The Song people were very particular about their diet. Rich and noble people, do not get tired of eating, do not get tired of fine, "all food and drink is precious, new food, strange vegetables, there is no shortage of products", and even "increase the price, not more than its value, but enjoy the new ears".

Let foodies have to choose the difficult Song Dynasty cuisine

delicacies

"Three meals a day" is a common thing for today's people, but before the Tang and Song dynasties, civilians could not afford to eat three meals, so at that time the two-meal system was implemented, one meal in the morning and one in the afternoon. Of course, the court had three or even four meals. Three meals a day became common during the Song dynasty (although some families ate only two meals), and this was only possible after agricultural production increased dramatically, food became abundant, and nightlife became available.

When they are full, they will seek to eat exquisitely. The Song people were very particular about their diet. Rich and noble people, do not get tired of eating, do not get tired of fine, "all the food is precious, the time is new, the vegetables are strange, and there is no shortage of products", and even "the increase in price and remuneration is not more valuable, but you can enjoy the new ears" [(Song) Wu Zimu: "Dream Lianglu"]. Ordinary food stalls, also pay attention to cleanliness, hygiene, Bianjingzhong, "all the people who sell food, fill fresh and clean plates, boxes and utensils, the eaves move, KitKa is cute." Eat the taste and soup, and dare not sloppy" [(Song) Meng Yuanlao: "Tokyo Menghualu"]. The same is true of Lin'an, "Hangzhou customs, all department stores sell food and drink, most of them are decorated with car covers, plates, boxes and utensils are new and exquisite, in order to show off people's eyes and ears, cover the effect of learning Bianjing meteorology, and because Gaozong crossed to the south, he often announced the purchase of the market, so he did not dare to be simple, and the taste did not dare to be hasty" [(Song) Wu Zimu: "Dream Lianglu"].

The exquisite pursuit of food and drink prompted the birth of a variety of delicacies in the Song Dynasty society, such as the "Food and Fruit" article in "Tokyo Menghualu", the "Tea Hotel" article in "Menglianglu", the "Noodle Shop" article, the "Meat and Vegetarian Restaurant" article, and the "City Food" article in "Wulin Old Things", all of which have a long list of foods, snacks, and dim sum, which cannot be copied. The noodles alone include soft sheep noodles, tung skin noodles, salt-fried noodles, silk chicken noodles, meat plug noodles, three fresh noodles, butterfly noodles, bamboo shoots and meat noodles, and shrimp noodles...... Steamed bread includes mutton steamed bread, bamboo shoot steamed bread, fish steamed bread, crab steamed steamed bread, sugar meat steamed bread, steamed steamed bread, spinach fruit steamed bread, variegated fried flower steamed bread...... There are mille-feuille cakes, moon cakes, scorched cakes, golden flower cakes, quiches, vegetable cakes, hu cakes, peony cakes, hibiscus cakes, cooked meat cakes, chrysanthemum cakes, plum blossom cakes, sugar cakes...... Cakes include sugar cakes, flower cakes, honey cakes, glutinous cakes, bee sugar cakes, ice cream, color cakes, chestnut cakes, wheat cakes, bean cakes, small retort cakes, Chongyang cakes...... Today's five-star hotels may not be so rich in the names on the menu. It is no exaggeration to say that Kaifeng and Hangzhou in the Song Dynasty were simply a paradise for "foodies".

The delicacies and snacks we taste now, such as ham, Dongpo meat, shabu-shabu, sashimi, fried dough sticks, glutinous rice balls, popcorn, etc., were all invented or popular in the Song Dynasty; Complex cooking techniques such as cooking, roasting, roasting, stir-frying, exploding, slipping, boiling, stewing, pickling, marinating, steaming, waxing, honey, and onion pulling were also matured in the Song Dynasty; The seasonings used by the Song people to flavor ingredients include salt, honey, wine, vinegar, sugar, milk, mustard, Sichuan pepper, tempeh, soy sauce, etc., which are similar to the condiments in today's kitchens.

"Guan" and "銊" are the two most characteristic delicacies of the Song Dynasty. 脍, or sashimi, was introduced to Japan and was called sashimi. "Wild fish can be cooked", it was very popular in the Song Dynasty, and Su Shi and Lu You were both enthusiasts of fish. Fresh fish, shrimp and crab, chickens and ducks, birds, goose paws, can be pickled into bream. Wash the ingredients, wipe them dry, pay attention to not leave water stains, use salt, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, ginger and green onion shreds to make seasonings, and then put the ingredients into the jar, fill a layer of ingredients, and spread a layer of seasoning. Solidify and cover. The brine is salted in the waiting jar, the brine is poured out, rice wine is added, and it is sealed and stored. At this time, you can patiently wait for the cooperation of microorganisms and time, and quietly brew the delicious taste of the fish in the dark.

