The American roasted turkey and Peking duck both originated from the European or Mediterranean region's roasted goose. Let's start with the American roasted turkey. The turkey is a specialty of the Americas and had already been domesticated by Native Americans before Europeans arrived in America. In English, the name for turkey is "Turkey." This is because Europeans thought its appearance resembled Turkish clothing: black body and red head. After Europeans migrated to America, they hadn't raised enough geese but already had the demand to eat them. Thus, they started eating turkey and found that turkey tasted better than goose. Moreover, there were many turkeys in North America. Therefore, roasted turkey became a major dish for Americans and also the main dish for Thanksgiving in the United States.
Why do people eat roasted turkey on Thanksgiving? This is a much older story. Although Thanksgiving is a unique legal holiday in the United States and seems non-existent in other countries, such festivals actually existed in ancient Western folk traditions. The content was to thank God after a harvest. Similarly, China's Mid-Autumn Festival or Dragon Boat Festival also has this meaning. These two Chinese festivals occur after autumn harvest and summer harvest respectively. At these times, people have passed through periods of food scarcity and have new grain to eat, so they celebrate and thank God. Some might say: Isn't the Mid-Autumn Festival related to the struggle against Yuan Dynasty rulers? Isn't the Dragon Boat Festival in memory of Qu Yuan? These meanings only emerged later. In extremely ancient times, they were just festivals celebrating harvests. During these festivals, one must thank God for his care. Without God's care, there would be natural disasters and human misfortunes, and crops wouldn't grow well. In China, the deities are dragons, ancestors, and heaven and earth. So, dragon boat races and throwing rice dumplings into the water during the Dragon Boat Festival may be expressions of gratitude to dragons. And mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival could be offerings to gods or ancestors. This is the custom in China. In the West, people also thank God after a harvest, hence the existence of Thanksgiving in ancient Western times.
In Western Thanksgiving, roasted poultry is consumed, not necessarily roasted goose. Why eat roasted poultry? We can refer to the Bible. In the Old Testament's Book of Exodus, there is a passage: Moses led the Israelites into the Sinai desert where they lacked food and water. The Israelites became greatly dissatisfied and began complaining. Moses then said that God heard their complaints and would provide them with food. The next day, a large number of quails flew in and landed at their campsite. Moses said, "This is the meat God has given you." They joyfully ate a big meal. This could be the earliest Thanksgiving of the Jewish religion. The Bible does not record how the Israelites cooked these quails, but we can imagine that they were certainly roasted. Because they were in the desert, they lacked water and couldn't boil or steam. They also didn't know how to steam. Only roasting required no cooking utensils. They fled from Egypt and couldn't bring heavy and expensive copper pots. At that time, there wasn't even aluminum or iron. Common people couldn't afford copperware; in China, copper pots were tripods, which were extraordinary things. The fleeing Israelites certainly wouldn't carry such items. Ordinary people used pottery jars which were easily broken and unsuitable for travel, so they must have roasted the quails. This was also the most delicious way to prepare them. Thus, Western culture includes the concept that poultry is God's rescue and gift to humanity. People should roast and eat it, especially suitable for Thanksgiving. Quails are much smaller than geese. Geese are also poultry. People always seek larger, meatier options. It's worth noting that geese are specialties of the Mediterranean region just as turkeys are specialties of the Americas. Hence, people later ate roasted geese rather than quails on Thanksgiving. Actually, roasted geese are consumed on many holidays. Because Western holidays are often related to God, when Europeans arrived in America, they discovered that the poultry God gave them was turkey. Therefore, they ate roasted turkey to thank God. Knowing the story of roasted turkey makes it easier to understand the story of roasted duck. The ancestor of roasted duck is also Western roasted goose.
Roasted goose technology was introduced to China twice: once during the Yuan Dynasty and once during the Qing Dynasty. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol Empire occupied a vast area from eastern China to the Mediterranean region. Therefore, Westerners like Marco Polo could come to China. They brought various Western cultures, including cannons and roasted goose. There were already roast duck shops in Dadu (modern-day Beijing) during the Yuan Dynasty. Why did roasted goose turn into roasted duck? The reason is similar to why goose turned into turkey. Ducks are a specialty of China. The ducks used for roasting are particularly fine breeds cultivated in China, scientifically named Beijing Duck. Now, this duck is eaten all over the world. I mean, wild ducks exist globally, but only the Chinese domesticated them. China has been domesticating wild ducks for two thousand years, specifically the wild ducks called "mallard" in English. This name is now a brand of clothing. Europe did not domesticate ducks but domesticated geese very early. Because geese are larger than ducks, regarding ducks, people in the Mediterranean and European regions have always hunted them. There are records of geese in the Bible. Roman legends tell of a flock of geese saving Rome. Geese were less common in China compared to ducks. Nowadays, if you visit any pond, you will find ducks but rarely see geese. Therefore, roasted goose in China transformed into roasted duck. The method of roasting ducks during the Yuan Dynasty was almost entirely the same as Western roasted goose, known in China as "muted oven roasted duck." It seems that this type of roasted duck is no longer available today.
