Xuzhou Fuyangshisu
01 · Historical Records
Having undergone development and evolution, the fuyang (dog-day mutton) custom — "eat mutton in the three nines of winter and the three fu of summer" — has become fully integrated into the daily life of the people of Xuzhou, with a broad popular base and a large body of practitioners.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The habit of eating mutton during the fu (dog days) has long existed in Chinese history. In the Xuzhou area, according to successive local gazetteers, the earliest eating of fu mutton here was called the "Tasting the New" Festival, also known as the "Aunt Festival." Xuzhou has the customs "on the sixth day of the sixth month, receive the mother's meat (bringing married daughters back to their natal home)" and "on the sixth day of the sixth month, fetch the aunt, with new-wheat buns and stewed mutton." Every year on the sixth day of the sixth month, daughters and sons-in-law are invited home; buns are steamed from new wheat flour, mutton is stewed, and wine and dishes are laid out to entertain them warmly, deepening mutual affection. The Xuzhou custom of eating fu mutton is closely related to its geographical environment. Xuzhou lies in hilly terrain with lush grass, which provides favorable conditions for grazing goats and an abundant supply of raw material for the mutton dishes of the people of Xuzhou. After a period of fattening, the goats' meat is fresh and fine, with a good balance of fat and lean and very little gamey odor; dishes cooked with this mutton have a rich, mellow flavor. An old materials song of the Xuzhou catering trade contains the line "pork in the east, mutton in the west, chicken from the green hills." The people of Xuzhou believe that eating mutton during the fu days works on the body by "countering heat with heat," inducing sweat and expelling toxins, dispelling the cold and damp of winter and spring, and also preventing heatstroke and mosquito bites. This heat-countering-heat way of eating accords well with the theories of Chinese medicine, the doctrine of yin and yang and the five elements, and the changes of heaven, earth, and the solar terms. Every year at the onset of the fu days, beginning with the first fu day, ordinary households prepare all kinds of mutton delicacies and feast their relatives and friends. In Xuzhou, whether cooks in mutton restaurants or women in family households, all can prepare mutton dishes; the professional mutton cooks in particular each have their own special techniques. The relevant departments of Xuzhou also hold various celebration events, with people gathering in the restaurants to watch fu mutton activities and eat fu mutton feasts. The Xuzhou fu mutton custom has a marked seasonal character and is welcomed among the people because of the functions of both the food and the custom. Xuzhou fu mutton has the efficacy of "treating winter ailments in summer, dispelling dampness and strengthening the stomach" and serves summer health preservation; the Xuzhou proverb "a bowl of Pengcheng fu mutton soup and you need not ask a doctor for a prescription" illustrates the effect of the fu mutton feast on the human body. Xuzhou has numerous restaurants serving mutton, and various brands have formed; some restaurants have expanded to several outlets, with their scale continually growing.
Opening the table in the first dog days
From the first dog day each household sets up its mutton pot and invites relatives, in the old saying that one eats lamb in winter and in summer.
Welcoming the aunt on the sixth of the sixth month
Known as the tasting or aunt festival, the sixth of the sixth month brings daughters and sons-in-law home for new-wheat buns and mutton soup.
New-wheat buns and slow-cooked mutton
Just after the Dragon Boat Festival, new wheat is ground into buns and mutton is simmered slowly, an annual table of first harvest.
The local saying about lamb soup
A local proverb claims a bowl of Pengcheng lamb soup spares you the doctor's prescription, repeated at tables for centuries.
Pigs to the east, sheep to the west
An old trade song names the division of materials, with mutton from hill-grazed goats whose fat and lean balance keeps the taste mild.
Techniques passed from master to apprentice
Each master refines broth and timing by the stove, passing dishes to apprentices and keeping the repertoire growing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Xuzhou fu mutton custom is a dietary custom widely current in Xuzhou and the surrounding areas; it has a long history and a strong local character. The way of eating fu mutton is firmly rooted in the Xuzhou area; neighboring places such as Tongshan, Jiawang, and Pei County also observe the fu days, and restaurant kitchens keep mutton-soup stock ready all year round. The people of Xuzhou attach importance to ceremony in entertaining guests: a dish of mutton soup must appear on the table before a banquet is considered to have begun. At New Year and other festivals, at wedding feasts, and when a child of the family leaves home for higher education, a pot of mutton is also stewed. Once the custom becomes tied to the solar terms, to commerce and travel, and to weddings and funerals alike, it is no longer merely the local taste of a single city but something that spreads outward along the canal and the railways.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At the same time, large numbers of new dishes have emerged, and masters transmit the dishes of the fu mutton custom through oral instruction and personal example. The running of mutton restaurants has strongly promoted the transmission and development of this custom and has given it new significance for the present era. The transmission of fu mutton has no written texts; it depends on the skill at the stove. When a master at a mutton restaurant takes an apprentice, he begins with the fundamentals of brewing the stock and controlling the heat; whether a mutton dish is right or not, one taste of the soup base reveals its depth. Since mutton is eaten through all the fu days every year, the master never has to worry that his craft will find no learners; as old shops grow into chains and new-style methods are continually added, the refinements of the old soup base are preserved layer upon layer.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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