朱麗珍
約600年前,潘周家的祖先們?yōu)榱素S富飲食文化,用自家的小麥粉,在加工刀切面、包子和饅頭的基礎(chǔ)上研制出“潘周家手工面”。手藝代代相傳,村里500余戶幾乎家家都會(huì)做這手工面。
一檔名為《奶奶最懂得》的美食類(lèi)節(jié)目在各大視頻平臺(tái)上線。一個(gè)中文說(shuō)得很溜的英國(guó)人,名叫大米(),既是旅行者,也是美食大廚。他不僅深諳美食之道,還踏遍中國(guó),尋找隱藏的美食。
節(jié)目中,他一路在中國(guó)旅行,尋找失傳的菜譜,尋找最樸實(shí)的情感,一共走了8個(gè)地方,找到了16位奶奶,探索隱藏到中華大地的家鄉(xiāng)味道。
節(jié)目第一期,大米來(lái)到了浙江金華,看上了金華浦江潘周家村的長(zhǎng)壽面。這款長(zhǎng)壽面,究竟有多神奇?
制面手藝代代相傳600年
浦江縣城北20余里,一嶺橫亙。以嶺為界,當(dāng)?shù)匕傩辗Q嶺北為“山里”?!吧嚼铩逼骄鶜鉁乇壬酵獾?℃左右,過(guò)去交通不便,經(jīng)濟(jì)也差一籌。潘周家村即在“山里”深處,群山環(huán)繞。
如今,山村還留存有不少徽派建筑,木結(jié)構(gòu)的房子,讓村子愈顯寧?kù)o。
不過(guò)每年11月之后,這種寧?kù)o會(huì)被打破,家家戶戶都要著手做一件很有儀式感的事——曬長(zhǎng)壽面。長(zhǎng)壽長(zhǎng)壽,一根到底最吉利,掛在面架上,線條感十足。古村落更是憑著這根手工長(zhǎng)壽面煥發(fā)出新的生機(jī)。
為什么一個(gè)小小山村,幾乎家家戶戶都會(huì)做面條?這要從潘周家的歷史說(shuō)起。
村里的老人介紹,潘周家村其實(shí)是兩個(gè)村,一個(gè)叫潘家,一個(gè)叫周家。由于兩個(gè)村莊已經(jīng)連在一起,所以有了潘周家村的合稱。
約600年前,潘周家的祖先們?yōu)榱素S富飲食文化,用自家的小麥粉,在加工刀切面、包子和饅頭的基礎(chǔ)上研制出“潘周家手工面”。
手工面的第一次揚(yáng)名,不得不提潘周家出的一個(gè)名人——周璠。
如今潘周家還流傳一句諺語(yǔ):“只有狀元的學(xué)生,沒(méi)有狀元的先生?!倍墉[就是狀元的先生,而狀元說(shuō)的就是他的學(xué)生戴殿泗。
周璠常以潘周家手工面招待文人詩(shī)友。一次,他的學(xué)生戴殿泗將此面帶入宮中,受到宮內(nèi)嘉譽(yù),因而享譽(yù)江南。
就這樣,做手工面的手藝代代相傳,村里1600余人口、500余戶,幾乎家家都會(huì)做這手工面。
兩斤面粉拉出200米的面條
做面聽(tīng)起來(lái)沒(méi)什么稀奇的,但潘周家村的面,跟別處的不太一樣。
浦江當(dāng)?shù)厝俗鰤郏谐蚤L(zhǎng)壽面的習(xí)俗。面條講求一根到底,寓意長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)久久。潘周家的面,一斤面粉可以拉一百多米長(zhǎng),而且中間不斷,能討個(gè)好彩頭。
然而,周璠帶動(dòng)面條,已經(jīng)過(guò)去了兩百多年,但由于地處偏僻,讓潘周家面條走出山村卻變得困難。
35歲的周旭磊,從父輩開(kāi)始就是做面條的,手藝在村里首屈一指。他總是能記起當(dāng)年父親挑著擔(dān)子,翻山越嶺把面條賣(mài)到縣城的艱辛。
那時(shí)候,從潘周家到縣城,需要步行、轉(zhuǎn)車(chē)……單程就要兩個(gè)多小時(shí)。父親會(huì)挑著幾箱面條拿到縣城叫賣(mài),天沒(méi)亮就出發(fā),天黑了才到家。
雖然辛苦,但也看到了商機(jī):山外的人,都認(rèn)潘周家的面,每次幾十斤面條總是不夠賣(mài)。
年輕人,為面條想到了出路,也為山村帶來(lái)了活力。
