每年的春夏兩季，正是西湖莼菜采收的時(shí)節(jié)。

莼羹、鱸膾是我國(guó)古代的美肴。早在千年之前的西晉，就流傳著“莼鱸之思”的佳話。吳郡吳縣（今江蘇蘇州）儒生張翰，曾在洛陽齊王司馬冏手下任大司馬東曹掾，張翰見司馬冏驕奢專橫，又沉湎于酒色，將來必然失敗，會(huì)禍及自己。那年又見秋風(fēng)乍起，特別思念故鄉(xiāng)的莼羹、鱸魚膾，于是激流勇退，辭官歸里。他歸隱后不久，長(zhǎng)沙王發(fā)兵攻冏，齊王司馬冏被斬于閭闔門外，張翰得免于禍。人們說他有先見之明，所謂思戀家鄉(xiāng)的莼羹、鱸膾，只不過是他抽身避禍的托詞罷了。后人便以“莼鱸之思”作為思鄉(xiāng)之情、遁世歸隱的代名詞。

自此以后，“莼、鱸”便成了“游子思鄉(xiāng)”的象征。舊日，云游天下的江南學(xué)子，最為牽掛的事，莫過于三件了：“倚門的老母、臨窗的嬌妻”，還有就是家鄉(xiāng)的莼菜羹。莼菜之美，竟然能與“老母、嬌妻”相提并論，令人不可思議。但是，唐代的彥謙將莼菜與“國(guó)事名利”相聯(lián)系，倒是千真萬確的事。他的名句有：“托興非耽酒，思家豈為莼?！笔妨纤d，“乾隆六下江南”，每到杭州“必以莼羹為食”。

古人請(qǐng)客吃飯，如果桌上有一盆“煮莼菜”擺著，舉座皆驚，不敢舉筷?duì)巼L，待吃完飯后，依然留戀盤中余香。明代雅士李流芳《煮莼歌》是這樣描述的：“一朝能作千里羹，頓使吾徒搖食指。琉璃碗成碧玉光，五味紛錯(cuò)生馨香。出盤四座已嘆息，舉箸不敢爭(zhēng)先嘗。淺斟細(xì)嚼意未足，指點(diǎn)杯盤戀余馥?！?/p>

從以上記載不難看出，莼菜之美，無與倫比，在古人筆下，幾乎到了出神入化的地步。

莼羹的莼，是一種水生宿根植物，屬睡蓮科，古時(shí)亦作“蒪”，又名“馬蹄草、水葵”。我國(guó)江南用莼作羹，古已有之。杭州錢塘江兩岸莼菜，久負(fù)盛名。白居易就寫過“猶有鱸魚莼菜興，來春或擬住江東”之句，這里“江東”指的就是錢塘江彼岸的蕭山湘湖。南宋著名詩人陸游也有“短艇湖中喜采莼”的詩句。杭州近郊和蕭山湘湖盛產(chǎn)莼菜。

我國(guó)采食野生莼菜至今已有2000多年歷史，種植歷史也有l(wèi)000多年?！洱R民要術(shù)》稱，“諸菜之中莼為第一”。莼有水中碧螺春的美譽(yù)。在日本，莼菜被視為“水中人參”。

人們喜愛莼菜，還因莼菜營(yíng)養(yǎng)價(jià)值極高。據(jù)科學(xué)分析，它的嫩莖嫩葉里富含蛋白質(zhì)、脂肪、碳水化合物，而且它的嫩葉和嫩梢富含一種瓊脂般膠質(zhì)黏液，這種膠質(zhì)黏液的價(jià)值，不僅在于它滑柔，而且含有多種特殊的營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)。其營(yíng)養(yǎng)成分遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過蟹脂的營(yíng)養(yǎng)價(jià)值，故有“莼脂清輕勝蟹脂”之譽(yù)。莼菜還是一味有相當(dāng)藥用價(jià)值的中藥?！侗静菥V目》中曾說，莼菜“消渴熱痹，和鯽魚作羹食，下氣止嘔”，還可以“治熱疸、厚腸胃、安下焦，逐水，解百毒”。

據(jù)明《西湖游覽志》記載，莼菜最早發(fā)現(xiàn)是在西湖蘇堤望山橋附近，這也就是被稱為西湖莼菜的原因吧。其實(shí)，莼菜并非出產(chǎn)在西湖，錢塘江邊周浦鄉(xiāng)仁橋村三面環(huán)山的銅鑒湖才是它真正的產(chǎn)地。周浦種植西湖莼菜也已有七百多年的歷史，其品質(zhì)口味優(yōu)異，文化底蘊(yùn)深厚。每年春暖花開時(shí)候，杭州西湖區(qū)周浦銅鑒湖村，小木船排成了隊(duì)列，漂浮在莼菜塘上。小木船只夠臥著一個(gè)成年人，基本上都是中青年婦女，她們戴著草帽，雙手在水底靈巧地采著鮮嫩的莼菜，飛快地放進(jìn)身下的船艙里。采莼者說，坐在橢圓的木桶里，手心向上，用食指和中指夾著莼菜葉，輕輕摘下來，很滑溜，比采龍井茶難得多。

