“民以食為天”是中國(guó)人的一句古話。著名作家梁實(shí)秋，在搜盡中國(guó)大江南北的美味佳肴后，著成了《雅舍談吃》。在此書中，他不僅談吃喝，更談出了他的一種社會(huì)心態(tài)，一種處世哲學(xué)，一種審美趣味或人生追求。我們可以看出，飲食文化從古至今一直被中國(guó)人所推崇，并與之結(jié)合到了精神層面。

上海作為中國(guó)的重要城市之一，以“本幫菜”而出名?！氨編筒恕?，以濃油赤醬、咸淡適中、保持原味、醇厚鮮美為其特色，常用的烹調(diào)方法以紅燒、煨、糖為主。家常、平民化都是本幫菜的特色。而當(dāng)海派飲食在海派文化影響下發(fā)展起來后，蘇、錫、寧、徽等16個(gè)地方的風(fēng)味，甚至西洋風(fēng)味也被吸收到海派飲食中。菜肴就逐漸由原來的重油赤醬趨向淡雅爽口，并形成了海派飲食的特色。

如果說，如川菜是固執(zhí)的老頭子，那么上海飲食就是個(gè)能屈能伸的大丈夫，而這也是移民城市的特點(diǎn)。包容性與適應(yīng)性是海派飲食的第一個(gè)特點(diǎn)?？梢哉f，只要可以適應(yīng)上海人的口味的菜，基本上都可以被上海人所接受。

同北方大盤的菜肉相比，上海一盤的量堪稱袖珍，海派飲食的第二個(gè)特點(diǎn)是精細(xì)。如上海菜的“紅燒魚”，利用其富含的明膠蛋白質(zhì)，需小火燜燒45分鐘，使膠質(zhì)溶出，再移至旺火入稠濃鹵汁。成菜不用一點(diǎn)芡粉，卻濃粘似芡，入口酥糯，頗具特色。就是這種精細(xì)活，使上海飲食可以與川菜、粵菜相媲美。

海派飲食的第三個(gè)特點(diǎn)就是創(chuàng)新。有筷子、也有刀叉，有西菜、也有中菜，更多的是中西菜的分解、打通、融合。食客一般是說不清自己到底吃的是什么菜，但就是這個(gè)菜、這個(gè)做法、這個(gè)味道牢牢地抓住了顧客的胃。這種海派飲食的創(chuàng)新顯示了上海人對(duì)中華飲食文化真髓的深刻理解和對(duì)各幫菜的再認(rèn)識(shí)。

There is an old Chinese saying that “food is the most important thing for the people”. Liang Shiqiu， a famous author， wrote “Views on Food in Elegant Shed”. In this book， he not only talked about food， but also talked about his social mentality， a philosophy of life， an aesthetic taste or life pursuit. We can see that food culture has been respected by Chinese people since ancient times， and combined with the spirit.

As one of the most important cities in China， Shanghai is famous for its local cuisine. Shanghai cuisine usually looks red and shiny， for they are often pickled in wine and their cooking methods include baking， stewing， teaming， deep-frying， etc. It stresses on using condiments and keeping the original flavors of the materials and has features of being fresh， smooth and crispy. Shanghai cuisine aims at lightness in flavor， and beautifulness in decoration. When the Shanghai cuisine developed under the influence of the Shanghai culture， the flavors of Suzhou， Wuxi， Nanjing and other 16 places， even the western flavor has been absorbed into the Shanghai cuisine， and formed the characteristics of Shanghai cuisine.

Inclusiveness and adaptability are the first characteristics of Shanghai cuisine， and they are also characteristics of immigrant cities. It can be said that as long as can adapt to the taste of Shanghainese， basically can be accepted by Shanghainese.

Compared with the northern dishes， the amount of Shanghai dishes is small. The second characteristic of Shanghai cuisine is its delicacy. For example， the“braised fish” in Shanghai cuisine， using its rich gelatin protein， need to be simmered for 45 minutes， so that the gelatinous dissolve， and then is put into the thick marinade. The dish does not need a little starchy flour， but it is crisp and glutinous， which is quite distinctive. It is the delicacy that makes Shanghai cuisine comparable to Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine.

The third characteristic of Shanghai cuisine is innovation. There are chopsticks， knives and forks， western food， Chinese food， more is the fusion of Chinese and Western food. Diners often can’t tell what they’re eating， but it’s the taste that grabs the customer’s attention. This innovation of Shanghai cuisine shows that the Shanghai people have a deep understanding of the essence of Chinese food culture and a new understanding of various cuisines.