Zhoucun baked wheat cake, a small round cake born in Zhoucun, Zibo, Shandong Province, has a long history of more than 1800 years, and its source can be traced back to the "Hu cake" of the Han Dynasty ". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Zhoucun, as a "dry wharf", flourished in commerce and trade, and the demand for portable delicacies from merchants made the skills of making baked wheat cake continuously refined. During the reign of Guangxu in the late Qing Dynasty, the Guo family of "Jujuzhai" created round cakes with sesame seeds, which became the embryonic form of modern Zhoucun baked cakes Shandong Zhoucun baked cakes Co., Ltd. In 1958, it entered Zhongnanhai and became a state banquet snack. In 2008, it was selected into the national intangible cultural heritage list, completing the magnificent turn from folk snacks to cultural business cards.

The soul of Zhoucun baked wheat cake lies in "minimalist ingredients and extreme craftsmanship"-using only four raw materials: flour, sesame, water, sugar or salt, but hiding the wisdom of the unity of man and nature. The production requires three unique skills of "one rolling, two spreading and three sticking": Zibo winter wheat with low tendons and strong wheat flavor is ground into 80 mesh fine powder, and when kneading flour, well water is used in summer and warm water in winter, and a little salt and alkali water is added to toughen the dough. Roll the dough to 0.3-0.5mm thin as cicada wings with a diameter of 16-18cm. After the front was sprinkled with white sesame, the master lightly twisted with thumb, sticked into the hanging stove and baked with fruit charcoal for 90 seconds. The precise temperature makes golden and crisp. The whole process is based on experience, is the fingertips and flame art dialogue.

A perfect Zhoucun baked wheat cake must meet four major criteria: thin as paper, crisp and fragile, fragrant and lasting, crisp and sound. It is so thin that sesame texture can be seen through light transmission, and when it is picked up and folded, it will make a "brush" sound. The entrance will crisp into the mouth without chewing, and when it falls to the ground, it will be broken into gold foil-like flakes. This is the standard for testing whether it is authentic or not. The aroma of sesame and wheat flour blends, and the salty and sweet sides have their own flavors-sweet mouth with white maltose and caramel. The crisp holes on the back are like stars, the front sesame grains are full, and the golden color is attractive. When biting down, the "click" sound is the happy resonance between the tip of the tongue and the crisp cake.

The traditional Zhoucun baked wheat cake is an excellent partner for green tea or rice porridge. It is a frequent visitor to the breakfast table of Lao Zhoucun people. Now it innovates in the inheritance, developing a variety of flavors such as five spices, chocolate, seaweed, etc., and also introducing new categories such as sesame sandwich and crushed nuts. Vacuum packaging technology to extend the shelf life to a few months, Zibo tourism must be accompanied by the gift. In the upsurge of Zibo barbecue, it has a new role-rolled barbecue vegetables, crispy and tender collision, become the creative way to eat on the barbecue table, let the millennium food glow with fashion vitality.

Zhoucun baked wheat cake is not only a delicious food, but also a "cultural relic that can be eaten", carrying the collective memory of Zhoucun as an ancient commercial town. It used to be the dry food of the Silk Road caravan and the fast food of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, witnessing the prosperity of commerce and food wisdom of the land of Qilu. As a national intangible cultural heritage, its production skills are passed down from generation to generation through oral transmission. The provincial inheritor Wang Chunhua and other craftsmen stick to their original intentions and let the ancient craftsmanship continue in modern society. From the palace tribute to the people's snacks, from the state banquet stage to the international exhibition, this crispy round cake always conveys the philosophy of life of "thin but not broken, crisp but not burnt", and has become an indispensable bright pearl in Qilu food culture.