shandong Province.

Bobing is not steamed bread. Although both of them are representative pasta in Shandong, the production process of Bobing is more complicated and colorful. In Jiaodong, making hot cakes is not called steamed hot cakes, but called "beating hot cakes". In Shandong dialect, the word "beat" appears very frequently, such as "beat rice", "beat vegetables" and "beat what". Outsiders are often confused. The beating here is not to press the food on the ground and rub it hard, but to cook, cook and do.

Of course, "beating the hot cake" is not beating a guy named hot cake. In short, it is a process of making a pastry.

For Shandong people, pastry is not only a kind of food, but also has a special significance.

When you get married, you have to do jujube pastry. The elderly in the family must have "longevity peach" pastry when they do birthday. In addition, there are pastry specially dedicated to ancestors, pastry for children's full moon, pastry for Tanabata Festival, pastry for Lantern Festival, and so on. Their shapes are different.

In recent years, Shandong dabobo has been innovating on the basis of inheriting the tradition: steaming vegetables and fruits with flour to make all kinds of living animals, or some flowers and birds that symbolize peace and auspiciousness. These improved and innovative Shandong big pastry is like a piece of art, not only delicious but also good-looking, full of belly, aesthetic value.

In the past, material conditions were scarce, and beating the meat and potatoes was a "big event". Only when the new house is capped, the holidays, the newlyweds are married, and the children are full moon, can you eat the hot cake on these important days. Therefore, in the impression of many Shandong people, the cake is also like tobacco, wine, sugar and tea, with a festive color.

02

I remember that in the past, whenever there was a new house in the village, the whole village would hear the sound of firecrackers and gather around the new house to prepare for the "hot cake".

The master who led the work sat on the beam of the house, shouting all kinds of auspicious blessings, while grabbing candy, chestnuts, jujube, and bobo from the basket around him, and the people around him were excitedly fighting., Who can grab the big bobo at the bottom of the box, is the luckiest person that day, will attract an envious eye.

When I went back to my hometown last year, I happened to meet a family whose new house was capped. The master still sprinkled candy and hot cakes from the roof according to the custom. Only a few people "grabbed the hot cakes" were scattered, and I could no longer see the excitement and hustle and bustle of the past. At this time, only to deeply realize the profound influence of material conditions on customs.

The pastry is made of refined flour. The pastry should be made in advance. After the pastry is made, dry flour, a small amount of oil and white sugar should be added and rubbed repeatedly on the panel. This step is very important. Only in this way can the pastry be eaten more vigorously.

The twelfth lunar month is a rare agricultural slack for farmers. The villagers who have been busy for a year are also willing to spend some thoughts on "beating the cake". This is to satisfy the children and reward the hard work of the year.

At that time, every family had to make jujube pastry. Knead the flour into a semicircle and insert it with jujube, just like a peacock opening a screen. Sometimes my mother would use dough to make swallows and hedgehogs for me and my younger brother, which became an important part of childhood memories.

03

When I was a child, my family "beat the hot cakes" during the New Year. My father kneaded the noodles, my mother was responsible for shaping the group, and I squatted in front of the stove and added wood to burn the fire. In winter, the fire burning at the bottom of the pan has a hypnotic effect. Several times, the fire started to doze off. It was not until the fire suddenly came out and burned the hair on the forehead that he suddenly woke up.

There is also a very important ceremony for the just-out-of-pot pastry. A red mark should be stamped on each big pastry with a patterned seal, which means a happy reunion. Only when this set of procedures is busy can we be considered as finished.

Nowadays, there is no worry about eating and drinking, and there is plenty of material. Even if you don't prepare the pastry in advance, you won't have nothing to eat for the New Year. However, the elders in my hometown are still guarding this inheritance. After a while, if you walk into a Jiaodong farmhouse and open the door, you will see a similar picture: on the hot Kang, the family is surrounded by a large panel, happy to "beat the cake".

In recent years, the company has had an early holiday. Every year, I go back to my hometown to help my mother "beat the cake". While kneading the noodles, I listen to her family talk about the family's shortcomings. When people reach middle age, they cherish this time more and more. Especially after the lid is lifted, in a dense atmosphere, the unique aroma of Bobo comes to the nostrils. This is the breath of life, and this is also the taste of home.

However, when it comes to happy events such as marriage and having children, many people go to the shops outside to order pastries. One is because they are too busy at work, and the other is that compared with the traditional farmhouse pastries, these customized pastries have a variety of styles. The variety is rich, the workmanship is more beautiful, and it can meet different needs, so it is more and more popular with people.

After hundreds of years, through the inheritance and innovation of generations of Shandong people, a small dough has been kneaded into various patterns, giving it a unique meaning. This is the wisdom of Shandong people and the attitude of Shandong people towards life.

After eating all kinds of delicious food for so many years, my favorite is the pastry steamed by my mother with her own new wheat. In my spare time, I often see the picture of a family sitting on the kang "beating pastry.