This roasting method is characteristic of the West: using an oven made of stone or brick.
A fire is lit inside, first heating the oven itself so that the walls absorb a large amount of heat. Then the duck is placed inside, and it is roasted by the heat emitted from the walls. This is also the European method of baking bread. This allows the food to be evenly heated at a moderate temperature for a long time. The inventors of this method must have been particularly experienced in roasting food, namely the Westerners who ate roasted bread daily. Due to their daily bread roasting over thousands of years, they invented ways to bake large loaves thoroughly without burning the crust and giving them a smoky flavor—this is achieved by using the heat absorbed by the oven walls instead of direct fire. Since this method involves enclosing the duck inside to roast, it is called muted oven roasted duck. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the method of roasting ducks changed.
From muted ovens to hanging ovens, and the eating style also showed distinct Shandong characteristics.
Actually, roast duck restaurants were opened by people from Rongcheng, Shandong. Their feature is to eat pancakes, scallions or cucumber, sauce, and duck together. Pancakes wrapped with scallions, cucumber, and sauce are commonly eaten in Shandong. But why did Shandong people invent hanging oven roast duck? Here’s a hypothetical explanation:
By the late Qing Dynasty, Germany occupied Qingdao in Shandong and immigrated heavily to Qingdao. At that time, Emperor Wilhelm II said (seemingly by imperial decree): “Qingdao belongs to Germany and will forever remain in Germany.” Therefore, Qingdao's status differed from a colony; it was an enclave of German territory in China. This was, of course, Mr. Wilhelm's idea. The Prussian soldiers occupying Shandong were also hunters. Wild ducks were their traditional prey. They and their ancestors had hunted wild ducks in Germany or what is now Poland and the Czech Republic for over a thousand years, so they continued hunting in China. And there were plenty of wild ducks in China, at least at that time. Their habit was to hunt and eat immediately in the field. This eating style resembles today's barbecue, involving open-fire roasting. This field roasting method closely resembles the method used in Beijing roast duck—coating the duck with honey and then roasting it. The Chinese quickly learned this method but did not completely abandon the muted oven roast duck. Instead, they combined the muted and open-fire roasting methods, allowing the duck to have the aroma of open-fire roasting while maintaining the timing control of the muted oven.
During this process, the Chinese made a particularly great invention: not gutting the duck. Instead, they made a small hole in the duck, removed the internal organs, filled the duck's belly with boiling water, and then sealed the small hole before hanging it over the fire to roast.
This method has several advantages. First, it prevents the duck from losing moisture due to roasting. Second, the water expands the duck's belly, causing the skin to stretch and not become soft during roasting, resulting in thin, crispy duck skin. The duck skin thus becomes the best part of the roast duck. When the Chinese invented this method, it coincided with the widespread use of steam engines in the West. The Chinese treated the duck like a boiler, seemingly paralleling Western ingenuity. However, if we consider this method alongside the way roast duck is eaten, another story emerges. Roast duck is eaten in a special way: wrapping the skin in pancakes with scallions or cucumber. The bones are used to make soup. We also know that Western roast goose has a major issue: the skin becomes very hard, and people often don’t eat it. As for the bones, they are even harder to consume. The Germans in Shandong also ate roast goose during holidays, like modern Westerners. The meat was eaten, but the skin and bones were discarded. These skins and bones became food for Chinese laborers. Following their habits, the Shandong people wrapped the goose skin in pancakes and made soup from the bones, discovering a uniquely delicious taste. Using their unique wisdom, they adapted this method of eating goose skin and bones into a way to eat roast duck. We know that culinary techniques invented by lower-class people hold a particularly important place in Chinese cuisine. For example, "Beggar's Chicken," it is said that Sand Pot Restaurant started with rich fatty offal, waste products of the wealthy. Hot pot lamb, bread soaked in soup, braised pork with rice cake, etc., all come from the lower classes. During the Qing Dynasty, the ducks used for roast duck evolved from regular ducks to force-fed ducks. The method of force-feeding comes from Europe. This method was originally used for geese because Europeans loved to eat goose liver or goose liver pate. To grow a large liver in the goose, Europeans devised the force-feeding method. In English, it's called "force fed." The purpose is to make the goose develop a large fatty liver. Speaking of this, it may seem somewhat unappetizing. Eventually, the Chinese learned this method and applied it to ducks, creating Beijing force-fed ducks.