It is no wonder that the American sinologist Anderson said in "Chinese Food": "The great Chinese cooking method also arose in the Song Dynasty." Tang Dynasty food was simple, but by the late Song Dynasty, a refined cooking method with local characteristics had been fully confirmed. The rise of the local gentry gave impetus to the sophistication of food: court feasts were as lavish as they were, but less creative than those of merchants and local elites. In 1998, the American "Life Magazine" selected the 100 most far-reaching events that have affected human life in the past thousand years, and the restaurants and snacks of the Song Dynasty were selected as the 56th.

Let foodies have to choose the difficult Song Dynasty cuisine

The Qing people copied the Song people's "Selling Pulp Pictures", and several vendors selling drinks were tasting soup tea.

drink

Nowadays, when people are feasting, they like to have a drink. The same is true of the Song people. In the "Riverside Scene of Qingming Festival", in front of the hotel of "Long-time Residence Wangyuan's Waijia", there is a small stall with a large parasol, and a wooden sign is hung with "fragrant drinks" written on it. What is "Fragrant Drink"? It's a drink.

The drinks of the Song Dynasty were also called "soup", "cooked water" and "cold water". "Cooked water" is equivalent to today's Cantonese herbal tea, and the late Song Dynasty notes "Shilin Guangji" included several "ripe water methods": "Xia Yuefan made cooked water, first poured a hundred decoction and boiling soup in the bottle, and then put the things used into it, sealed the bottle mouth, and the fragrance was doubled." If you soak it in soup, it is not very fragrant. If you use the genus of wood rhinoceros or perilla in the next year, you must slightly burn it on the fire before it can be used, and it is not fragrant. "The more common ones are fragrant flower water, agarwood water, perilla water, and cardamom water. Li Qingzhao wrote a very sad poem "Spreading the Huanxi Sand": "When I am sick, Xiao Xiao has two temples, lying down and watching the window screen on the waning moon." Cardamom and the tips are fried in water, and the tea is not divided. The poems and books on the pillow are good, and the scenery in front of the door is good. All day long, there are many people, wood rhinoceros. What is said is that she was sick in her later years, and she did not dare to drink tea, but only drank cardamom cooked water. There is also a kind of bamboo leaf ripe water, which is said to be very delicious: "In the boundary of Xin'an County, there is a kind of bamboo, the leaves are slightly larger than the regular bamboo, the branches and stems are thin, the tall one is a ruler, the local people think that it is cooked water, it is extremely fragrant and beautiful." [(Song) Zhu Ben: "Qu Wei Old News"]

"Shilin Guangji" also includes a variety of soup recipes for making fruit juice drinks and flower drinks, including dried papaya soup, water zhi soup, lotus soup, dust-free soup, lychee soup, wood rhino soup, orange soup, fragrant su soup, black plum soup and so on. These soups are usually salted, dried, baked, ground into fine powders, and then packed into utensils and sealed for storage. When entertaining guests, take out a few more and brew them into a drink, a bit like today's instant coffee. Moreover, "all the flowers that bloom within four hours, the fragrance that smells, and the sweetness that taste can be done according to the law." Almost every household of the Song people had to prepare drinks to entertain guests. According to Zhu Yu's "Pingzhou Can Talk": "In today's world, guests sip tea when they come, and sip soup when they go." "When a guest comes to the house, tea must be served first; When dropping off, serve a drink.

Since the Song people were fashionable to drink drinks, of course, there were all kinds of drinks sold in the market. "Tokyo Menghualu" said that in June, there were people selling "ice and snow cold water and lychee paste" in Bianliang's "alleys and streets", and "all used green cloth umbrellas to pile up bed benches on the street". Of course, at that time, there was no need to worry about the chengguan coming to kick the stalls and drive people out. "Wulin Old Things" also records all kinds of cold water sold in Hangzhou: "sweet bean soup, coconut wine, bean water, deer pear pulp, braised plum water, ginger honey water, papaya juice, tea, agarwood, lychee paste water, bitter water, kumquat group, snow bubble spleen drink, plum blossom wine, fragrant drink, Wuling Dashunsan, perilla drink." "Menglianglu" also records that the Hangcheng tea shop "sells strange teas and soups at four o'clock, sells Qibao tea, steamed dumplings, green onion tea in the winter month, or sells salt and soy soup, and sells snow soaked plum blossom wine in summer, or shrinks the spleen and drinks, summer medicine, and the like."