Everything was ready, and Wu Yongcai realized that he had taken it for granted, because the cooking utensils and condiments at home were seriously insufficient.

Fortunately, he bought all the remaining nine iron pots in the system yesterday, and calculated the time, it should have almost arrived.

The iron pot is easy to get, but the condiments are not easy to find, at this time, the dishes are not too many condiments in addition to boiling or stewing, and the seasonings are also in addition to salt and sauce, that is, onions, ginger and garlic, and the oil is rarely used, not to mention the spices such as pepper, star anise, cinnamon, and fennel, which ordinary people have never heard of.

Wu Yong rummaged through all the memories of his predecessor, but he couldn't find anyone who had these items. He didn't give up, so he asked He Lian beside him, "Sister has you ever heard of such things as peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, and fennel?" ”

He Lian didn't expect Wu Yong to ask her at this time, first for a moment, then frowned and thought about it carefully, before she said softly: "There are many records of Sichuan pepper in ancient books, and I haven't heard of the other three. ”

Hearing that there were peppercorns, Wu Yong suddenly became interested, "Sister, tell me quickly, what are the sayings?" ”

He Lian's face turned red, and she said: "There is a record in "The Book of Songs, Chen Feng, and the East Gate": 'Seeing you like a wattle, I hold a pepper'. ”

Seeing that Wu Yong didn't know why, He Lian blushed and then explained: "This pepper was a gift given to each other when men and women met at that time. ”

Wu Yong was a little stunned, and secretly sighed that people at that time were really good at playing, and used peppercorns as roses.

Next, He Lian said a few more records and uses of peppercorns.

"The Book of Songs, Zhou Song, Zaiyun" records: "There is pepper Qixin, Hu Kao Zhining", which is to use the fragrance of pepper to worship the ancestors.

"Chu Ci, Nine Songs, Eastern Emperor Taiyi" records: "Hui cuisine steamed orchid, lay cinnamon wine and pepper pulp", which is made of peppercorns.

"Fan Zi Jiran" recorded: "Shu pepper Wudu, Qin pepper out of Tianshui", which is said to be the two origins of pepper.

The "Four People's Moon Order" records: "The New Year of the First Month...... The great-grandchildren of the sons and daughters, each with pepper wine to the parents, called the longevity, and the joy is as good as it. This is said to drink pepper wine together during the New Year.

Wu Yong never thought that the main use of Sichuan pepper at this time was to soak in wine, and the spices such as star anise, cinnamon, and fennel would not also be used to make wine!

At this time, Zhu Lidian interjected: "The virtuous nephew asked what this pepper is for?" I still have some left at home, and if you want to speak, I'll let someone pick them up. ”

Wu Yong was overjoyed, this is really a nowhere to find the iron shoes, it takes no effort to get it, the peppercorns are there, and when he asked Zhu Lidian if there were any other three, he heard such words.

"I've heard of meat hanging, it is a nourishing and health product that has been taken by kings and dignitaries for a long time, and it is known as the saying of southern Guizhou and northern ginseng, maybe the family of the head of the five surnames will treasure some."

"What do we treasure?" But it was the head of the family with the fifth surname who led a group of people to Wu Yong's side, and after a closer look, Guo Fei and a group of rich people were also in the crowd.

After Zhu Lidian led everyone to salute, he smiled and said, "Wu Xian's nephew wants to find some cinnamon, and I happened to hear that several family heads seem to have treasures, so I told him." ”

Li Huang asked suspiciously: "Cinnamon is mainly used to replenish qi and nourish essence, and the virtuous nephew is still young, what do you want to do?" ”

"My nephew is going to make a whole pig feast, and he needs to use this cinnamon to get rid of the fishy smell." Wu Yong was worried that everyone would misunderstand, so he hurriedly explained.

After hearing this, everyone was even more speechless, but Li Huang pondered the words and asked: "Do you know that this cinnamon is one or two, and it can be straight gold for one or two, and stewed pork with cinnamon is like a mourning pear steamed food, isn't it a tyrannical thing?" ”

Wu Yong was stunned, he didn't expect this cinnamon to be so expensive in the Han Dynasty, and some places in later generations used cinnamon as firewood to barbecue meat.

"It's the kid Meng Lang, I don't know the value of cinnamon, don't blame the elders, it's really the kid who sees the people cooking meat with cinnamon in the realm of Taixu, the meat is fragrant but not greasy, and the mouth is full of fragrance."

As soon as he heard the boiled meat, Guo Fei's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately shouted: "Li Huang, didn't you say you, you are also the head of the family, this is also stingy, isn't it just a little cinnamon!" If you are distressed, buy it, get it quickly, and the big guy will be waiting to eat the whole pig feast for a while. ”

Li Huang was so angry by Guo Fei's words that he glared at him, this cinnamon was something he had only gotten his hands on, and he was counting on it to be used for health cultivation in the future.

Wu Yong did shake his head here and said, "Forget it, this boiled meat not only needs cinnamon, but also star anise and fennel, and cinnamon alone won't play much role." ”

"What are these two things?" Everyone was confused, although cinnamon was rare, they had heard of it, and star anise and fennel were the first time they had heard of it.

"I remember, I saw it in my uncle's collection of Shennong's Materia Medica.

Anise is also known as star anise, which is pungent in taste, flat, non-toxic, and is the fruit of the star anise tree. Its shape is as big as money, with octagonal like spokes and sharp, red black, and there is a child in each corner, like a small plaque of honey locust seeds and bright and lovely.

Cumin, temperature, spicy, non-toxic, northerners call it earth fennel. The leaves are born in March, like old coriander, very sparse, clumped, and three or four feet tall in May; Flowers in July, the head is like an umbrella cover, yellow, firm as wheat and small, green, picked in August and September, dry in the shade. ”

"This is it!" When Wu Yong heard this, he immediately became excited, just like the description of star anise and fennel in his impression, and then saw that the person who spoke turned out to be Zhang Ji.

