Chapter 379: The pleasure of eating meat and dying for the Prime Minister
People in the Han Dynasty also had the most primitive pleasure of eating meat, and they had more advanced cooking methods than those in the pre-Qin era. Although today there is not so much emphasis on eating meat, there is still a lot of pleasure in feasting on meat.
In "The Theory of Salt and Iron: Insufficiency of Dispersion" that Cao Shuang had read before, in the late Western Han Dynasty, people entertained guests. Fish and meat were stacked on top of each other, and the table was full of barbecue. There were also fish and turtles, venison, eggs, and quails arranged in rows, as well as fish sauce and vinegar.
It can be said to be rich and delicious, but of course these are just ordinary for Cao Shuang.
At that time, the aristocratic family had a very particular process for cooking meat. In the picture, one person is holding a fan and fanning firewood to cook, and the two people behind him are sitting next to a long table cutting meat, and the meat is hanging on the shelf behind them;
There are four low tables next to it, all with dishes on them. Some people even skewer the meat on the wooden board and grill it over the fire. The whole scene makes people move their fingers. Of course, this is the way the emperor and nobles eat, and the common people eat it.
It would be great if the common people could have a bite of meat to eat. Then there would be so many particularities.
According to Cao Shuang's understanding, the scope of southern foodies has begun to deviate from the six animals in the traditional sense.
You can bake it in a bamboo basket with two South China rabbits placed neatly.
In other bamboo baskets, there are dozens of quails, bamboo chickens and even small fish piled up. These ingredients were roasted over a slow fire and then skewered with bamboo skewers and placed in bamboo tubes. This shows the types of skewers people used at that time.
It is completely comparable to today's popular "A String of Life".
The vegetables of the Han Dynasty were mainly sunflower (mallow). Among the "five vegetables" listed in "Lingshu Five Flavors Pian" and the 13 kinds of vegetables listed in "Jijiu Pian", sunflower ranked first. The tenderness of this plant
The stems and leaves have high use value and were an essential dish for people's daily diet at that time. Today's vegetable soup is winter squash soup.
After Cao Shuang finished drinking the broth in the pottery bowl, he went to get some winter squash soup and tasted it: "This winter squash soup tastes very fresh and is very good."
Cao Shuang continued to speak loudly: "Everyone eat hard today. There is enough meat in the food. I guarantee that everyone will be able to eat meat every three days in the future. As long as you serve the Wei Dynasty well, this will not be a problem."
Ma Jun answered: "Do you understand, as long as you serve the country well, it will not be a problem to eat some pigs, dogs or other meat every few days, and the life at home will become better and better."
OK."
The craftsmen and soldiers who were busy pulling food into their mouths all around put down their bowls and chopsticks and clasped their fists and said, "How dare you, servant, not die for the Prime Minister!"
Cao Shuang smiled and waved his hands and said: "Everyone, please sit down and continue eating. This cooked dog meat is quite good."
In addition, "chive eggs" had already appeared at that time, which is also known as chive scrambled eggs.
In terms of fruits, the famous local melon and fruit specialties at that time have been recorded by the people at that time, and several famous excellent varieties have been cultivated, such as "Anping good dates, Zhongshan good chestnuts, Weijun good apricots", "Zhending good pears"
And so on. In addition, pomegranates, flax (sesame), walnuts (walnuts), melons, melons (cucumbers), etc. have also followed the footsteps of Hu merchants on the Silk Road and entered the Central Plains. Of course, these big pot rice dishes today are definitely not available.
Six to seven thousand years ago, dogs were domesticated and raised as domestic animals by humans.
While domesticating, the ancients also did not forget their appetite. There are many records of eating dog meat in the "Book of Rites".
During clan sacrifices, dog meat is used as a "soup offering". The "Book of Rites Nei Principles" records the method of "liáo", which requires taking a piece of dog liver, "squeezing it, and then soaking it in the liver"
If you raise a fire, it will not be able to grow anything.”
Among the people who eat dog meat, it has gradually become popular from top to bottom.
"Book of Rites: Kingship" records: "Princes do not kill cattle without reason, officials do not kill sheep without reason, scholars do not kill dogs and hogs without reason, and common people do not eat precious things without reason."
The "princes" and "officials" in the "scholar" class ate "dogs and pigs" more casually than cattle and sheep. During the Warring States Period, various etiquette systems gradually collapsed, and more and more common people began to eat dog meat.
