The diet of the Tang Dynasty was far less developed than that of later generations, not that the taste was poor, but that it lacked innovation, such as appetizers, cold dishes, hot dishes, dim sum, sweethearts after meals, etc., which were not yet popular.

Seeing the curious look on Cui's uncle and nephew's face, Liu Yuan had no choice but to explain with a smile:

"When eaten, it is eaten cold, called cold dishes, also called cold dishes, and it is usually served first when eating, for appetizing and refreshing purposes. Most of the main raw materials for cold dishes are clinker, so this is completely different from the cooking method of hot dishes, and its main characteristics are: fine material selection, dry and fragrant taste, crisp and tender, refreshing and not greasy, bright color, neat and beautiful shape, harmonious and pleasing to the eye, which makes people have a great appetite. ”

Liu Yuan pointed to the cold dishes on the table and began to introduce: "Lord Shangshu, Lord Thorn Shi, please see, this is vinegar mixed with duck feet, this is braised beef, this is vinegar mixed with lotus root slices, this is assorted salad, these are all carefully made for the two of you, please taste them." ”

"Cough~~cough~~" Cui Jing's complexion changed, he coughed dryly, and a strange look appeared on his face.

Although these four cold dishes were carefully put together, red, green, and green, they looked very joyful and appetizing, but he did not raise his chopsticks.

Cui Tingshi's face was also unfriendly, and his face was gloomy.

Liu Yuan woke up all of a sudden, and almost wanted to smoke himself: In the Tang Dynasty, cattle were very important materials, and the imperial court explicitly forbade the slaughter of cultivated cattle, and violators should be held accountable and punished.

If their political enemies find out about it, they will participate in a book, saying that they are a member of the court, openly eat beef, and be reprimanded for a small matter, maybe they will be demoted.

"It's beef. The little one didn't dare to deceive the two nobles, but the cow Zhao Dafu of Zhaojia Village fell off the cliff and both feet were broken, so he killed the cow for meat and raised money to buy new cattle. The villain didn't dare to bring it to the table, wasn't it asking for trouble? Liu Yuan hurriedly explained.

It is a violation of the law to slaughter cattle privately, but if the cattle are killed by mistake, the cattle are injured in an accident and cannot be treated, or they are too old to farm, they can be killed for meat if they find a reputable person to testify. Especially now that there are abundant products and the people are rich. The more I can't eat, the more I want to eat. I think this is a status symbol, in a word: there are policies, there are countermeasures, and there are capable people, it is not very difficult to get some beef.

"Oh, I see, if only you had the law in your heart. If you are a traitor, Hugh blames the official for turning his face and being ruthless. Cui Tingshi breathed a sigh of relief and said with a serious face.

With the stairs down, the matter has finally been revealed. No one will be careful to pursue it anyway.

"Please use it slowly~~" Liu Yuan smiled and made a gesture to the two of them.

Cui Jing's face also eased a lot, to be honest, he has a preference for beef, and now when he sees the brown and yellow color of the plate of beef, it looks delicious and delicious, so he can't help but take a piece and throw it into his mouth.

As soon as the beef entered his mouth and chewed lightly, Cui Jing was moved: the surface of the beef was shiny, no burnt, no teeth, no hair and auxiliary residues, slightly elastic, with strong flavors, soft and delicious, this was the most delicious beef he had ever tasted.

At this time, the beef is mostly cooked and eaten with some condiments, or directly fried familiarly, that is, when Wu Song beat the tiger, it is also used to boil the beef, there are guests to ask, how much to cut, the unique fishy taste of beef, but Liu Yuan's braised beef is different, adding cinnamon, cloves, garlic and other things, it is very clever to put the fragrance up, remove the smell of sandalwood, the kind of fragrant but not greasy, the feeling of melting in the mouth, can make people can't bear to stop.

"It tastes good." Cui Jing gave a pertinent evaluation very sincerely.

Cui Tingshi looked at the plate of vinegar lotus root slices and felt very interesting, and also took a piece and put it in his mouth, and when he took a bite, it was crispy and juicy, refreshing and not greasy, and there was not even slag, so he couldn't help but eat a few pieces in a row, and suddenly felt a great appetite.

