Many folk industries in China have the custom of ancestor worship, and the chef industry is no exception. So, who is the granddaddy of the chef? There are five main sayings throughout the ages. One is The Kitchen God. According to legend, the Kitchen God is the son-in-law of the Jade Emperor, who was specially sent to supervise the kitchen and take charge of housework. At the end of each year, he reports back to the palace. Therefore, every household did not dare to neglect him, offering him wine, pig's head, fresh fish, candied fruits and five-color rice food, and sticking candy on his mouth at the same time, so that this smoky god finally tasted some sweetness and achieved "what is said in the sky is good, and what is reported in the underground". It is also said that the chef can cook, and he is merciful and teaches some skills to the chef from time to time. Therefore, the chef worships the kitchen king most frequently on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month. Over time, the chef king became the chef's grandfather. In fact, the kitchen god is the incarnation of Zhu Rong, the fire god who is regarded as the founder. It is not only the relic of ancient worship of fire and water, but also contains the profound meaning of using fire safely and paying attention to food hygiene. Second, "Peng Zu said". Peng Zu, a legendary health care practitioner. According to ancient records, Peng Zu is the great-grandson of Zhuan Xu. According to legend, he lived more than 800 years than Tang Yu, Xia Shang and other generations. Peng Zu is good at keeping in good health. Zhuangzi had intended to regard him as a representative figure of health preserving family, and Tian Wen of Chu Ci also said that he was good at dietotherapy. Because Peng Zu is good at making delicious wild chicken soup, he gave it to Emperor Yao, who sealed it to Da Peng. Qu Yuan, a patriotic poet in China, wrote in (Chu Ci Tian Wen): "Why should the emperor care if Pengkeng pours pheasants backwards?" How long can my husband last? "This artistically reflects Peng Zu's outstanding contribution in promoting the progress of China's food culture. Wang Yi, a scholar of Chu Ci in Han Dynasty, noted: "Peng Keng, Peng Zu also. Good and delicious, good at pouring soup, able to serve the emperor, the emperor is beautiful and delicious. Hong Xingzu of the Song Dynasty added, "Peng Zu's surname is Qian Ming Keng, and Huang Zhuan Xu is his great-grandson. Good at nourishing qi, can adjust the tripod, into the wild chicken soup, sealed in Pengcheng. "Peng Keng is the ancestor of the Peng tribe, and his descendants will multiply in the future, mainly because of his" mountain chicken soup ",so he was regarded as Peng Zu, and his descendants were called Peng Zu. Peng Zu's The Way of Wild Chicken Soup has gradually developed into The Way of Cooking. Wild chicken soup is the earliest recorded name in China's ancient books and is known as "the best soup in the world". In the cooking history of China, Peng Zu was called "the first famous professional chef in China" and "the longest-lived chef", and was honored as the ancestor by Jiangsu chefs. Three, "Yi Yin said" Yi Yin was one of the important ministers in the early Shang Dynasty. His original name was Yin, the official name, and Oracle Bone Inscriptions called him Yi. According to legend, Yi Yin was born near Yishui, and went to Shen You's home as an adult to make a living by farming. Although his position is very low, he is worried about the world. He saw that the Xin family had a gentleman and virtue, and wanted to persuade him to rise up and destroy the summer. In order to get close to Shen Guojun, he volunteered to be a slave and served as Shen Guojun's personal chef. The monarch discovered his talent and was promoted to the position of managing meals. After long-term observation, Yi Yin finally found out that there were Shen and Xia surnames, both of which were in the back, so it was difficult to sever the blood relationship. Besides, at that time, there was a small country with few people and weak troops, which was not enough to undertake the heavy responsibility of destroying summer. Only soup was the ideal candidate, so I decided to go to soup. At that time, Tang married Xin's daughter as a princess, and Yi Yin volunteered to be his wife and accompany him to do business. He analyzed the general trend of the world and the way of governing the country, and advised Tang to undertake the task of destroying the summer. From this, Tang knew that the foreign demon had the ability to learn from heaven and earth, so he liberated him from slavery and became the highest ruling minister. Yi Yin was not only the founding father who helped Tang win the world, but also the hero of the later three Shang kings. As a result, Yi Yin was listed as the first "old minister" in Oracle bone inscriptions, and was solemnly sacrificed, not only with Tang, but also by himself. Mozi? 6? Shang Xian (1) said: "Yi Yin is a female teacher and servant of the Xin family. "Teachers and servants are the mentors of the noble children of slave owners. This can be compared with the tutor who was the son of a slave owner in the history of ancient Greek education. