<p>Not in modern Chinese.</p>
<p>As for Classical Chinese, at least Hanyu Da Cidia gives three examples where the word is used to refer to someone who is proficient at cooking:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>《孟子•告子上》：“至於味，天下期於易牙。”</p>
<p>明·孫仁孺《東郭記•百工之事》：“學生善做饅，易牙親族，魚肉常摶。”</p>
<p>清·趙翼《楊桐山招飲》詩之一：“果然雋永出郇廚，入口幾疑易牙饌。”</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T07:49:21.383Z
We can still see 易牙 in Taiwan. e.g. https://www.facebook.com/yiya0628/
HungYu Chang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T11:57:27.857Z
Didn't know that. Today I learned. Thank you~
Betty
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-23T20:41:08.923Z
Good references.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T03:42:12.343Z
2021-11-22T03:42:12.343Z
Betty
<p>According to <a href="https://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/alDetailedMesh?docid=P20180411001-201606-201807260015-201807260015-63-72" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this link</a>, restaurants in Taiwan &quot;have a full set of worshipping ritual&quot;, sounding like some sort of SOP, for 易牙. I have to admit that I know nothing about it. I searched &quot;易牙&quot; on the Internet and found restaurants named after him, such as 「易牙居」 and 「易牙台式料理」, the latter being in Hong Kong. I also found 「2019高雄-易牙美食節」, a festival named after him. Looks like he isn't as negative as I thought. Is 易牙 a compliment? People in the above citations seem to think so.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-23T20:39:18.840Z
:) 哈哈, it beats me, who came from Taiwan but never heard of such places. If it factually exists, then it would be a compliment for sure.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-24T00:22:34.190Z
@r13 I did a search on Google Maps and found an 易牙居 in 杭州, besides the one in Taiwan. There is also an 易牙妙手魚丸店.
joehua
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T09:43:12.377Z
2021-11-22T09:49:10.967Z
2021-11-22T09:49:10.967Z
joehua
<p>There is a term 弹牙, (springy teeth), which refers to food that's &quot;springy&quot;, &quot;elastic&quot;, (or just tasty food in general), which Chinese people like in certain kinds of food or cooking methods as opposed to mushy, soggy stuff.</p>
<p>So, with the common denominator of 牙, one could say that 易牙, (&quot;easy&quot; on the teeth), would be associated with good food / (good cooking skills), as a good set of teeth is a major toolkit to have when it comes to enjoying food, especially the springy variety.</p>
<p>Coincidentally, there is an archaic English term &quot;toothsome&quot; which is used to describe tasty food. I wonder whether other nationalities also use the &quot;teeth&quot; as a metaphorical word component to describe tasty food?</p>
<p>I suppose human biology, being what it is across nationalities, would subliminally dictate some shared commonalities in many areas of socio-cultural, linguistic expressions and national habits.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T07:48:28.377Z
易牙 was a person's name in ancient china.
HungYu Chang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T08:04:20.873Z
OK, thanks for the comment.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T09:05:13.677Z
Though a name of a person, but because of certain special characteristics of his personality or talent, like cooking or dancing, his name over time and constant mention comes to symbolize that talent, like "Hoover", (to vacuum), or Guan Yu, 關羽, symbolizing loyalty. So, 易牙, ("easy" on the teeth if used literally), though a person's name, also could, over time and constant mention in connection with cooking or cooking talent, come to symbolize good cooking or good food, with the cannibalism part forgotten or ignored. And the 牙 component worked in as in my answer.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T03:14:17.263Z
2021-11-22T03:14:17.263Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>Even 易牙 was once used to describe a person with great cooking skill, it is now an obscure term in modern society, unlike the popular ones</p>
<p>智者 --&gt; 諸葛亮 (the one and only)</p>
<p>美女 --&gt; 西施 (the one and only)</p>
<p>俊男 --&gt; 潘安 (along with the less famous 宋玉)</p>
<p>名廚 --&gt; no one, we don't praise a good chef by comparing him to any famous person</p>
<p>I can understand why 易牙 was referenced to be a person with good cooking skills. anyone who could make the most disgusting ingredient (human flesh) taste delicious must be very skilled in cooking. And no, it didn't sound like a praise.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-22T02:12:13.460Z
2021-11-22T02:35:41.613Z
2021-11-22T02:35:41.613Z
Tang Ho
<p>I have only ever known 易牙 is connection to cooking up his own child.</p>
<p>《汉语大词典》</p>
<blockquote>
<p>人名。又称 狄牙 、 雍巫 。 春秋 时 齐桓公 宠臣, 长于调味, 善逢迎, 传说曾烹其子为羹以献 桓公 。见《左传·僖公十七年》、《战国策·魏策二》、《史记·齐太公世家》。后多以指善烹调者。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hanyu Da Cidian, obviously, also mentions this. The last sentence is the one that got me though:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>后多以指善烹调者。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Which roughly translates to something like: &quot;Later used to refer to someone who is proficient at cooking.&quot;</p>
<p>I'm not sure who would take it kindly to being compared to someone who served his own son up in a dish.</p>
<p>Other dictionaries don't mention this either.</p>
<p>Is 易牙 really a compliment?</p>

<meaning>
Is 易牙 really a compliment?
# Is 易牙 really a compliment?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-21)

I have only ever known 易牙 is connection to cooking up his own child.

