"Thousands of Flavors Are All Life": Eat delicious food, talk about life, and understand life with Cai Lam

Text/Qiao Ping

This life is only a short one hundred years, how should we spend it? Some people say that they have been exhausted all their lives to support their families, some people have lived a life of living and enjoying themselves, and some people have struggled all their lives to pursue their dreams. Most people envy success and fame, thinking that only in this way can they be considered successful in this life. However, they are always unsatisfactory and inferior to others, so they always place themselves in a colorless world.

In fact, for truly successful people, their fame and achievements are always accompanied by a colorful and interesting life. They understand that life is a bottle of hundreds of flavors, and life is composed of thousands of flavors in the bottle. Mr. Cai Lam once said: Life is short, and longevity cannot be counted on. It is better to live a more interesting life, be a secular person, and be happy and carefree.

The book "Thousands of Flavors Are All Life" contains 26 essays by Mr. Cai Lan. In the book, a bowl of rice, a cup of thick soup, a cup of fragrant tea, and a pot of sake can all be transformed into vivid protagonists in his works; a minor illness, a haircut, a day's meeting with friends, and a piece of cursive writing can all be transformed into vivid characters. It can form the story told by Mr. Cai Lan.

The author Cai Lam is best known as the "God of Cookery". Many people know him because he served as the general consultant of "A Bite of China" a few years ago. However, his success is not just about eating. How can he become one of the four great talents in Hong Kong without extraordinary talent?

"Extremely knowledgeable, he knows everything about music, chess, calligraphy and painting, wine, sex and wealth, eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, literature and movies. He can be said to be a first-class expert in movies, poetry, calligraphy, epigraphy, and food. ." This is Jin Yong's evaluation of him.

When Fujian Southeast TV was filming "The Mystery of Taste", Wang Shengzhi first thought of Mr. Cai Lam and wanted to invite him to be the examiner. Cai Lam heard that this show was going to be filmed in the countryside. When he thought of being chased by mosquitoes in the countryside, he refused. But when Wang Shengzhi mentioned a delicacy called Xialin mutton soup and told him that Xialin mutton is a kind of sheep that eats seaweed, which he had never eaten before, he was instantly moved. He said:

Cai Lam has such a character. Although some things are difficult for him to accept, as long as he is interested, he must give it a try. Isn’t this a bit cute and interesting like a child who doesn’t understand the pros and cons?

For Cai Lan, there is nothing in life that does not arouse his interest. Playing music, chess, calligraphy and painting, eating, drinking and playing are all his hobbies.

He once said that the confusion of young people is that they have no hobbies, they don’t know what they like, and they don’t know what they don’t like. If you study and study an interest, how can you have time to be lonely and bored, and how can you feel confused? Once you have interest, if you continue to study along the way, your knowledge will be broadened, your execution ability will be improved, and you can develop your interest into a career, so why bother?

It can be said that Chua Lam has been trying hard all his life. He was a producer when Hong Kong movies were at their most glorious, and published books when they were the best-selling. He was a gourmet, columnist, program host, and businessman. I tried them all one by one and had a great time. Among the "Four Great Talents of Hong Kong", some of the other three have passed away while others are enjoying their old age, but only Chua Lam has continued to become the new favorite of the 21st century, and his figure is active everywhere. This has something to do with his character.

When Cai Lam finally drank his dream Xialin mutton soup in Fujian, he compared it with the mutton soup in the hotel restaurant:

Listen to this, it doesn’t sound like an ancient person What the old man said? Old man Cai Lan actually wrote such childish words in a book to tell the world. Perhaps this innocent and frank cuteness just shows his ability to master life skillfully instead of being controlled by life. No wonder people say, "Cai Lan is the person who lives the most unrestrained life."

Such a description seems a bit unprofessional and unenterprising. But in these few words and phrases, do they also reveal some of the true meaning of life and philosophical insights?

An ordinary egg is life. Just like our lives, ordinary lives can also become colorful.

Reading **** Mr. Cai Lam’s fluent sharing of food, beautiful scenery, and beauties, does it make people feel that his life is always so beautiful? In fact, our lives are ****, isn’t it? It’s just that we have less ability to appreciate and experience than Mr. Cai Lam.

After reading the article "Collection of Canes", I discovered that Mr. Cai Lan also has a hobby of collecting canes.

Smoking tool cane, telescope cane, camera cane, music box cane, candlelight cane, writing and painting cane... It turns out that the world of canes is so wonderful, it is really eye-opening.

Listening to this tone, does it sound a bit like Ah Q’s spirit? After finishing something, always think that you have earned it and never feel unhappy for yourself. Mr. Cai always attaches great importance to the small blessings in life and never lets bigger worries overshadow these small joys.

When he went to Australia to eat steak, Cai Lam wrote:

If you know how to look at problems from different angles and deal with the small unpleasantness of life in a humorous way, all worries will become easier. Not that important.

As Mr. Chua Lam said: "Compared to the entire universe, life is only a moment. Don't be so entangled in everything. Just ask whether you are happy or not." If we polish our lives carefully, life will give us warmth in return. and fragrance. Your attitude towards life determines what life brings to you.

The most common words in the book are "worth the return trip" and "worth the trip", but many times, this is just because of a cup of tea, a cup of soup, or a small cane. .

You see, people like Cai Lan are like a child who specializes in collecting happiness. For these small happiness, no matter how much he pays, he has no regrets.

The text of the book "Thousands of Flavors Are All Life" is very simple. There are not many wonderful adjectives and exaggerated praises, and there is no such thing as "I have eaten all over the world, I am awesome" With a sense of superiority, he simply wrote down his feelings about that dish, that's all.

Eat seriously and live with heart. What will stay on your tongue is not only the taste of food, but also the taste of life. This is the deepest impression this book left on me.

If you look at it simply, the book is just some essays about eating, drinking and having fun, but every article is full of the fireworks of life. Every kind of food and every period of life is our life. . Life does not require too many high principles. It is enough to always maintain a heart that loves it, to embrace it, and to experience it.

Finally, I would like to mention that the printing of this book is very beautiful. I particularly like the illustrations in the book. Each story has a unique hand-painted color illustration. It is very enjoyable to read a book like this.

In a leisurely afternoon, I brew a pot of tea, lazily pick up this book, and follow Mr. Cai Lan to travel around the world, taste delicious food, talk about life, and understand life. It is quite good.