The father of nutrition 食物养生的祖师

彭祖姓钱名铿，系颛顼帝三玄孙，轩辕黄帝的第八代传人。因“制羹献尧”而受封于大彭。并传说八百岁时而不知去向，故后人称“彭祖”。因首创“雉羹”治好尧帝厌食症而留传于世，被尊称为“厨行的祖师爷”。
Peng Zu’s surname is Qian and his given name is Keng. He is the third great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhuan Xu and the eighth descendant of Emperor Huang. According to legend, he disappeared when he was 800 years old, whence came the name of Peng Zu (Ancestor of Peng）. It is said that he had made pheasant soup and cured Emperor Yao’s anorexia; as a result, he was honored as the father of chefs.
关于烹饪有关的文字记载，最早是彭祖的“雉羹”了。《中国烹饪史略》说他是中国第一位厨师，是厨师的祖师爷，这绝不是夸张，但他在食物养生方面的传统经验，恐后人知之甚少。
The pheasant soup was the earliest cooking-related written document. According to “The History of Chinese Cooking”, Peng Zu was the first Chinese chef. It is definitely not an exaggeration to say that he is the father of Chinese chefs. However, his rich experience in nutritional care was unknown to modern people.
我们看一看“雉羹”。“雉羹”乃是用野鸡煮烂，与稷米同熬而成的一种汤羹类食物，具有鲜香醇厚、易消化等特点。因源于上古，故又有“天下第一羹”之美称。《扈从赐游记》中云：清朝皇帝每年“秋猕大典”，都要在澹泊城殿特赐五公大臣“野鸡汤”一份，概因野鸡汤是古代圣君唐尧食用过的，王公大臣皆以能品尝到皇帝所赐的野鸡汤为荣。《本草纲目》中记载稷米有“益气、补不足之效；做饭食，安中利胃宜稗，凉血解毒”之功效。雉具有“补中、益气力、止泄痢、除蚁瘘”等功效。两者合二为一，对人体作用可窥见一斑。
What is pheasant soup? Pheasant soup is, in fact, a kind of soup, made of a well-done pheasant with millet, which is fresh, aromatic and easy to digest. As the soup has a long history in China, it is also known as the first soup in the world. According to “Hucong Ci Youji” (Bestow Tour upon Retainers), during the annual autumn macaque ceremony of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor would give wild chicken soup to five public ministers. As ancient monarch Tang Yao had drank this very kind of soup, public ministers felt proud of being able to drink the wild chicken soup. According to “Compendium of Materia Medica”, millet could enhance Qi and make up any nutritional deficiencies. If being cooked as food instead of medicine, it benefits the stomach, relieves the mind, cools the blood and has the effect of detoxification. Pheasant can increase energy, enhance Qi, arrest diarrhea and dysentery. With the two combined together, it is easy for us to see the potential nutritional benefits of the soup.
再看看另一食疗养生菜“云母羹”，彭祖选用中药云母作为原料，可谓别具一格，说明彭祖对食物的食性有一定的经验。
Let’s look at another therapeutic health food, ‘Mica Soup’. Peng Zu chose traditional Chinese medicine’s mica as the raw material, indicating that he has certain experience in people’s feeding habits.
除以上几种以外，还有“水晶饼”、“乌鸡炖薏”等食养菜品。这些食物对养生延年的疗效，同样也受到了后人的重视。彭祖的养生延年经验，后被历代名人的重视，并沿袭其法。
In addition to the above mentioned food, ‘Crystal Cake’ and ‘Black-bone Chicken Stew Coixseed’ also enjoys a welcome reception, whose nutritional effects have drawn the attention of modern people. Peng Zu’s nutritional experience has been stressed by generations of celebrities and followed by later generations as rules.
传说春秋战国时期齐国的易牙，很崇拜彭祖的烹调技艺，曾三到彭城学习烹饪技艺，并对其食养后有所创新，创制了“易牙五味鸡”等食疗菜款。
According to legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, a man named Yi Ya from State Qi admired the cooking skills of Peng Zu very much. He visited the Peng city three times and innovatively interpreted some of Peng Zu’s food. The famous ‘Yi Ya Five Flavor Chicken’ is, in fact, his invention.
由于彭祖是古代公认的最古老的寿星，因此，后人的长寿著作，广为流传，有的便托名彭祖所著。如《彭祖养性经》、《彭祖摄生养性论》、《彭祖养性备急方》等。以上可见，彭祖与中国的食疗是有一定关系的，也可以认为，彭祖开创了中国食养的先河。
As Peng Zu was regarded as the oldest god of longevity, some of the longevity books of descendants were named after him, such as “Peng Zu Yangxing Jing” (The Classic of Peng Zu’s Self-cultivation), “Peng Zu Shesheng Yangxing Lun” (Discussion of Peng Zu’s Hygienism and Self-cultivation), and “Peng Zu Yangxing Beiji Fang” (Handbook of Peng Zu’s Prescriptions for Self-cultivation). So far, we can see that Peng Zu has a close relation with Chinese diet. In other words, we can say that Peng Zu pioneered Chinese nutritional theory.