2004年,潘周家注冊(cè)商標(biāo),2006年成立合作社,吸收農(nóng)戶加入。潘周家的“一根面”,慢慢在縣城有了批發(fā)部。
如今,面條雖然仍舊需要手工生產(chǎn),但配比有了標(biāo)準(zhǔn),口感也有了保障。
2014年,周旭磊還帶著潘周家“一根面”參加了第八季《中國(guó)夢(mèng)想秀》第四期節(jié)目。當(dāng)場(chǎng)用2斤面粉,拉出長(zhǎng)達(dá)200多米可繞演播廳一周的一根面,震驚全場(chǎng)的同時(shí)也獲得了滿堂喝彩。
潘周家的面條暢銷(xiāo)到什么地步?生意好的時(shí)候,一天能賣(mài)出一兩噸,訂單一排就是幾個(gè)月。
冬日面條曬場(chǎng)成獨(dú)特風(fēng)景
有了合作社,潘周家的面,除了暑熱天氣,幾乎全年都在生產(chǎn)。但對(duì)于農(nóng)戶自家來(lái)說(shuō),每年11月之后,天氣涼爽干燥,正是做“一根面”的好時(shí)候。
“一根面”要怎么做?村里隨便找個(gè)奶奶,都能給你演示一遍。
陳奶奶,70多歲了,從外村嫁過(guò)來(lái),做“一根面”的手藝是婆婆教的。
“首先要把鹽放到麥粉里,攪拌起來(lái)?!丙}放多少?村里有個(gè)口訣:一斤麥粉半兩咸()。不過(guò)現(xiàn)在口味清淡,許多人家里做面鹽放得少了。
待鹽融化后加入麥粉,揉成面團(tuán)用力捶打,表面都光滑了,盤(pán)成圓圓的薄薄的一塊,繞圈把它切成一條線,然后拉長(zhǎng)、揉搓。
面條要盤(pán)在架子上,每一根分散,斷了還要接起來(lái)。
和面、發(fā)酵、割面、盤(pán)面、脫條、晾曬……每一道工序,都很耗費(fèi)時(shí)間。就拿拆分面條來(lái)說(shuō),分一次還不夠,稍微動(dòng)一下,面條又黏了起來(lái),起碼要分兩三次。經(jīng)常要過(guò)來(lái)檢查,白天晚上都沒(méi)得休息。
“一根面”做工精細(xì)、制作工序復(fù)雜,具有久煮不糊、柔軟滑潤(rùn)、嚼不粘齒的特點(diǎn),面條筋道到筷子都夾不斷。在浦江當(dāng)?shù)爻浴耙桓妗?,服?wù)員可能還會(huì)給你遞上一把剪刀,體驗(yàn)也是蠻別致的。
對(duì)于很多在外的年輕人來(lái)說(shuō),這碗面,清清淡淡,能勾起家鄉(xiāng)的記憶簡(jiǎn)簡(jiǎn)單單卻足以暖心。
冬日暖陽(yáng),每家每戶都在曬場(chǎng)上支起面架,千萬(wàn)條白色面線飛瀉而下,是一道獨(dú)特的風(fēng)景,更吸引了不少攝影愛(ài)好者前來(lái)采風(fēng)。
但因?yàn)楣ば驈?fù)雜,為了一根面條,常常要沒(méi)日沒(méi)夜地守著。村里愿意做這行的年輕人越來(lái)越少。如今做面條的主力,都已經(jīng)五六十歲。村里發(fā)展起了鄉(xiāng)村旅游,讓年輕人體驗(yàn)制作“一根面”,用另一種方式將這種文化遺產(chǎn)傳承下去。
Almost every house in Panzhoujia Village in Pujiang County in central Zhejiang makes noodle, but it was not until recently that the fact was made known. Granny Knows Best, an eight-episode food documentary jointly produced by Tencent Media and Ryan Pyle Production which stars Jamie Billow, a British chef based in Beijing, has made the longevity noodle made in the mountain village in Pujiang well known in China.
