"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."
There is a mystique that surrounds the origin of certain recipe names. Take Caesar salad, for example. People often assume that the classic combination of romaine lettuce and dressing dates back to the time of Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. In fact, its origins are much more recent, although the exact circumstances defy documentation. In one version, it was invented in 1924 by Caesar Cardini. If true, the Tijuana restaurauteur must have been amazed by the confusion he unleashed when he chose to bestow his own name on his culinary masterpiece.
And then there's Chicken Cordon Bleu. Try as you might, you won't find a step-by-step procedure for stuffing chicken breasts with ham and cheese in any of the standard French cookbooks. While its origins are difficult to trace, the dish probably debuted in New Orleans, the brainchild of a chef who once trained at the France's world-famous cooking school Le Cordon Bleu.
Like all great mysteries, the truth about how these two famous recipes came to be named will probably never be known. The Chinese have their own collection of tales surrounding the origin of certain recipes. Here are a few examples:
Beggar's Chicken
This is a wonderful story. A homeless, starving beggar is wandering along a road when he catches sight of a chicken. Desperate for food, he kills the chicken by wringing its neck. Lacking a stove, he covers the chicken in mud, makes a fire and bakes it. (One version has him plucking the feathers off the chicken as he eats).
At this point an Emperor passes by with his entourage. Attracted by the aroma of the baked chicken, he stops and dines with the beggar, demanding to know how he created such a delicious meal. "Beggar's chicken" is subsequently added to the list of dishes served at the Imperial court.
This story has a footnote. In Chinese Kitchen, Eileen Yin-Fei Lo notes that people are not always happy with the name of the dish. In Beijing you'll sometimes see Beggar's Chicken called "Fu Guai Gai," or "Rich and Noble Chicken."
Lion's Head Meatballs
It's easier to understand the name once you've seen the dish. The meatballs are huge - roughly the size of tennis balls. Often they are served with cabbage, meant to represent the lion's mane.
Kung Pao Chicken
It's common knowledge that this dish is named after an official; however, from there it all gets rather murky. In some versions Kung Pao is a general who lived during the Ching dynasty. In others, he is a crown prince who discovered this dish while travelling and brought it back to the Imperial Court. There's even some confusion about whether the dish originated in Shanghai or Szechuan.
Cookbook author Helen Chen provides an interesting twist on the story. In Chinese Home Cooking, she states that Kung Pao was the title given to the person charged with protecting the heir apparent, as Kung meant castle and Pao meant to protect. During a certain period, the Kung Pao was a man whose favorite dish happened to be spiced chicken with peanuts, and thus over time it was named after him. Whatever the case, the stories demonstrate the Chinese belief that naming a dish after an important figure gives it more prestige.
Ants Climbing a Tree (Ants Creeping up a Tree, Climbing a Hill)
I have a confession to make - this is not one of my favorite recipe names. Yes, I know that the morsels of ground beef or pork are supposed to represent "ants" while the vermicelli noodles make up the "tree." But - ants? Couldn't they have chosen something a little more appetizing? Then again, I suppose "stones in the sand" doesn't sound great, either. In any event, this recipe has an advantage over the others in that it doesn't require a great deal of preparation.
However unusual the names, these dishes all came by their fame honestly. After all, taste is what really counts. Here are the recipes.
Recipes
Ants Creeping on the Trees
Beggar's Chicken
Kung Pao Chicken
Lion's Head Meatballs
Chinese Recipe Name Origins, Part II
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."
(Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet )
Even the most common foods have mysterious origins. Take that all-American snack, the hot dog. Traditional wisdom states that the predecessor to the modern-day hotdog, the frankfurter sausage, was invented in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany. However, others point to the word "wiener" as proof that Vienna (Wien), Austria, is the birthplace of the hot dog. There's not even agreement on who first came up with the idea of placing the sausage in a roll or bun. However, we do know that Charles Feltman opened the first hotdog stand on Coney Island in 1871.
Here are some more interesting stories about the origins of Chinese dishes:
General Tso's Chicken:
Like Kung Pao chicken, this dish demonstrates the Chinese custom of naming a special dish after an important figure. However, there is some confusion over who was meant to be the recipient of this special honor. In restaurant menus, you'll find the dish called everything from General Tsao to General Chung's chicken. In Chinese Kitchen, Eileen Yin Fei-Lo points out that there is even a General Ciao's chicken, possibly named after a visiting Italian diplomat. In any event, a General Tso did exist, serving in Hunan province during the nineteenth century.
Mu Shu Pork
Most sources state that the name "mu shu" refers to the flowers of either the cassia blossom or the olive tree. (Like cinnamon, cassia comes from a type of laurel plant). There is no doubt that Mu Shu pork is meant to be a "foresty" dish, with its bits of tree ears, lily buds, and shaved pork. Most versions contain pieces of scrambled egg, meant to represent flower blossoms.
In Chinese Kitchen, Eileen Yin Fei-Lo provides a different explanation for how this famous dish came to be named. She points out that the Cantonese call this dish "muk see yuk" or "shaved wood pork."
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall
This festive dish is worthy of its unusual name. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall has been compared to a large pot-au-feu, or stockpot soup. However, it is a much more complex dish, with its combination of chicken, ham, pork, shark's fin, scallops, abalone, and vegetables and seasonings. It can contain as many as thirty different ingredients.
The story behind the dish is that Buddha, the philosopher and founder of Buddhism, was meditating one day near a large wall. All at once he smelled an aroma so unusual and distinctive that he jumped over the wall to find out what dish was being prepared. Most versions of the story have Buddha breaking with his vegetarian beliefs to partake in the meal.
Crossing the Bridge Noodles
I'd always assumed that this dish originated in a city that was reached by crossing over water. In fact, the name has nothing to do with a physical place. There are two versions of how this dish came to be named. In the first (my favorite) a scholar chose to live apart from his wife for a certain period of time, in order to study for an important examination. In those days "crossing the bridge" was another expression for being apart. His wife visited him daily with a soup dish containing noodles, and thus the dish came to be known as "crossing the bridge noodles."
The second version is based on how the dish is made. The noodles are boiled and then poured into a hot chicken broth. The action of transferring the noodles is likened to crossing a bridge.
Editor: Li Guixiang.
