Briefing
The 'Chicken and Lam' is a famous and traditional dessert at Guangzhou. However, 'Chicken and Lams' are not actually made from chicken, 'Lam', a kind of Chinese White Olive, is the main ingredient, The freshly picked 'Lam' will undertake a complicated process; mixing with different Chinese herbs and seasoning with different spice. Due to the different pickle procedure, the tastes of he 'Chicken and Lam' are varied, the sweet one is called 'Shun Lam', the salty one is called 'Licorice Lam' and the spice one is called 'Chili Lam', but no matter what taste they are, their crisp and tasty texture makes them become irresistible to most of people in Guangzhou.
Contents
- Briefing
- Introduction
- History and cultural background
- Development
- Nutrition Fact of Chinese Olive
- References
Introduction
The name of the 'Chicken and Lam' came from the chap-men of olive-pickle. In order to attract customers' attention, the chap-men on the street will dress like a chicken, playing suasion horn, walking around the residential area and yelling. The olive-pickle is placed inside the chicken dressing so customers can easily pick the flavors they like and buy.
In some other places, the 'Chicken and Lam' is also called the 'Flying Lam', this is because the chap-men would also throw the olive to the customers who are living on higher level. They packed the olive in a small paper bag, if someone throw the money to them they will throw back a well packed olive to them accurately. They fly like an airplane and this is why they are also called the 'The Flying Lam'
History and cultural background'
Chicken and Lam' was extremely popular during the 1930s and 1940s, due to the change of the pace of life and the street pattern, it is hardly can be seen on the street in these day. But whenever people talk about the 'Chicken and Lam', it still reminds the Guangzhou people about the taste of it and the traditional Guangzhou Culture.
Development
The Shangxiajiu Road, the most busy business district, is probably the only place now where still can find 'Chicken and Lam'. This is because The Guangzhou Government has already classified 'Chicken and Lam' as a cultural heritage of the city. Incentive policy and subsidization fund have impose to the preserve this precious cultural.
The Chap-men who selling 'Chicken and Lam' at Shangxiajiu Road are actually licensed and employed by the government. Their main roles are not only just selling 'Chicken and Lam' but also promoting this traditional custom to all the visitors.
A vendor can sell around 50 packed of 'Chicken and Lam' everyday, however 'this is not a comfortable job' one of the Chapmen says, 'The chicken dressing weight 5 kg and we have to wear it for 12 hours every day'. The extremely heavy working loads is believed as another reason which stopping more young people to join and preserve this career.
Nutrition Fact of Chinese Olive
Rich source of Vitamin C, the Vitamin C containment of Chinese Olives are 10 times of apples and 5 times of pears. High volume of Calcium, protein, carbohydrate, fiber, iron and phosphorus.
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