"Okay, I didn't expect this lotus root to have such a way to eat, it is fresh and crispy, which makes people feel appetizing, interesting, interesting."

"Well, this assorted salad is good."

"Duck paws also have a different taste."

Cui's uncle and nephew praised and ate at the same time, the cold dishes were beautifully shaped, brightly colored, crisp and not greasy, the more they ate, the more delicious they were, the two seemed to be reincarnated by starving ghosts, but after a while, most of the four cold dishes had been reduced.

"Well, Lord Shangshu, would you like to have some wine and food?" Liu was stunned for a while, and couldn't help but say.

It seems that only eating vegetables, which is not good, this dish is cold, and eating too much is not very good for the stomach.

Cui Jingleng paused, looked at Liu Yuan, who was still holding the wine on the side, and then looked at the empty half of the plate in front of him, and then felt that his eating appearance was a bit thunderous, and he lost his manners.

It's all because this thing is so delicious that you can't stop eating it.

"Cough~~" Cui Jing coughed dryly, and said a little embarrassedly: "I just happened to be a little hungry~~"

Liu Yuan hurriedly said: "No, no, it's because I didn't prepare well, the portion is insufficient, and I will see the bottom with a few chopsticks." ”

This was said at a high level, Cui's uncle and nephew's face suddenly calmed down a lot, Cui Tingshi said with a smile: "If it happens suddenly, you don't need to prepare too much, just eat a light meal, you don't have to blame yourself too much, by the way, what's so special about this Tianfu incense in your hand?" ”

Very cleverly shifted the subject.

Liu Yuan said with a smile: "Tianfu incense, more than strong but not supple enough, a little choking, I added a few grains to neutralize its taste and level, and then buried it under the Guixia tree, come, Lord Shangshu, Lord Thorn Shi, come and taste it." ”

After speaking, Liu Yuan untied the seal on it, patted the sealing mud, and a pleasant and peculiar aroma of wine rushed out of the jar at once, and hit the nose of Cui's uncle and nephew, which was a very attractive and soft wine aroma, which immediately hooked the wine worms in the stomachs of the two people.

The aroma of this wine alone is quite good.

Cui Shangshu's saliva almost flowed out, his eyes stared at the jar, watching the action, as if he wanted to snatch it over.

Liu Yuan didn't hang the appetite of the two, and he didn't need slaves, so he personally poured a small cup for each of them. Cui Tingshi saw that the color of the wine was as clear as the spring water on the mountain, and after the collision of the glasses, the aroma of the wine in the hall became stronger, and Cui Jing's nose on the side moved, as if he was desperately inhaling the aroma of wine in the air.

After pouring, Liu Yuan didn't speak, but just made a "please" gesture to the two.

Cui Jing was a little anxious to pick up the wine glass, gently put it in his nose and smell it, the wine was pleasant. That peculiar fragrance seems to make people intoxicated when they smell it, just smelling it is a pleasure, smell it, and gently put it to your lips. A small wipe.

"Huh?"

Cui Jing's brows furrowed, and his face changed. A blush rose on his white face. But he quickly reacted, glanced at the contents of the glass, put the glass to his mouth, tilted his head, dried the wine in one sip, and then closed his eyes. His head shook slightly, as if he was still reminiscing about the taste of the wine.

"Good!" Cui Tingshi on the side stretched out his big finger to Liu Yuan and praised: "This wine is good, this is the best wine I have ever drunk, and the mouth is soft." A line of throat, the wine is long and long, full of stamina, drinking makes people add a sense of heroism, the taste is rich, the wine taste is unique, although it is a little similar to Tianfu Xiang, but it is far better than Tianfu Xiang, good, good, really good. ”

Cui Tingshi shared three "good" to praise Liu Yuan's wine.

"After drinking this wine, I feel that the wine I drink on weekdays is like boiled water, but I didn't expect that there is such a good wine in a small Yangzhou." Cui Jing stared at Cui Tingshi, and said a little dissatisfied: "With such good wine, I don't know how to honor your third uncle, I really hurt you in vain." ”

also said that he respected himself, knowing that he liked to drink, and he didn't send someone to send a few altars, Cui Jing was a little unhappy all of a sudden.