《汉语大词典》

> 人名。又称 狄牙 、 雍巫 。 春秋 时 齐桓公 宠臣, 长于调味, 善逢迎, 传说曾烹其子为羹以献 桓公 。见《左传·僖公十七年》、《战国策·魏策二》、《史记·齐太公世家》。后多以指善烹调者。

Hanyu Da Cidian, obviously, also mentions this. The last sentence is the one that got me though:

> 后多以指善烹调者。

Which roughly translates to something like: "Later used to refer to someone who is proficient at cooking."

I'm not sure who would take it kindly to being compared to someone who served his own son up in a dish.

Other dictionaries don't mention this either.

Is 易牙 really a compliment?

**Tags:** meaning


---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-11-22. Score: 2

Not in modern Chinese.

As for Classical Chinese, at least Hanyu Da Cidia gives three examples where the word is used to refer to someone who is proficient at cooking:

> 《孟子•告子上》：“至於味，天下期於易牙。”
>
> 明·孫仁孺《東郭記•百工之事》：“學生善做饅，易牙親族，魚肉常摶。”
>
> 清·趙翼《楊桐山招飲》詩之一：“果然雋永出郇廚，入口幾疑易牙饌。”

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: We can still see 易牙 in Taiwan. e.g. https://www.facebook.com/yiya0628/  
> **username_1**: Didn't know that. Today I learned. Thank you~  
> **username_3**: Good references.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2021-11-22. Score: 2

According to [this link](https://www.airitilibrary.com/Publication/alDetailedMesh?docid=P20180411001-201606-201807260015-201807260015-63-72), restaurants in Taiwan "have a full set of worshipping ritual", sounding like some sort of SOP, for 易牙. I have to admit that I know nothing about it. I searched "易牙" on the Internet and found restaurants named after him, such as 「易牙居」 and 「易牙台式料理」, the latter being in Hong Kong. I also found 「2019高雄-易牙美食節」, a festival named after him. Looks like he isn't as negative as I thought. Is 易牙 a compliment? People in the above citations seem to think so.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: :) 哈哈, it beats me, who came from Taiwan but never heard of such places. If it factually exists, then it would be a compliment for sure.  
> **username_4**: @username_3 I did a search on Google Maps and found an 易牙居 in 杭州, besides the one in Taiwan. There is also an 易牙妙手魚丸店.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-11-22. Score: 1

There is a term 弹牙, (springy teeth), which refers to food that's "springy", "elastic", (or just tasty food in general), which Chinese people like in certain kinds of food or cooking methods as opposed to mushy, soggy stuff.

So, with the common denominator of 牙, one could say that 易牙, ("easy" on the teeth), would be associated with good food / (good cooking skills), as a good set of teeth is a major toolkit to have when it comes to enjoying food, especially the springy variety.

Coincidentally, there is an archaic English term "toothsome" which is used to describe tasty food. I wonder whether other nationalities also use the "teeth" as a metaphorical word component to describe tasty food?

I suppose human biology, being what it is across nationalities, would subliminally dictate some shared commonalities in many areas of socio-cultural, linguistic expressions and national habits.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 易牙 was a person's name in ancient china.  
> **username_5**: OK, thanks for the comment.  
> **username_5**: Though a name of a person, but because of certain special characteristics of his personality or talent, like cooking or dancing, his name over time and constant mention comes to symbolize that talent, like "Hoover", (to vacuum), or Guan Yu, 關羽, symbolizing loyalty. So, 易牙, ("easy" on the teeth if used literally), though a person's name, also could, over time and constant mention in connection with cooking or cooking talent, come to symbolize good cooking or good food, with the cannibalism part forgotten or ignored. And the 牙 component worked in as in my answer.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2021-11-22. Score: 1

Even 易牙 was once used to describe a person with great cooking skill, it is now an obscure term in modern society, unlike the popular ones

智者 --> 諸葛亮 (the one and only)

美女 --> 西施 (the one and only)

俊男 --> 潘安 (along with the less famous 宋玉)

名廚 --> no one, we don't praise a good chef by comparing him to any famous person

I can understand why 易牙 was referenced to be a person with good cooking skills. anyone who could make the most disgusting ingredient (human flesh) taste delicious must be very skilled in cooking. And no, it didn't sound like a praise.


---

