As a famous historical figure, Su Dongpo's literary achievements are obvious to all. However, he is also a rare foodie, and his proof is the Dongpo meat that has been passed down through the ages.
Of course, today we are not going to introduce the preparation method of Dongpo meat, but to see how Su Dongpo, as a gourmet, has expanded his influence in the gastronomic world.
1. Non-coercive events
In the Song Dynasty, the habit of eating pork had not yet been formed, resulting in low pork prices. The time period when Su Shi invented "Dongpo Meat" also happened to be a time when his life was extremely embarrassing.
So many people believe that the reason why "Dongpo meat" appeared is entirely because Su Dongpo has no money to relieve his hunger, he can't afford to eat mutton, and he is forced to come up with a way to make pork taste very delicious.
In fact, it is not always the case, this is not a compulsive event, but it is related to Su Dongpo's open-minded outlook on life.
First of all, pigs are omnivorous animals, and the Zhou Dynasty believes that its sex is similar to that of humans. This view is the same as the way we look at apes now. Then Zhou Li used this point of view as a metaphor for a gentleman.
This means that a gentleman should be clean and self-righteous, and should not be complicit with dirty people and things, just like not eating pork.
From here we can see that this is a metaphor that has nothing to do with the stipulation that "pork is not allowed". But after the Song Dynasty, rigaku flourished, and radical people believed that gentlemen should not eat pork. This is from a theoretical point of view.
Secondly, the emperors of the Song Dynasty attached great importance to farming, and the government forbade the slaughter of cultivated cattle, so the only things that could be eaten on a daily basis were mutton and pork, and the royal family chose the former. With the royal family taking the lead, the people naturally rushed to follow suit. This is from a trend perspective.
Again, at that time, the boars had not yet been castrated universally, and the prepared pork had a strong fishy smell and was very unpleasant. Perhaps this is also one of the reasons why the Song Dynasty royal family did not choose pork, which is the taste angle.
Finally, due to the medical conditions at that time, some people had some symptoms after eating pork that could not be cured, and the ancients believed that pork would cause "wind and disease". This is the health perspective.
From the above four perspectives, Su Dongpo really has no motivation to eat pork. In his words: Rich people refuse to eat, poor people do not cook. But Su Dongpo chose to be maverick.
At a gathering of friends, Su Shi praised the beauty of pork, and the friend asked in surprise: "Do you dare to eat pork?" Aren't you afraid of getting sick! ”
Su Dongpo replied, "Then you are a pig who has been wronged." ”
After Su Shi was relegated to Huangzhou, his salary plummeted, and he was accustomed to a wealthy life for a while. On the 1st of each month, the monthly salary is divided into 30 copper coin strings and hung on the beams, and 1 string is taken 1 day.
In order to prevent yourself from spending money, you have to hide chopsticks after eating every meal, for fear of eating the last meal and not eating the next meal. In his spare time, he had to study how to cook pork, because he could only afford to buy pork that was cheaper than farm manure.
After unremitting efforts, Dongpo meat was finally born. It can be said that the exploration of Dongpo meat, bitter pleasure is part of it, the most important thing is his open-minded concept, otherwise any restriction may kill the famous dish of Dongpo meat for thousands of years.
Second, hardcore fans of food
Mencius believed that a gentleman should be far away from cooking, whether what he said was reasonable or not, at least it proved that Mencius did not like to cook. But Su Dongpo is very fond of cooking.
From Dongpo meat, it can be seen that Su Shi is very fond of trying new things in terms of eating, so in addition to the pork that is more common now, the game at that time was also within the scope of research in su-style private kitchens.
When he was young in his hometown, his favorite food was to stew the pheasants and ducks caught in the wild with the domestic chickens raised at home. When he made friends with the monk Zhongshu, he also loved wild honey, and wrote a poem for this purpose.
For the "crown of dishes" pufferfish, Su Dongpo shouted after eating: It is really a death! In our modern language, it is: cool to fly, which shows Su Shi's pursuit of delicious.
The Song Dynasty's love for aquatic products was no less than that of the mainstream mutton at that time. In addition to Su Dongpo, Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang, Fan Zhongyan and others are all loyal fans of seafood and aquatic products, especially sashimi.
At that time, there was a private kitchen in Bieliang that specialized in making sashimi, and the taste was very delicious. Because the production process is meticulous, only a small number of customers are accepted at a time. This shop became the "private chef" of scholars such as Ouyang Xiu and Fan Zhongyan, and at the first opportunity, they had to call three or five friends to fight the tooth sacrifice.
Su Dongpo suffered from eye disease for a while, and Lang Zhong advised him to eat less sashimi. Unexpectedly, the former actually replied: Eating sashimi is sorry for my eyes, not eating and not being able to hold my mouth, but how can I be generous to one or the other!
Third, it is fundamentally different from the Tang Dynasty
In addition to being inseparable from meat, liking to taste fresh, and loving wild game, Su Shi also wrote a "Vegetable Soup Fu" for food. This article in praise of vegetarianism associates vegetarianism with spiritual nobility.
This is not a special case, the Song Dynasty scholars and doctors generally like to praise vegetarian food compared with the Tang Dynasty literati. This is a significant change in the food culture of the scholar class.
The reason for this is mainly that the Song Dynasty implemented a relatively thorough imperial examination system, and compared with the Tang Dynasty, more grassroots figures entered the class of scholars. And some people have the right to speak in this class.
They came from poor backgrounds, never had to eat meat, and from an early age they had to help the adults in their families cook, and these childhood experiences accompanied their lives.
They do not think that vegetarianism is a manifestation of inferior poverty, because they have developed the habit of vegetarianism; they do not think that gentlemen and cooking will not coexist, because they like to cook.
Therefore, why the lifestyle of the Song Dynasty scholars and doctors makes us look pleasing to the eye and why it is easier to accept. It was itself a kind of exaltation of commoner life, not an unattainable aristocratic life.
For example, Cai Jing eats lamb dipped in water, only eating the most tender part of the sheep's head front face, we feel that it is wasteful, but it is not impossible to learn.
But in order to eat roast goose, the Tang Dynasty people directly stuffed the goose into the belly of the sheep, and after roasting, they threw the sheep away and ate only the goose. We marvel that the ancients really could eat, but who is willing to learn?
As a gourmet, Su Dongpo is actually a typical and microcosm of the Song Dynasty scholar-doctor class.
Author: Our special guest author Kan Dashan
References: "Cups, Plates, and Bowls overflowing with Poetry: Food in Song Dynasty Poetry", "The Biography of Su Dongpo"