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, it is recorded that Yi Yi (that is, Shang Tang) and Yi Yin sacrificed together. It can be said that Yi Yin was the first teacher in China who recorded Oracle Bone Inscriptions. . Professor Qi Wang Li of Peking University believes that the laurel of "the saint of cooking" belongs to Yi Yin. Since it is the "saint of cooking", it is undoubtedly the ancestor. The fourth is "Han Xuan Di said". Liu Xun, Xuan Di, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, lived in his childhood and grandmother's home since childhood. He was well aware of the sufferings and evils of the people and the gains and losses of official management. After he ascended the throne, he made great efforts to govern the country, select and appoint talents, relieve the victims and put the prison on probation. According to legend, Xuan Di, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, loved cooking, was good at cooking, and especially liked making and eating cakes, so the cake industry of later generations took this enlightened son of heaven as its founder. The fifth is "Wang Zhan said". According to legend, Wang Zhan was a famous chef in Yingshan, Ezhou (now yingshan county, Hubei) during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. Known as "slippery meat." Most people always like to eat delicious pork, but it is too greasy and has to be avoided. This chef Zhan likes to cook with particularly greasy pork breast. Interestingly, he has to go through a unique treatment, that is, cut the skin into domino-shaped pork breast pieces, soak them in clear water for a long time, and wash and drain them for many times to reduce greasy. Then mix well with the carefully prepared multi-flavor seasoning to change the taste. After a while, fry in an oil pan and steam in a cage. After several concoctions, it is a special food with fresh and tender meat, smooth and tender taste and fragrant entrance. So Zhan Qiu Dao named this meat dish "slippery meat". Since then, this dish has been widely circulated in Yingcheng, and even people who hold weddings and funerals will be indispensable to this dish. With the popularity of slippery meat, in the Kaiyuan period, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty heard that "Yingshan Slippery Meat" was very famous, so he sent someone to call the chef Zhan into the palace and let him cook slippery meat in the imperial kitchen. Xuanzong was very satisfied with this. At that time, Chef Zhan was favored and won many awards, which really made other chefs jealous. There is a saying that there are unexpected events in the sky, and people are doomed. Tang Xuanzong, who was greedy for money and fun, stayed away from the state affairs, which made the traitor monopolize the national gap and eventually led to the social unrest of the "An Shi Rebellion". The people suffered from the mutiny and war, so let's not talk about it for the time being. Even Emperor Xuanzong, who had had a full day's meal, was shocked and afraid, and he didn't know the taste and couldn't eat any more. Treacherous court official Li refused to let Xuanzong eat salty food, and repeatedly asked the chef to make sweets, which greatly reduced the emperor's appetite. One day, Tang Xuanzong specially summoned the chef Zhan and said that he wanted to eat Yingshan Sliced Meat to relieve his hunger. Chef Zhan was distressed by the emperor's weakness and set about cooking. But when the meat was ready, the traitor Li refused to give it to the emperor. He also deliberately said in front of Xuanzong: "Your majesty is weak, and eating salty food will cause great losses. I'm afraid I'll lose my life if I eat a slippery meat ... "Tang Xuanzong always loved Li very much on weekdays, always bidding. At this time, it is inevitable that the dragon will be furious. At the instigation of the treacherous court official, he ordered the chef Zhan with ulterior motives to be pushed out and beheaded. Poor and honest chef Zhan, who has done injustice through the ages. This day is the thirteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Before the execution, Chef Zhan also sent a message to the emperor: "In less than a hundred days, the emperor is not salt. Otherwise, life is hard to protect. " Tang Xuanzong's condition did deteriorate day by day. The doctor risked his life to protest, saying, "dragons can only recover if they eat salty food." Taking medicine alone will not fully recover. " Xuanzong couldn't stand the light coming into the altar. It finally occurred to him that what Chef Zhan said before he died was reasonable. So I stopped listening to Li, took medicine and improved salty food. Finally, I became better and more energetic every day. One day, Xuanzong had a whim and remembered that he had not eaten delicious meat in Yingshan for many days, so he sent a message to the Imperial Restaurant. What can be presented is not the familiar chef Zhan, but other chefs. This mistake really touched the emperor's sympathy, and he regretted killing him. Too late to regret, he personally wrote a letter to the deceased chef Zhan as "King Zhan" and held a sacrificial ceremony on August 13th of the lunar calendar every year. Chef Zhan changed from a ghost to a sacrificial "King Zhan", which became a remarkable event in the history of China food culture and was also recorded by later generations. Like its founder, the story of Yingshan Slippery Meat has been widely told by later generations and occupies a unique position in the Chinese food market. Up to now, the catering industry in Hubei and other places still has the folk activities of "Sacrificing Wang Zhan on August 13th". Yingshan and other places hold festivals to treat guests, and also take "Yingshan Slippery Meat" as the first course. Chefs worship their ancestors, on the one hand, they respect and miss the founders of the industry, on the other hand, they expect their ancestors to bless the whole industry with exquisite skills, prosperous business and increasingly developed. Express a good wish.