We now look at some historical materials of the Tang Dynasty, the women in it are very plump, some people are very curious, what is the food culture of the Tang Dynasty?
At that time, meat was mainly mutton (eating beef was still nominally a crime to be severely sentenced, although there was not too much pork), and the problem with mutton was that the taste was large, so the pepper that could be defused at that time had a very high status and the price was very expensive. What, you ask why not eat chicken, duck and goose meat?
This is a very interesting topic, because in the Tang Dynasty, sometimes chicken, duck, goose and other poultry meat is not meat - here is a small story, the early Tang Dynasty once forbade Yushi to eat meat when he went to the place, but the tang dynasty name Soma zhou zhou local especially liked to eat chicken, and then was sued, Tang Taizong said, "I forbid Yushi to eat meat, fear prefecture and county Guangdong, why eat chicken?" The meaning is probably that I am afraid of extravagance and waste, so I forbid Mishi to eat meat.
But how can eating chicken count as meat? Later, they thought of eating lamb.
At that time, the staple food was mainly pasta (rice is still there), or more specifically, it was mainly cakes, and there were dozens of kinds of cakes (in fact, all kinds of steamed buns were also called cakes, and the types of cakes at that time were more than now), and in the Tang Dynasty notebook novel "Because of the Words", it is mentioned that "the world is heavy cake". In all kinds of history books, novels, and poems, there are often a variety of cakes, such as steamed cakes, pancakes, pepper cakes, soup cakes, and so on.
Steamed cakes of the Tang Dynasty in a broad sense include a variety of steamed noodles, including modern steamed steamed bread, which belongs to fermented pasta. At that time, steamed cakes could be made purely from wheat noodles, or they could contain various spices. The Tang people often eat daily, often using steamed cakes as a staple food. Even royal food, which has steamed cakes. Steamed cakes were also widely popular in the food market of the Tang Dynasty, becoming a food favored by both pasta sellers and buyers.
Qingjing rice, uniquely prepared, is related to a plant called "Southern Candle" that grows in southern China. Take the branches and leaves of the southern candle wood and pound it to obtain a green-black sap, which is used to soak the rice, and after nine steaming and nine exposures, the rice grains made of green essence rice are tight and small, black as beads. Can strengthen the muscles and face, long-term service to become white but old ("Materia Medica"). This is powerful, strong whitening and rejuvenating, but also what protein powder water light needle. And the storage period is long, not easy to spoil, home travel must be.
History records that Tang Taizong was very fond of eating bamboo shoots, and every year when the bamboo shoots were listed, he had to gather his courtiers and hold a "bamboo shoot feast", which also meant that the national power of the Tang Dynasty was thriving like mushrooms after the rain.
In addition to spring shoots, Tang Taizong also liked to eat Shaolin Eight Treasures Crisp, in the early years, the warrior monks of the Shaolin Temple helped Li Shimin to calm the world and thank the monks for their kindness, Tang Taizong once brought civil and military officials to the Shaolin Temple, and enjoyed a 60-course vegetarian "Dragon Feast" in the temple.
Tang Taizong was particularly impressed with the Shaolin Eight Treasures. This dim sum is said to be made of ganoderma lucidum, monkey head, white fruit, poria, fungus, white fungus, shiitake mushrooms and other mountain treasures, mixed with flour and honey, which is not only sweet and delicious, but also has a high health value, and the specific practice has long been lost.
The drinking method of Tang Dynasty tea is to boil tea, that is, cook tea and sencha. According to the Tang Dynasty Lu Yu's "Tea Classic", the tea production process of the Tang Dynasty was "picking, steaming, pounding, patting, roasting, wearing, sealing, and tea." "When drinking, first put the cake tea on the fire and grill it, then use the tea mill to crush the tea cake into a powder, and then sift it into a fine powder with a sieve and put it in boiling water to boil. When boiling, the water has just opened, and small water droplets appear on the surface of the water like fish eyes, and "slightly sound", called a boil.
Add some salt to the water to taste at this time. When the water on the side of the pot is like a gushing spring, it is two boiling, then use a scoop to scoop out a scoop of boiling water for later, stir it in the center of the pot with a bamboo clip, and then pour the tea powder from the center. Later, the water in the pot is "soaring waves", "like a rushing wave splashing", called three boiling, at this time to pour the scoop of water that has just been scooped out into the pot, a pot of tea soup is cooked.
If you continue to cook, you think that "the water is old and inedible". Finally, scoop the boiled tea soup into a bowl and drink it. The first three bowls taste better, and the last two bowls are worse. Five bowls away, "not thirsty for the drink".
This was the most popular method of tea drinking in society at that time. Because there are different types of tea, there is another method, the cake tea into a powder in the tea bottle, and then brewed with boiling water, rather than cooking, this is the end of the tea drinking method.
Do you think that the Tang Dynasty people's diet is very rich, but don't forget, this is only a more representative of their diet. There is time to elaborate on other cuisines of the Tang Dynasty. I really want to go back and try the food of that time.