Chapter 118: Prairie Night Banquet
The food that made the old chief very proud, of course, was full of the flavors of the grassland.
The vast savannah, the majestic mountains at the end of the view, the blue sky, the white and flawless white clouds, the green grass swaying in the wind, and the colorful wildflowers dotted on the meadows. The never-ending wind of the grassland, sometimes gentle and sometimes strong, and countless beasts are hidden and unpredictable, this is the beautiful prairie, known as the four-leaf jade prairie.
Refreshing, clean, simple, direct, the scenery of the grassland always leaves such an impression, and people who live on the grassland will be assimilated by the grassland unconsciously.
This is true of people, and of course so is food, and the style of the prairie style is the same, simple and rough, direct and without fancy.
The first thing that was brought up was a few pots of grass, and yes, at a glance, you knew that they were just a few pots of grass.
Of course, no matter how rough and bold the herdsmen are, it is impossible to really bring a few pots of ordinary weeds, after all, people are not cattle and sheep, and people do not eat grass, or in other words, they do not eat all grass.
Therefore, these pots are not ordinary weeds, but carefully selected, very special... Well, weeds, or wild vegetables, can make the eater feel more comfortable.
The first pot of wild vegetables is a hair-like green plant that resembles some seaweeds, but is more slender than seaweed. The wild vegetables are verdant and verdant, with nothing added to them, not even condiments, but they are carefully washed and served on the table, and when you eat them, you always feel like you are facing a pot of green hair.
Actually, there is nothing wrong with these people's feelings, because the name of this wild vegetable is Ulanfa.
In the myth of the steppe, the brave maiden Ulan prayed to the heavens for rain as a sacrifice in order to allow her tribe to survive the drought smoothly. Although praying for rain was unsuccessful, clumps of hairy weeds miraculously grew on the ground sprinkled by Ulan's blood. Wild grasses can be eaten by humans and animals, which are full of rich water, and the taste is slightly sour, and the tongue is delicious when eaten. With this weed, the tribe survived the drought, and in honor of Ulan's sacrifice, people named this weed Ulanfa or Ulancao, and its seeds were scattered all over the steppe.
Of course, myths are just myths, and there is no need to consider the darkness and cruelty hidden behind this legend, after all, it is a story of ancient times, and now people just need to know that this ullan grass tastes really good.
The hair-like weeds are crunchy and creaking when chewed, and when you bite into it, a thick acidity mixed with the fragrance of plants fills your mouth. This sourness is not the taste of vinegar, but more like the sour taste of fruit, and it only takes a few bites to save the throat full of dryness under the stimulation of the hot sun during the day, and the juice in the grass mixed with a large amount of saliva stimulated by the sourness flows through the throat like a clear spring, calming the heat brought by the day.
After a few mouthfuls of Ulan hair, a large copper plate was placed in the middle of the blanket where several people were sitting, the banquet on the grassland was not like other places, paying attention to what was done step by step, the grassland banquet was as simple and direct as the character of the herdsmen, and it was the best food as soon as it came up.
For the herdsmen, the best food is of course mutton, and the copper plate is like a hill full of mutton, white water mutton.
Large pieces of lamb are cooked and stewed with bones, without any seasonings or spices, and are served straight away. Cut a large piece with the knife in front of him, grab it with his hand, follow the example of the herdsmen, rub it heavily in the coarse salt bowl, put the whole piece in his mouth, and bite it down despite the fact that the meat is still steaming.
The rich aroma of meat instantly bursts in the mouth and fills every corner of the mouth. Without the interference of any other condiments and spices, I felt only the aroma of meat in my mouth, which was the purest taste, which only belonged to meat, pure as the grassland sky without impurities, that was the taste of only the grassland.
Eat a few pieces of mutton, chew a mouthful of wulan grass to dissolve the greasy in your mouth, and then have a few pieces of mutton, and drink a sour and sweet goat's milk wine. Whether they like the grassland or not, whether they like meat or not, guests are inevitably conquered by the purest taste of fresh lamb, and even Rose, who is insensitive to meat, has to admit that the purity of meat is irresistible.
A few pieces of mutton in white water went down to the stomach, and the limbs were as comfortable as soaking in warm water, and a second basin full of wild vegetables was brought up at this time.
In the basin is a bunch of straw stalks the thickness of the little finger, the outer skin of the straw has been stripped off, and the inside is white and green, and the water is particularly cute.
No one knows what the scientific name of this wild vegetable is, but the nickname given to him by the grassland herders before the disaster has been handed down.
It is said that in the past, when herders went out to graze in the summer, they would bring a few sticks with them in addition to ordinary food, just in case of emergency.
Pick up one and take a bite, the taste is a bit like a cucumber, but a little softer than a cucumber, the first feeling of biting down, is light and tasteless, slightly sweet, except for more water, nothing special.
But if you eat a few more bites, you will find that at some point, the mouth that has been conquered by white water mutton has become refreshing again, whether it is the acid of the ulan grass or the freshness of the mutton, it has been dissolved by the summer herb, and the mouth has regained its sensitivity to the taste of food.
This was the perfect time to enjoy the roasting of the whole lamb, so a golden whole sheep was loaded on a large wooden plate and carried by two big men to the edge of the blanket. The golden skin of the whole sheep is shiny with oil, and from time to time a few drops of transparent oil drip from the belly of the sheep.
"Yo~~~~~ hey!" Seeing the whole roasted sheep covered with red silk on its horns being served, all the herdsmen who participated in the banquet stood up at the same time, stepped on the ground with their right feet together, and let out a neat cheer from their mouths.
As if beckoned by cheers, a burly, muscular herdsman-cook leapt up from the crowd and landed firmly in front of the roasted sheep's head.
With a flip of the wrist, there was already a narrow and sharp knife in the herdsman's hand, and the herdsman chef holding the sharp knife had a solemn and sacred expression, and walked around the roasted whole sheep with a steady and slow pace, during which his eyes were always focused on the roasted whole sheep, as if he was facing a duel opponent, and the noisy cheers from the outside world seemed to him to be non-existent.
Back in front of the sheep's head, the chef stood still, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and after a few seconds, his eyes opened violently, and a knife shot out of the chef's hand, slashing across the top of the sheep's head.
With a single sword, the piece of meat on the top of the sheep's head flew into the air with the light of the knife, crossed an arc, and landed steadily on the tray in front of a wooden tablet behind the roasted whole sheep.
"Roar!" the tidal cheers rang out again, and each herdsman raised his hands in the air, his expression full of joy.