What's the legend about Jinhua shortbread?

During the great cause of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Di built large-scale buildings, dug the Grand Canal, and caught husbands and women everywhere, which made the people restless. At that time, there was a process in Yanzhou, Shandong Province, which was five big and three thick and kind-hearted, and was also arrested by the government. Cheng is a strong man, and he goes all out when he loses his temper. One night, the government locked the civilian worker in his cell. Cheng pulled up the doorpost, pulled down the doorframe, let hundreds of workers go and escaped by himself. As soon as the government wanted him, he ran from Jiangbei to Jiangnan.

On this day, Cheng came to Jinhua City, only to see the streets and lanes, and all the scholars, workers, peasants and businessmen were busy, and no one was idle. Cheng thought: this place is really beautiful. Just like people in my hometown, it is a good place to take root and stay, because it is hardworking and simple. He walked from the front street to the back street and crossed the east market to the west market. He found Jinhua a little different from his hometown in Shandong. There are only restaurants and noodle shops in the whole city, but there are no bakeries. Cheng found a small facade on the dock of a ship in Wujiang River and opened a restaurant to make cakes and pancakes of Shandong cuisine.

Cheng's pie is as big and round as a gong. Look at it yourself, smell it, and people in Jinhua shook their heads. There are several good things. I tasted it once, but it was always boring, and it was not easy to eat. I ate it for the first time and never came back. Cheng's business is very light, and he can't sell a few pot cakes a day.

One day at five o'clock in the morning, Cheng's cake was just out of the pot. Suddenly, the salty taste of the neighbor's dried vegetables and fried meat across the street came to my face. Smelling it, he remembered every household in Jinhua, and there was always a bowl of roasted mushrooms on the dining table. Thinking of this, he patted his thigh and shouted, "Yes, yes ..."

The next day, Cheng made a meat pie with dried vegetables. The smell of dried vegetables, meat and cakes made him drool and invited the passing guests to a room. Some people bought the whole thing, others wanted to cut it into small pieces and try something new ... Cheng's business suddenly flourished.

Soon, Cheng made a palm-sized small dried vegetable patty, which was very convenient for customers to buy one and get one, and buy two and get one pair. Later, I made delicious pretzels for people who don't like meat and scallion cakes for people who like onions.

Cleverness is in the eyes and ears, and business is in the craft. When business in the bakery is good, people come and go. When they are busy, they will inevitably take out handfuls of raw cakes. He will put them by the stove and never sell them to customers. As luck would have it, Cheng smelled the salty fragrance all over the house at five o'clock one morning and wanted to grab a piece of cake and try it himself. When I went to the stove, I saw that the raw cake beside the stove was baked by the residual fire in the stove, which belonged to Huang Chengcheng. Take a bite "click" and your mouth is full of crispy rosin. Chew it carefully and it tastes delicious. Let the neighbors taste it, and everyone says it is better than the original. Since then, Cheng has changed it to cook the day before and bake it at night. People eat this crispy overnight cake and buy it every day. If you want to travel far away, you should order well in advance and bring dry food on the road, which is convenient and delicious.

This kind of overnight cake, fresh and convenient to eat, is widely spread and more and more people like it! This kind of muffin is crisp, so everyone calls it "shortcake".

Later, Cheng defected to the Wagang Army and rebelled with him, becoming the hero of the founding of the Tang Dynasty praised by everyone. According to legend, when he ordered his troops, he always had a pair, saying that he was used to ordering shortbread. Jinhua's pastry industry is spreading and prospering, and pastry chefs regard Cheng as the founder of the pastry industry. Nowadays, Jinhua people also say that "into shortbread-heroes in business don't deceive others"!