Need up to 50 stoves on the ship, what luxury does Empress Dowager Cixi’s meal have?

Empress Dowager Cixi was an extremely powerful woman in the late Qing Dynasty. During 47 years of holding great power in her hands, Empress Dowager Cixi had an extremely lavish lifestyle. The records of this queen’s habits, eating and drinking habits made posterity surprised.

Accordingly, only the eating and drinking of Empress Dowager Cixi was extremely complicated and luxurious. The powerful empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty built a private kitchen, called the West Kitchen, where the best chefs at that time were concentrated, so that they could make delicious dishes with many sophisticated cooking methods. .

Empress Dowager Cixi usually eats 2 main meals a day. However, each of her main meals often includes up to 100 different dishes. Besides, she also ate 2 more snacks with a variety of dishes.

The question is, if there is a need to leave the palace, will Empress Dowager Cixi’s meal change?

In fact, in historical records, Empress Dowager Cixi was the first and only empress dowager to ever ride a train. In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the famous empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty had the opportunity to experience traveling by train.

On long-distance trains, food is essential on the journey. If modern people today are used to using instant noodles, cakes, mineral water…., what will be the diet of Empress Dowager Cixi on the train? If we think that Empress Dowager Cixi will be more economical in eating and drinking when traveling by train, we are wrong.

Empress Dowager Cixi used to come to Phung Thien (present-day Shenyang province) to sacrifice to the ancestors. However, due to the long distance, she had to travel by train.

Empress Dowager Cixi has an extremely lavish lifestyle

The lavish kitchen on the train of Empress Dowager Cixi

In the memoir Thanh Cung Nhi Nien by Du Duc Linh, a female official who served beside Empress Dowager Cixi recounted that, in order to meet the queen’s need for food, the train had specially arranged 4 more carriages and used them to make Ngu Thien room.

In it, there is a car containing 50 kitchens made of glazed white clay bricks that look very neat and eye-catching.

Why are there 50 stoves on this train? The reason is that each kitchen will be in charge of cooking 2 dishes. Because the eating rule of Empress Dowager Cixi is that each main meal must have 100 dishes, there must be no shortage of dishes.

In addition, cakes and fruits of all kinds must still be ensured to serve Empress Dowager Cixi to always eat well during the journey.

During the three days on the ship, Empress Dowager Cixi still insisted on maintaining the luxury of eating habits like in the palace, with 2 main meals, each with up to 100 dishes of seafood, and 2 snacks with each meal of about 40 – 50 dishes of all kinds.

Even after leaving the palace, Empress Dowager Cixi still maintained her luxury eating habits

To cater for Empress Dowager Cixi’s trip, 150 people were needed in the ship’s kitchen. In which, there are 50 main employees who are chefs, each person is responsible for processing 2 of their best dishes; 50 people are responsible for supporting.

There are also 50 people responsible for lighting the kitchen fire. This work is very important. Because then the fuel used to burn the furnace is briquettes. When heated this type of coal can cause a lot of smoke.

Therefore, when grouping the kitchen, these workers must always pay attention to adjust so as not to affect the queen mother. Therefore, the work of these people is indeed not easy.

Empress Dowager Cixi is a person who attaches great importance to food. In her spare time, she often enjoys walking in the kitchen of the palace. Therefore, the chefs and the people serving in the kitchen do not dare to be negligent. Not only kitchen utensils are always clean, but the floor is also polished and cleaned carefully.

In Du Duc Linh’s memoirs, Empress Dowager Cixi’s favorite dishes included stewed duck, roasted suckling pig, smoked chicken, cherry dishes, etc. In addition, there were many other luxurious ingredients that were added. used to process dishes for Empress Dowager Cixi such as fish fins, sea cucumbers, monkey brains…

Although moving on the train, Empress Dowager Cixi often suddenly orders to stop to prepare food. As soon as the order is received, the chefs and people in the kitchen are extremely busy.

All tried to prepare 100 dishes for Empress Dowager Cixi. In the event that the queen mother felt that she did not want to eat anymore, she had to quickly clean up these delicious dishes and then the train continued to move.

In the autobiography My First Half LifePuyi once said that meals in the imperial kitchen were usually stewed first and cooked on low heat. Therefore, when eating, the food is too hot, so the eater will not have an appetite.

This may indicate the difference between Puyi’s kitchen and Empress Dowager Cixi’s. It is clear that this queen’s kitchen is always busy and ready to serve her food needs at any time. The food brought in front of the queen mother is always prepared fresh and attractive.

According to the Law and Readers