"Third uncle, wronged" Cui Tingshi almost wanted to kneel down for him: "Tianfu incense, I almost sent a carriage to my hometown, although this wine is very similar to Tianfu incense, but there is a slight difference in color, texture, and taste, to be honest, I really taste it for the first time." ”

After Cui Tingshi finished speaking, he glanced at Liu Yuan, as if he was complaining about why Liu Yuan didn't pay tribute to himself earlier with such a good wine, which caused him to be scolded.

"Lord Shangshu, this is not about Lord Thorn Shi, this is the result of research just now, Lord Thorn Shi is right, he is also the first time to eat this kind of wine." Liu Yuan hurriedly excused Cui Tingshi.

Cui Tingshi also hurriedly stood up and said with a serious face: "Since the third uncle likes it, the little nephew will often send someone to the third uncle in the future." ”

"That's pretty much it, sit down and sit down, it's all your own family, do you still believe you?" Cui Jing said with a smile.

"Third uncle, drink a few more glasses." Cui Tingshi suddenly snatched the special Tianfu incense from Liu Yuan's hand, and respectfully filled the wine glass again for Cui Jing.

Cui Jing nodded with satisfaction, and was even more satisfied with Cui Tingshi in his heart.

Last night, he added a "pillow" to himself, and today he sang and harmonized with himself, and he showed quite a tacit understanding, and most importantly, he was observant, and some things didn't even need to look at him, he would ask for something himself, and it felt really good to be with such a nephew.

In this little episode, four maidservants lined up and came up with four steaming dishes.

"Xiaoyuan, what is the reputation of these four dishes?" Cui Tingshi asked with a smile.

As soon as he entered the house, Liu Yuan gave the two of them one surprise after another, in Liu Yuan's words, the cold dish is the appetizer, and the hot dish is the main dish, and the handmaidens have not approached yet, and Cui's uncle and nephew have already smelled the fragrance of the dish.

I don't know what surprise Liu Yuan gave the two of them this time.

"Kung Pao chicken, fish-flavored shredded pork, back to the pot meat, boiling cabbage" Liu Yuan introduced them one by one, and said a little embarrassedly: "I don't know if the two nobles are visiting, I didn't prepare well, and I ask Lord Shangshu and Lord Thorn Shi to forgive me." ”

In the Tang Dynasty, like pigs, chickens these meat, can only be inferior people to eat food, pig image is not good, dirty, abandoned by the upper class of the scholars, chickens are too common, and easy to raise, just the common people eat, like the scholars doctors, the upper class nobles like to eat meat is mutton, venison, etc., that is, the emperor rewards, but also mostly cattle and sheep, not pigs and chickens.

If he had just served these meats, maybe Cui Jing would not have eaten such low-grade food, but with the foreshadowing, Cui Jing was not polite, and without Liu Yuan's invitation, he directly moved his chopsticks and tasted it.

Soon, Cui Jing's face changed: these dishes are extremely delicious, the same is more delicious than the same, the same is more delicate than the same, even if he was fortunate to participate in several imperial banquets, the things made by the cook were not so exquisite and delicious, and he almost ate his tongue.

Compared with Liu Yuan, Cui Jing felt that what he ate every day was simply pig food.

Oh my God, I didn't prepare anything, so I just casually made these eight best dishes?

Nima, Cui Jing was jealous all of a sudden: there are many industries under his name, I heard that there are thousands of silver for custom-made jewelry, the industry under his name is getting rich every day, there are groups of beauties around him, he lives in a mansion, he eats finely and lives comfortably, what kind of free chairs, sofas and other things, he is very comfortable, the third master of the Cui family in his own dignified Qinghe, and the Ministry of Industry Shangshu who enters and exits the court, there are not enough people for him to be free, and even food and accommodation are not as good as his little businessman.

What he lives is the best life, the best enjoyment.

Cui Jing soon became angry again: You are living so well here, you don't bring my family Mengyao to enjoy the happiness, dare to let my daughter be wronged in Qinghe alone? (To be continued.) )