In ancient societies, food was not an essential part of people's daily lives. On the contrary, many people are struggling to fill their stomachs. At that time, the variety and quality of food were very limited, and people often had to rely on some crude and simple ingredients to survive. So what exactly do they eat?
Food in the TV series
In ancient times, people's living conditions were extremely simple, and it was difficult to guarantee three meals a day. The food is also very monotonous, and most of the time it is only a few coarse grains and vegetables to survive.
However, if you are a child born into a wealthy family, then your life will be different. The food on the table is simply homely for those who enjoy privilege.
They have tasted a wide variety of cuisines, from meat to seafood, desserts to spicy and sour snacks.
Among them, hot pot is a very eye-catching existence. This way of eating was not popular in ancient times, and only those who were powerful had the opportunity to taste it. They will put fresh meat and vegetables in a copper pot and serve it with a carefully prepared soup, and when cooked, they can enjoy a delicious hot pot.
However, it was not until the Republican period that hot pot really became a household name on the table. Nowadays, whether you are rich or poor, if you want to taste hot pot, you can taste delicious hot pot in various restaurants.
Scenes from movies and TV series are always eye-catching, especially those that look tempting to the delicacies. However, many viewers do not understand the real situation behind these scenes. People in history are not as happy as we are modern people, especially those who live at the bottom of the poor, what is their daily life like?
Food in movies and TV shows is often processed, and deductions and ad placements are inevitable. The dishes that appear in the play look dazzling, but most of them are actually fictional. And for the lives of poor people in ancient times, there are few shots to show them, because they are often too cruel and difficult.
In ancient times, without modern kitchen equipment and condiments, poor people had to grow and collect ingredients for simple cooking on their own. Their diet is basically based on coarse grains and vegetables, and they can't even afford meat. In the cold winter months, they can only use torches for heating, and there is no heating and air conditioning like we modern people.
Why is the gap so large?
From time immemorial, the main food of humans was animals and plants, and the gathering and hunting of these foods depended on environmental and technical conditions. With the development of agriculture, food has become the main food of people. However, even in the agricultural era, the gap between the rich and the poor was still very large.
In feudal society, social class differentiation is extremely obvious. Most of the population lives in poverty and misery, they face the threat of hunger and disease, while the upper class lives in luxury. Although the imperial court sometimes offered some material help to the people, in fact these help were only a drop in the bucket. Most of the poor people could not even enjoy the generosity of the imperial court.
In such a social context, the lives of the poor are extremely difficult. Their main goal is to survive and fill their stomachs. However, they do not have any resources and opportunities to get out of this state of life. In those days, poverty and hunger were not isolated phenomena, but problems prevailing in society.
At that time, everyday life was like an endless battle for those who were poor. They are hungry and cold, but have nowhere to ask for help. In this hierarchical society, they are labeled with an uncomfortable label: the bottom.
They work, in exchange for a chance to eat, they put in more effort and sweat than the rich. But even so, they still live a life of starvation, often relying on simple food to survive. Wild vegetables, bark, and even soil and grass roots became their rations, because they had no other choice.
Living in that environment, every day is a challenge. Their bodies have long been accustomed to the feeling of hunger, but they cannot tolerate the bitterness and tastelessness of food. At that time, they didn't have the opportunity to taste good food or enjoy life. They can only suffer in silence and silently struggle for their livelihood.
In those days, people's tastes were very different from what we are now. They don't have spicy hot pot, no sweet and sour ribs, and no crispy roast duck. The ingredients they can eat are very limited, and they are not very particular about taste. Potatoes, tomatoes, corn, these seemingly ordinary ingredients, were not so easy to get in ancient times. One of the most representative is potatoes.
Potatoes originated in South America, and Chinese had never heard of the food at the time. It was not until the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty that the Dutch brought potatoes to China and began to cultivate them in some places. However, because potatoes do not taste very good and require certain cooking skills, they are not popularized.
In those days, people ate mostly grains and vegetables, and many times suffered from hunger. In some places, people even have to rely on tree bark and roots to fill their stomachs. For them, being able to eat a little bit of good food is already a luxury.
It is said that during the Ming Dynasty, a scholar who studied overseas discovered a plant called tomato in South America and was cultivated by locals as an ornamental plant. Wang Yangming felt that this plant looked a little like domestic eggplant, so he picked some and brought it back to China. However, people at that time did not use tomatoes as ingredients, but as flowers to decorate gardens and gardens.
Later, with the gradual popularization of the tomato plant, people discovered its deliciousness and began to add it to their diets. Potatoes, corn and other ingredients were also introduced to China during this period and became an important part of people's diets.
Although we can now easily buy a variety of fruits and vegetables, in ancient times, the source of ingredients was relatively single. People had to rely on some objective factors to adapt to the lack of ingredients, such as the invention of foods such as rice dumplings and sauerkraut to cope with the heat of winter and hunger during long journeys.
In ancient times, the taste and richness of dishes were far less than in modern society, and even during the Ming Dynasty, only wealthy families were able to eat richer cuisine. Compared with the spicy taste of modern people, the choice of seasoning of ancient people is also very limited.
Chili pepper was not popular in ancient times, first called chili, and only began to appear in the kitchen in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, becoming an auxiliary ingredient for cooking food.
Of course, even if there is a seasoning such as chili, ordinary people can not afford to eat it, and the dishes they eat every day are usually just some simple seasonings to enhance the taste, such as soy sauce, salt, vinegar, etc. However, for them, the most critical question is whether they can eat.
In ancient times, the taste of food was relatively light because the seasonings were not so rich. Many seasonings were only available in the later period, such as cumin, which was not originally found in China, but was introduced through the Silk Road and brought back from the Western Regions. Early cumin was called fennel or fennel in peace.
The ancients were accustomed to a light taste and did not feel monotonous, because they were used to it. Only after the economy has developed that people have more choices of ingredients and seasonings, and the taste is more diverse.
People often have certain illusions about ancient life, thinking that it was more free, romantic, mysterious, and even beautiful. However, if we think about it carefully, we will find that ancient life was actually quite hard and depressing. Especially in terms of diet, the ancients had a very limited variety of food, and the taste was very light, with almost no spices to choose from.
Although most people's lives have become relatively prosperous today, and feeding and clothing is no longer a big problem, we must not forget the poverty situation in some remote areas, and the state needs to pay more attention to these places and give them more help and support. At the same time, we should also cherish our current life and not forget our current happiness because of a momentary vision.
People are always looking for a better way to live, but that doesn't mean we have to give up completely what we used to have. While maintaining modern life, we should inherit and carry forward the ancient culture and wisdom, draw nourishment from it, and make our lives more colorful.
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