招远巧饼

Zhaoyuan Qiaobing

炎炎夏日,在满树知了的纵情歌唱中,七夕节到了。七夕节起源于汉代,又称“乞巧节”“七巧节”,与牛郎织女的传说有关。对恋爱中的青年人来说,这是中国的情人节;对农村孩子而言,那是一个可以光着屁股满街跑的季节,是一个可以拥有属于自己美食的节日。这种美食就是“巧饼”(也称“巧果”)。

The main ingredient of Qjaobing,a pastry cooked and eaten during Qixi Festival,is the fine flour of freshly harvested wheat,which sends forth the delicate fragrance of fresh wheat.In the early years when there was no bagged yeast powder,women in the rural areas relied solely on sourdough starter,also known as"dough starter",left over from previous fermented dough,which is equivalent to modern yeast.Different from the dough to make mantou(steamed buns)and baozi(stuffed buns),the dough used to make qiaobing should be harder and need to be kneaded longer so that it can be tough and chewy with stronger fragrance of wheat.