Liuba Local Feast (Ten Dishes & Eight Platters)

Liuba Local Feast (Ten Dishes & Eight Platters)

　　Legend has it that during the late Tang Dynasty, amidst the An Lushan Rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang fled from Chang’an southward to Chengdu. On his journey, passing through Yingpan (now Zhakoushi in Liuba), he had been traveling for days and was famished. He then asked the local mountain dwellers, “Do you have any food at home? I don’t care if it’s coarse or fine—just bring whatever you have.” The locals were understanding and kindly offered their various mountain produce and cured meats, which they prepared and presented to him. The imperial relatives and nobles, who were used to indulging in delicacies and rare seafood, “eagerly scooped up the food with their hands, finishing it all in no time, yet still not feeling full.” Deeply moved, Emperor Xuanzong instructed his attendants to pay for the meal and bestowed upon it the name “Eight Big Bowls.” It has since become an essential dish for the people of Liuba during festivals and when entertaining honored guests. As the folk rhyme goes, “No mountain is more beautiful than Zibai Mountain; no food tastes better than the Eight Big Bowls.”