I saw him take out two small pockets from the medical treasure bag on his body, and handed them to Wu Yong with a smile.

Wu Yong didn't know why, but when he opened it, it turned out to be star anise and fennel, and he was immediately surprised.

Seeing Wu Yongwang coming over, Zhang Ji said with a smile: "This is something that a certain uncle is coming from, and he has always taken it with him, and it is useless, but he never thought that he could cook meat!" ”

At this time, the peppercorns that Zhu Lidian asked people to take were also handed over to Wu Yong.

Wu Yong took these hard-won spices, and his mood was surging, and he planned to make this whole pig banquet for a while.

At this time, Zhang Ji asked: "I just heard the meaning of the Wu family's virtuous brother that he wanted to use these medicinal materials to cook meat, but as far as I know, this pepper seems to be slightly poisonous." Of course, this is not a lie, but a personal experience. ”

"Once, when my uncle was grinding pepper powder, he felt that it was very fragrant, so he unconsciously sucked a few more times, resulting in a large amount of pepper powder in his mouth and nose, and it didn't take long for him to feel wrong.

I felt dizzy at first, and then I wanted to vomit, but fortunately, my uncle found out in time, and put a certain place in a cool place outside, and it took a few hours to ease up, and my uncle told me afterwards that this was poisoned. ”

After Zhang Ji finished speaking, someone chimed in:

"As soon as you say this, a certain person also remembered that some time ago, there was an official in Kyoto who was going to be executed because of corruption, and he made peppers for the sake of a decent death."

If someone agrees, there will be someone who opposes it.

"No, how did I hear that drinking pepper wine can prolong life!"

Everyone had different opinions, and they were all waiting for Wu Yong to give an explanation, they didn't want to eat the meat cooked with these spices and have an accident.

If it is placed in later generations, no one will doubt that Sichuan pepper will eat dead people, just like in later generations, Sichuan cuisine will often put a large amount of Sichuan pepper, and no one will eat bad body, of course, unless this person dies by himself and eats a large number of peppercorns. But people in the Han Dynasty did not know this, and many people had never seen Sichuan peppercorns, let alone eaten them.

Wu Yong thought for a while and said to everyone: "Don't hide it from you, when the kid traveled in the realm of Taixu, he also found that the people there knew that these spices such as cinnamon, star anise, fennel, and pepper had a certain toxicity and mutagenicity. However, as long as a certain amount is controlled, not only will it not be harmful to the body, but it can also play a role in strengthening the body. ”

"Oh, I see!" Everyone seems to understand.

Zhang Ji asked, "Brother Wu Jiaxian, what is mutagenicity?" ”

Wu Yong thought for a moment and said with a smile: "Actually, to put it bluntly, it is a medicine primer, and normal people will naturally be fine if they eat a small amount, but if there are those who have cold diseases, eating these spices may induce aggravation." ”

Zhang Ji lowered his head and pondered, as if he had realized something.

Wu Yong didn't care about him, and continued to say to everyone:

"As the saying goes, medicine is poisonous, but it is alarmist to talk about toxicity regardless of dose! Therefore, although these spices can be used, they should not be used more, and the kid just uses a little to cook the meat, which is naturally fine. ”

After speaking, he joked again: "It's just that the kid wants to use it more, but his strength doesn't allow it, these two spices and one or two gold, I can't say that if I go down in one bite, I won't have a hundred dollars, even if there is a mountain of gold at home, it's not enough to eat like this." ”

Everyone laughed.

Wu Yong confessed and planned to go to the whole pig banquet, but he didn't want to be attracted by Guo Fei's voice.

"Wu Jiaxian's nephew, look at my chicken tongue, can you also add it to boiled meat and eat it."

Wu Yong took a look, but it was a bag of brown rod-shaped plant buds, slightly pointed below, with four triangular sepals above, separated in a cross shape, and a brownish-yellow globular seed in the middle.

After observing it carefully for a while, he took it to the tip of his nose and smelled it, a very familiar fragrance, but Wu Yong just couldn't remember what it was called.

At this time, Zhang Ji glanced at it and said with a smile: "Chicken tongue incense, the world thinks it looks like a clove, so a clove, in the mouth, can freshen the breath." ”

Wu Yong suddenly remembered what this was, cloves, one of the raw materials of the well-known thirteen incense in later generations. So he smiled and said: "This clove is a good thing, and the food cooked with it has the effect of strengthening the stomach and eliminating appetite." If you cook meat, you can make people appetite and eat three or five catties more. ”

Everyone was stunned, they didn't expect that chicken tongue incense still had this use, no wonder the price has been high. So someone joked: "Why is Guo Fatzi so generous today!" It was easy to give up this valuable chicken tongue incense. You must know that since there is the deeds of 'Shang Shulang Huaixiang holding the orchid and tending to take the Danqi', this chicken tongue incense has become the exclusive property of high-ranking officials and nobles, and money may not be able to buy it. ”

Guo Fei glared at the man, and said indignantly: "Sun Mazi, you don't talk about me, others don't know, I don't know, your family's 'thick sandalwood' that is very popular with women now is mixed with this chicken tongue incense." “

Wu Yong was a little curious about what this 'thick sandalwood' was, so he asked He Lian beside him.

He Lian blushed and said softly: "It is the pigment used by women when they put on makeup, which can be used to apply to the lips." ”

Wu Yong had an epiphany, isn't this the rouge lipstick that was painted on the lips in later generations, it is said that the ancients were really good at playing, painting the lips with spices, and I don't know what the taste is when kissing.