莼菜的另一產(chǎn)地是在蕭山湘湖。宋代，湘湖莼菜已作為朝廷貢品。南宋《會(huì)稽志》載：“蕭山湘湖之莼特珍?！泵鞔f歷縣志云：“莼出湘湖至美，較勝他產(chǎn)。”清代《四時(shí)幽賞錄》這樣記載：“舊聞?shì)簧街婧?；初夏思莼，每每往彼采食?！鼻宕妒捝街尽酚小昂贾菔⑿休徊?，西湖所產(chǎn)無多，皆由蕭山販往”記載。民國(guó)《蕭山志》稱：“‘西湖莼菜羹’盛名之后，其莼多出湘湖?！苯吨袊?guó)特產(chǎn)志》也說：“西湖莼菜，以湘湖、上泗為正宗。”

在錢塘江邊，有一家當(dāng)?shù)刈畲蟮妮徊思庸S，產(chǎn)品主要出口日本。在加工車間，工人把一桶桶剛收來的莼菜倒進(jìn)開水池里，這是第一道工序，叫殺青；經(jīng)過冷卻漂洗后，進(jìn)入第二道工序即分級(jí)挑選。在一排排臺(tái)面上，工人們用一把小鏟刀飛快地將莼菜切斷，有的是葉，有的是芽，有的是粗莖。葉與芽分成兩處存放，粗莖則丟棄。他們把加工后的莼菜分成三個(gè)等級(jí)，最高的是S級(jí)，都是嫩芽，主要用于出口日本，價(jià)格也最貴。

從古至今，莼菜美味不知令多少游子墨客魂?duì)繅?mèng)縈。其實(shí)，莼菜本身并無什么味道，要用其他作料做的好湯配之。正如葉圣陶在他的一篇文中所寫：“在故鄉(xiāng)的春天，幾乎天天吃莼菜，它本來沒有味道，味道全在于好的湯。但這樣嫩綠的顏色與豐富的詩意，無味之味真足令人心醉呢。”從古籍上看，古代莼菜羹常配以各種魚，如鱸魚、鯉魚、鯽魚，而以配鱸魚為多?！侗静菥V目》引《爾雅翼》曰：“今吳人嗜莼菜鱸魚，蓋佳味?！惫艜r(shí)人們多用它細(xì)切為膾，故稱鱸魚膾。松江鱸魚名聞全國(guó)，魚肉細(xì)膩，口味極佳。用杭州莼菜和松江鱸魚烹制的莼羹鱸膾，那是響當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)闹袊?guó)傳統(tǒng)名菜。《耕余錄》說：“其味略如魚髓蟹脂，而輕清遠(yuǎn)勝……”樓外樓的大廚取鱸魚凈肉切絲，配以莼菜、雞肉絲、火腿絲、香菇絲燴制成一道羹肴。此羹鮮嫩潤(rùn)滑，清雋甘美，菜名即為“莼鱸之思”。

莼菜入饌，可湯可菜，可煮可炒，顏色碧綠，惹人喜愛。莼菜作羹，歷來受到人們的青睞。它滑嫩、醇香、清心、可口。莼菜的烹調(diào)可分為“魚羹、肉湯、素食”三大類。魚羹，“以鯽魚、鱸魚、黑魚、白魚做羹最為有名?！比鉁翱捎眉仪?、火腿、豬排骨煨湯，以雞汁莼菜湯最為有名”。素食，以“豆腐、面筋、腐竹、素雞、蘑菇等，配以調(diào)料，制成‘莼菜蝦仁’、‘魚丸莼菜湯’、‘莼菜黃魚羹’”，這些都是以葷托素的莼菜佳肴。

據(jù)說，前幾年，聯(lián)合國(guó)有位負(fù)責(zé)糧食、食品調(diào)查的官員，在《華盛頓郵報(bào)》上撰文盛贊：“杭州的莼菜，鮮嫩爽滑，吃過一次，終身難忘。”