"Dog butchers" who specialize in slaughtering dogs for meat appeared in society, and many historical figures emerged in this professional group, such as the assassin Nie Zheng, Jing Ke's friend Gao Jianli, and the famous Western Han Dynasty general Fan Kuai.
After the short-lived Qin Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty, dog meat entered the meals of thousands of households, and ordinary people began to eat dogs in large quantities.
"Salt and Iron Theory: Sanqiao" says: "Nowadays, the rich pray for the famous mountains, look at the mountains and rivers, play drums with vertebrae oxen, and dance with elephants.
The middle one lives on the road in the south, on a cloud platform on the water, slaughtering sheep and dogs, playing drums, harps and shengs.
The poor pump the chicken with five fragrances, protect the health and spread the wax, and pour it into the community."
It can be seen that the consumption of dog meat in the Western Han Dynasty was only about money. Common people with small assets could eat dog meat.
By the time of the Wei Dynasty, dog-eating groups had undergone a new transformation. The large number of people from the north who originally ate dog meat had moved in from the south, which led to the development of the meat dog breeding industry. The dog slaughtering and selling industries in the south flourished. History books say "dog butchers"
, throughout the three Wu states."
From south to north, so many people are eating dog meat, which naturally leads to a variety of ways to eat dog meat.
"The Rites of Zhou·Tiangong·Food and Medicine" mentioned that "for all the suitable meals, cattle are suitable for cattle, sheep are suitable for millet, hogs are suitable for millet, and dogs are suitable for beams." This means that when eating dog meat, millet food should be used to facilitate the meal.
In good health.
There is a delicacy called "Yongzhi" in "Salt and Iron Theory". Dog meat slices are immersed in boiling soup and cooked, then taken out, sprinkled with pepper powder, dried ginger powder, and mixed with various condiments to make dog meat jerky.
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The famous poem "Qifa" written by Meicheng of the Western Han Dynasty mentions many "most beautiful" foods in the land of Wu and Chu. One of them is "the sum of fat dogs and mountain skin", which means that dog meat and mountain delicacies are made together.
soup.
After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the edibility of dog meat declined rapidly. Both nobles and common people gradually gave up on eating dog meat. Dog meat also became a shady trade. The saying "selling dog meat on a sheep's head" was born at this time, which also explains the trend at that time.
Thousands of years later, the writer Li Yu even criticized the consumption of dog meat. In "Xian Qing Ou Ji", Li Yu wrote: "After pigs and sheep, they should be followed by cattle and dogs.
With two animals (cows and dogs) having meritorious service in the world, how can we persuade people to refrain from them and tolerate torture as a restraint?"
Although the phenomenon of eating dog meat is gradually decreasing, it still reveals some complex aspects. It can be roughly summarized that the people keep guard dogs, and the nobles keep hunting dogs and pet dogs, but their attitudes towards eating dog meat are completely different.
Since the cost of raising watchdogs is low, and the dogs can survive by just raising them next to the barn and letting them forage for human food, farmers living in the countryside began to raise more dogs to watch their homes.
These dogs generally do not suffer the fate of being slaughtered, but in years of famine, when their owners are on the brink of survival, or when the dogs themselves die of illness or old age, they still cannot escape the fate of being eaten.
The upper-class scholars and aristocrats, who had house servants as housekeepers, were also keen on raising dogs.
After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, these social classes kept more hunting dogs, and flying eagle running dogs became the right-hand assistants of the upper-class nobles in hunting. Some small dogs gradually became the pets of noble women, spending time with them.
However, some interesting changes occurred after the Sui and Tang Dynasties. With the development of traditional Chinese medicine, the traditional Chinese medicine technology that emphasizes "diet therapy" contains a large number of records on the use of dog meat as medicine and taboos.
"Therapeutic Materia Medica" praises dog meat as "replenishing the five labors and seven injuries, replenishing yang, replenishing the blood vessels, thickening the intestines and stomach, replenishing the lower burner, and replenishing the essence."
The "Rihua Zhujia Materia Medica" also generally agrees with this point of view, pointing out that dog meat can "replenish stomach qi, strengthen yang, warm the waist and knees, and replenish qi and strength."
In the famous "Compendium of Materia Medica", several situations are put forward to avoid eating dog meat, such as "eating (dog meat) after having a fever will kill people." At the same time, when making dog meat porridge to treat diseases, avoid eating it with garlic, water chestnuts, and almonds.