"Fresh" is a special taste experience that people are constantly seeking. The mutton in Jiaoxi Town embodies this "freshness". This "fresh" taste is not only the taste of mutton, but also the taste of mountains, water, and the human touch of local residents. Jiaoxi is surrounded by mountains on three sides. There are Shunshan, Niutuishan, Changshan, Guanshan, Ruomaoshan, Dingguoshan, Shizishan, and Jiaoshan in the north, Turtleshan, Heshan, and Qinwangshan in the east, and Jilongshan, Shiyanshan, Fenghuangshan, Qingmingshan, Fangmaoshan, and Chendunshan in the south. The large and small hills provide an ideal environment for the growth of sheep. During the Ming Dynasty, many ancestors living here made a living by raising sheep, and the rich and convenient supply became an indispensable basis for eating mutton in winter. In Jiaoxi, many restaurants and shops have been passed down from generation to generation. People can eat mutton from the beginning of the frost to the New Year, and the ways of eating are also varied. During the warming and cold season, the large and small restaurants in Jiaoxi Town consume at least more than 100 sheep a day. In the past, the raw materials for Jiaoxi's mutton products were mainly local sheep. After the production of local sheep decreased, live sheep from the coastal areas of Jiangsu were used instead. These sheep are raised on the beach and feed on reeds. Their breed and quality are similar to those of local sheep, but their meat is harder and has a lighter smell. Removing the fishy smell is a key process that determines the success or failure of mutton products. The taste of mutton mainly depends on the ingredients, and the amount of each ingredient is very particular. When Jiaoxi people cook mutton, they have to change the water with well water many times during the raw meat stage. During the cooking process, they also add more than ten kinds of spices from local materials to give Jiaoxi mutton a unique flavor. These spices include fennel, grass, angelica, cinnamon, pepper, white cardamom, dried chili, cloves, old tangerine peel, bay leaves, ginger, rock sugar, cooking wine, refined salt, dark soy sauce, and dozens of other herbs and edible ingredients. In addition, it is also important to control the heat when cooking. The traditional steamer is used to cook mutton. The steamer is a large cast iron pot. The upper part of the pot is a big round wooden barrel made of fir wood, which is built into a stove. The cooking process starts with splitting a sheep carcass into two pieces and placing them in a steamer filled with various ingredients. First, it is boiled over high heat for an hour, then simmered over medium heat for an hour, and finally simmered over low heat for an hour before turning off the fire. Timing is very important. A pot of mutton needs three hours to be boiled, simmered, and stewed. The mutton should not be taken out of the pot too early or too late. If it is taken out of the pot too early, the mutton will not be rotten; if it is taken out of the pot too late, the mutton will be too rotten. Boiled mutton and mutton cake are cold dishes, fried golden flower cauliflower with sheep eyes, leek and sheep blood, stewed mutton, pepper and salt lamb chops, mutton hot pot, sheep brain tofu, stir-fried mutton shreds, stir-fried sheep intestines, and stir-fried sheep kidneys are hot dishes. Mutton dumplings are the staple food, and a bowl of hot mutton soup is also served. There are more than 100 dishes derived from a single sheep. Especially mutton soup is a classic recipe of Jiaoxi, because the well water is changed many times before cooking, the color is like mutton-fat jade, and the soup is mellow and rich. The cooking and eating of Jiaoxi mutton are closely related to folk customs. There are not many regions that use mutton products as the main product during festivals, weddings, funerals, and entertaining guests, but Jiaoxi has always retained such a tradition. Over the long years, the taste of Jiaoxi's mutton has gradually merged with the countryside, and with the diligence, perseverance, and enthusiasm of the Jiaoxi people. People have long been unable to tell whether it is the mutton that makes the villagers more harmonious, or the enthusiasm and simplicity of the villagers that permeate the mutton, making the taste of the mutton more lasting. Cheng Zhinan, the owner of Guzhen Quanyangguan (also known as Ruiyunlou) in Jiaoxi Town, is the third-generation inheritor of his family's mutton cooking skills. His ancestors’ mutton making can be traced back a hundred years, and he himself has been engaged in mutton roasting at home since 1973. In 1984, he applied for the business license of the ancient town Quanyangguan, becoming the first self-employed business in Wujin at that time. He has been engaged in mutton making skills for nearly 50 years. Nianhong Mutton Shop in the same town is a time-honored brand that has been in the mutton business for more than 100 years for four generations of grandparents and grandchildren. Zhao Nianhong began to learn the craft from his father at the age of 15, and later passed it on to his son Zhao Jianhu. Today, Jiaoxi mutton is thriving in the hands of people and has become a microcosm of Jiaoxi mutton making. Jiaoxi mutton records the changes of the times and the vicissitudes of this ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)