西湖莼菜對(duì)于杭州來說，不僅是美味的佳肴、聞名的特產(chǎn)，更像是一種文化的符號(hào)。但現(xiàn)在西湖莼菜產(chǎn)量卻越來越少，經(jīng)濟(jì)效益成為莼菜種植的“瓶頸”，因此這一流傳千年的名菜在今天顯得越發(fā)珍貴。如今，在城市化進(jìn)程日益加快的背景下，如何將西湖莼菜這一品牌發(fā)揚(yáng)光大，已成為擺在杭州現(xiàn)代農(nóng)業(yè)面前的新課題。

Tasteful Water Shield in Season

By Wu Danjiang

April and May are the season to pick water shield (brasenia schreberi)， a local freshwater aquatic plant of Hangzhou since ancient times. As far back as the Western Jin Dynasty (265-317)， water shield soup and minced bass were two famed delicacies. Zhang Han， a scholar official， worked as a high-ranking official under a duke. Seeing the duke abandon himself to debauchery， Zhang believed that the duke was doomed to fall. One autumn day， he submitted his resignation to the duke on the excuse that he missed water-shield soup and minced bass at home so much that he wanted to resign and go back home to enjoy the two dishes. Not long after he had resigned and reached home， the duke was killed by another duke. Because of Zhang， “missing water-shield soup and minced bass” became a popular phrase among officials for centuries， indicating one’s homesickness and resolution to stay free of political trouble.

In legends， anecdotes and poems of yesteryears， water shield is a symbol of delicacy and a trouble-free and enjoyable rural life at tranquil and peaceful home.

Water shield is an aquatic plant common in the south of Yangtze River Delta. It looks like water lily but it is different. The most interesting feature of this plant is the thick coating of gelatinous gel that covers young stems and the underside of young leaves. History says that water shield was used as food more than 2，000 years in China and that water shield farming in China dates back to 1，000 years. Cultivating water shield as an agricultural product in Hangzhou and Xiaoshan， now a district of the greater Hangzhou across the Qiantang River， goes back to ancient times.

Put together in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， a history about West Lake says that water shield was first spotted near a bridge of the Su Causeway. That is probably why in Hangzhou the name of water shield always goes with West Lake as its distinct modifier. However， water shield in Hangzhou is not mass-produced in the famous lake. The original production place is Zhoupu in a suburb of Hangzhou. Over the past 700 years， Copper Mirror Lake in Zhoupu has been a big producer of water shield crop in Hangzhou. Spring is the harvesting season. Village women are water shield pickers just as village women are the major force in picking tealeaves across Dragon Well Tea plantations near the West Lake. A woman usually spreads herself on all fours on a small tub-like boat floating on a pond or a lake. They push their hands into water and pick fresh water shield. Some prefer to sit in a deep wooden tub and pick leaves of water shield. It is said that the slippery water shield is harder to pick than tealeaves.

Xianghu Lake in Xiaoshan District across the Qiantang River has been a major producer of water shield in Hangzhou for hundreds of years. Nowadays， a water-shield processing factory in Hangzhou processes the fresh crop in a scientific way. The fresh crop largely comes from Xianghu Lake and surrounding areas. Different parts of water shield go into different products and the processed products are classified in three grades. The water shield processed in this factory is largely exported to Japan.

Water shield as a delicacy has been famed for centuries. According to “New Anecdotes of Social Talk”， a collection of anecdotes about scholars and celebrities of the Wei Kingdom and Jin Dynasties， Lu Ji came to Luoyang， the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty and visited Wang Ji， a high-ranking official. Wang Ji regaled Lu Ji with sheep cheese among other things. Wang Ji proudly pointed at the cheese， asking Lu Ji what delicacy in Jiangdong could rival the taste of the cheese. Lu Ji replied water-shield soup was better. From that repartee on， water shield soup was widely accepted as a delicacy more tasteful that sheep cheese.

However， water shield itself is largely tasteless， though it provides a lasting mouth feel. In ancient cookbooks， water shield is an ingredient to go with fish. Songjiang bass soup with water shield from Hangzhou is a famed dish in China.

Louwailou Restaurant on the West Lake has water shield soup on its honored menu. The soup is prepared with water shield， sliced chicken and bacon. However， water shield can be cooked in various ways. It can go into a fish soup. It can also be cooked with fish ball and shelled shrimp. It can be cooked with large yellow croaker， a yummy seafood delicacy. It can go into meat soup and it can be used as a vegetarian ingredient to go with various kinds of tofu and mushroom.

For Hangzhou， the West Lake water shield is more than a delicacy， a regional produce. It is a symbol of culture. However， water shield output has been on the decline all these years. Profitability is now a bottleneck to large output. As urbanization accelerates， water shield farming is becoming a big subject for agricultural business of the city.