Five Flavors

Five Flavors is a selected collection of Wang Zengqi's essays on food (Zhejiang People's Publishing House, "Wang Zengqi Collector's Edition" series, published December 2022, ISBN 9787213105814). The book collects 36 classic food essays, including "Duck Eggs of the Dragon Boat Festival," "Five Flavors," and "Food of the Four Quarters," arranged by subject into four sections: "Spring Leeks and Autumn Greens," "Knowing the Five Flavors Through Food," "A Bowl of Everyday Life," and "Food of the Four Quarters." The book writes about ordinary foods such as radish, potato, malva and scallion, chive flowers, shredded dried tofu, douzhi, and tofu, as well as mandarin fish, boiled mutton, putting on autumn weight, and the foods of his hometown, along with rice noodles and erkuai, Kunming foods, and the rustic flavors of Mount Tai and Guyuan. Wang Zengqi excels at plain description, using the most ordinary words to convey the texture, aroma, and preparation of food, and in a single stroke brings out Gaoyou's salted duck eggs, Kunming's neighborhood eateries, and the wine snacks and Lantern Festival lights of Beijing's hutongs. Though it discusses matters of the palate, its focus is human feeling and daily life: the so-called "five flavors" are sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty, but also the culinary landscape of sweet south and salty north, spicy east and sour west, and above all the composure that gives flavor to three meals and four seasons. This edition is selected from The Complete Works of Wang Zengqi, took three years to compile, and was reviewed essay by essay by the author's family; the selections are judicious and well suited to casual browsing.