Later, Beijing ducks (not force-fed ducks) were introduced to Britain, where the British improved the Beijing duck, making it possible for the duck to grow to over ten pounds without being force-fed. And by improving the feed, the lean meat content of the duck increased. Chinese restaurants in Europe found that roast duck made from this kind of duck suited European tastes better because they feared consuming excessive fat. Later, China also imported this type of duck. Nowadays, some call it the "British duck," but it is actually an improved breed of the Beijing duck. Currently, the ducks sold in roast duck restaurants are mostly this type. I think the truly delicious duck is the southern lake duck. Lake ducks are smaller, but their taste is much better than force-fed ducks.
If dishes made from lake ducks in the south were replaced with force-fed ducks, the taste would be far inferior. But lake ducks are too small to roast since roast duck cannot be gutted, and mainly focuses on the skin. Lake ducks are not suitable for this method. Sichuan has "oil-soaked duck," made from lake ducks, and its taste is also good. As for wild ducks, I've never eaten them, and they may no longer exist in China.
Now let's discuss the cooking method of "roasting."
Quanjude is a Shandong restaurant. Among all its dishes, only roast duck is roasted. Roasting is not a cooking method favored in eastern China. What is preferred in China is steaming, stir-frying, and boiling. Among these, steaming and stir-frying are uniquely Chinese methods. Chinese mantou (steamed bun) and baozi are steamed. According to research, Wu Dalang's "chibing" was steamed rather than baked, some say it was mantou. While Western bread and cakes are baked. Since bread is the staple food of Westerners, they interact with the roasting method every day. China has little interest in roasting. Even cakes in China are steamed, prepared similarly to fa gao (steamed sponge cake), showing our preference for steaming. Our methods of eating duck mainly involve steaming, such as preserved duck, salted duck, and boiled duck, which are all steamed. Guangdong people particularly enjoy stewing in claypots, especially for poultry, believing it to be highly nourishing. Claypot stewing essentially still involves steaming.
Besides roast duck, almost none of the dishes in eastern China are roasted. And virtually all Chinese restaurants, except those selling roast duck, lack roasting ovens. The skewered lamb we often eat is a cooking method from western China, which was transmitted from even further west. Western roasting methods must include specific spices native to the west, such as cumin. Roast duck does not use these ingredients.
As for why Chinese people prefer steaming so much, I have a hypothetical explanation. This may be related to the early invention of salt-boiling in China. The center of ancient Chinese civilization has always been far from the ocean, making salt consumption a major issue. According to experts' research, the war between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou was for the salt ponds near Yuncheng, Shanxi. According to climatologists (Zhu Kezhen), China had abundant water resources at the time, so even salt ponds were likely brine pools rather than rock salt deposits. To convert brine into salt, there are two methods: sun-drying and boiling. However, sun-drying requires large, flat tidal flats, which were scarce in inland China. Even if they existed, they were likely converted into farmland.
Ancient Greeks faced a similar problem. The Greeks lived by the sea, and the salinity of the Mediterranean was higher than normal seawater. However, the Greek coastline was mountainous with few beaches. They lacked sufficient tidal flats for sun-drying salt, so they exchanged their products, such as wine and olive oil, for salt in the Black Sea region, where large flat areas were available for sun-drying sea salt. Therefore, inland Chinese could only obtain salt through boiling, especially the type suitable for commercial transportation. Ancient Chinese books depict salt-boiling but not sun-drying. Boiling produces substantial steam, which can be used for cooking and steaming meat. Meat and rice can also be steamed together, like today's steamed rice with powder. It is known that steaming is a relatively wasteful method in terms of firepower. Roasting and boiling allow food to directly receive heat more efficiently. Therefore, the Chinese preference for steaming must have special reasons. This reason is likely the utilization of steam produced during salt-boiling.