Panzhoujia consists of two villages respectively called Panjia and Zhoujia (the two names literally refer to the Pan clan and the Zhou clan). The two separate villages have long since merged into one. Granny Chen of Panzhoujia appears in the first episode of the food documentary released in October 2019.
The village nestles in the mountains about ten kilometers north of the county capital. In the past, the land-locked village was remote from anywhere and residents led a life that was far from being materially good. Noodle making in the village goes back to about 600 years ago. It was Zhou Fan, a native of Zhoujia Village and scholar of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), who put the noodle-making village on the map of the country. Dai Diansi, a student of Zhou Fan, became a tutor to the prince who later became Emperor Daoguang ruling from 1820 to 1850. Zhou often treated his students and colleagues with the noodle made in his home village. Then one day Dai Diansi brought the noodle into the palace kitchen and made the noodle well known.
With a population of 1,600 in more than 500 families, the village is now known for noodle making.
But in the past, noodle didnt lift villagers out of poverty largely because of poor transportation. It took about 2 hours for an adult male to travel from the village to the county capital, the nearest big market. Zhou Xuelei, 35, remembers how his father set out on a noodle peddling journey long before dawn and came back home after dusk settled in. He carried a load of noodle with a shoulder pole. Noodle enjoyed a fine reputation, but the transportation was a huge barrier. Supply could not meet demand. It was not until 2004 that Panzhoujia decided to make noodle business big. That year, the village registered a trademark for the village noodle. In 2006, a noodle co-op was organized. Later, the co-op set up a wholesale outlet in the capital city. Business boomed. In 2009, the trademark was recognized as a famous brand in Jinhua. In 2015, it became a provincial trademark. Also in 2015, the Panzhoujia noodle co-op became a national model, the only one of its kind in Pujiang.
Nowadays, villagers still make the noodle manually. A standard recipe formulated to assure quality is faithfully followed by all noodle makers in the village. The time-consuming procedure needs a lot of attention. In some steps of the noodle-making process, one gets up one or two times a night to check whether unfinished product needs adjusting.
As the village sits in the mountains, noodle can be produced almost all year round except the hottest summer months. The best and busiest season starts in November. Panzhoujia has a record for noodle business: the co-op sells two tons of noodle a day. Production for all the orders in the winter season lasts till the Spring Festival. Most houses in the village have a drying ground. Noodle drying in the village is a scene in winter that attracts photographers and tourists. As tourists visit the village frequently, tourism has long since become a pillar of the village economy. After all, few young villagers are willing to be noodle makers. Most noodle makers in the village are in their 50s and 60s. However, as young villagers stay to serve tourists, they learn how to make noodle in their spare time and help their parents out when noodle-making gets busy.
The longevity noodle is interesting. As most Chinese people eat noodle on their birthday, such a birthday treat is usually called longevity noodle. The longevity noodle made in Panzhoujia is indeed long. In 2014, a noodle maker from the village demonstrated the noodle-making wonder in a national reality show. Using one kilogram flour, he made a single narrow ribbon-like noodle which was 200 meters long. His demonstration brought down the house.