明清御膳之海参饮食文化源流

Origin of sea cucumber food culture in royal diet of Ming and Qing Dynasties

海参因其良好的食用价值与药用价值,深受明清统治者的青睐,成为宫廷御膳中的海鲜代表之一。明皇帝对海参的补益功效与清鲜美味,予以全盘接纳,使之成为宫廷常用食材。清宫宴饮由起初的满蒙菜为主;至康乾时期,满席、汉席并列,后御膳风格渐为汉化;最终在清末迎来令人叹为观止的“添安”筵式,海参作为汉席的“海八珍”之一,自然成为清宫御膳的必备食材。清中期以来,满清宫廷对海参的需求量日益上涨,海参除来自国内沿海各地与附属国进贡外,主要源于内务府与光禄寺对民间市场的采购。明清宫廷中海参饮食的发展,见证了宫廷食事规模的壮大和饮食文化的积累,通过宫廷至民间自上而下的逐层传递,对社会饮食风尚有着广泛的示范性,也对中华饮食文化的发展具有深远的影响。

Sea cucumber was favored by the rulers of Ming and Qing Dynasties because of its edible and medicinal values,and became one of the seafood representatives in the royal diet.Zhu Youxiao,the emperor of the Ming Dynasty fully accepted the tonic effect and excellent taste of sea cucumber.The banquets in the Qing palace were dominated by Manchu and Mongolian dishes at first;during emperors Kangxi and Qianlong periods,Manchu and Han banquets were juxtaposed,and the style of imperial banquets gradually became Han style;finally,the breathtaking Tian’an banquet style ushered in at the end of the Qing Dynasty.As one of the Eight Treasures of Seafood in the banquet,sea cucumber was naturally a must-have ingredient for meals in the Qing palace.Since the mid-Qing Dynasty,the demand for sea cucumbers by the imperial court had been increasing day by day.In addition to tribute from all parts of the domestic coastal regions and dependent states,it mainly came from the procurement from the markets by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Guanglu Temple.The development of sea cucumber diet in the Ming and Qing courts witnessed the expansion of the scale of royal food and the accumulation of food culture.Through the level-wise transmission from the royal palace to the common people,it had a wide range of demonstrations for social food customs and far-reaching implications for Chinese food culture development.