Text: Minimalist popular science
Minimalist popular science
Preface
There is no tonic more endearing than a bowl of hot pear soup in winter, and the delicious, affordable characteristics have become the darling of the market.
There are thousands of fruits in the world, round and full, sweet as honey abound, but all of them are defeated in front of the pear, so they have won the title of "Hundred Fruits". So what is the status of pears in the hearts of the Chinese?
Pears in the land of China have an unimaginable historical origin
Pears are produced all over the world, and more than 60 million years ago, the original varieties of pears were born in China, but due to the special climate and environment at that time, they could not be eaten as fruits. After thousands of years of exploration, the ancients discovered that the grafting technology could improve the variety of pears, and the fruits produced were more sweet and delicious, and since then they have been on the dining table of the Chinese people.
In ancient society, how much did people love pears? From the ancient books that have been handed down, we can also get a glimpse of one or two. In the Book of Songs, it was recorded that "cover the Gantang, do not cut and do not cut, call the uncle", and it can be seen through the annotations of later generations that people have tried to accept this rare fruit at that time.
In some classic allusions, there are also pears, such as the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period of "Kong Rong let pear", which reflects people's love for pears, and can combine it with the traditional "young and orderly" culture, which alone is much more noble than other fruits.
With the help of agricultural technology, the planting range of pear trees has been widely promoted, from the original limited to the Central Plains, to the south of the Huai River, and has become the most common and affordable fruit at that time. Compared with the Yellow River Basin, the water quality environment of the Yangtze River is more suitable for the growth of pear trees, which can be fully confirmed by the pear pits excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb.
In addition to the edible value, many wealthy people have found another way to use it for aesthetic decoration. When building a wooden house in a large family, the best pear tree is usually selected as the building material, because the pear tree itself has the characteristics of fragrance, odor removal, etc., and the color is also loved, which often represents a symbol of a family's wealth and status.
While Chinese are immersed in the study of how to eat pears, Westerners have the opposite attitude, and the original backward medical level makes Westerners think that pears taste bad, must contain toxicity, and should never be eaten. It was not until a thousand years later that the tender and delicious pears from China were brought back to the West by merchants, and the princes and nobles of various countries tasted them and said that they had missed out on the delicious fruit, and began to breed and improve varieties following the example of China.
However, in China, the variety of pears has been "involuted" to hundreds of species
As one of the world's vast large countries, sitting on a variety of special geographical environments, people around the country to improve the varieties of pears according to local conditions, so that a small fruit has evolved a variety of tastes and appearances.
Beijing, which is attracting attention all over the world, is also an important pear-producing area, and the most popular variety in Beijing is the "Jingbai pear", which at first glance looks like a "green apple" and does not look like a pear at all. Don't look at its appearance, the flesh is not much, the juice and sugar are the same, the only regret is that the Jingbai pear is more "delicate", except for Beijing, it will change the taste.
In Anhui is rich in the variety of "crisp pear", according to scientific research, it is the "ancestor" of all varieties, retaining the characteristics of thousands of years ago. The crisp pear skin is usually light yellow, smooth, and large and full, with a crispy taste, and was once sent to the palace as a tribute for the emperor to enjoy.
Looking to the east, Shandong, a major agricultural province, is naturally not far behind in this regard, the local specialty is "Ya pear", the color is mainly green, the size is not as big as the pear, but the sugar content is as high as 12%, rich in certain vitamins. Among them, the Yali pear in Yangxin County, Shandong Province is the most famous, which is not only popular in the domestic market, but now it is exported overseas.
On the vast Gobi Desert, the Chinese have also overcome the harsh natural environment and developed a new variety suitable for the local climate, the special product "perfume pear" in Jingyuan County, Gansu. As for why it is so named, because the surface of the perfumed pear will seep water after being cold, and it looks like sweating, which better allows the aroma of the pear to come out, and it is a necessary fruit for the local people to entertain friends.
Further west, there is Xinjiang, a major melon and fruit province, where all the fruits that walk here, there is no one who is not as sweet as honey. Due to the large temperature difference between day and night and the long sunshine time, Xinjiang Korla gave birth to a small and delicate "fragrant pear", which can feel the refreshing aroma when you put it in front of your nose and smell it lightly, and the fruity aroma is rich in a bite, which is not inferior to other varieties.
For eating pears, there are various tricks of people everywhere
The most common way is to stew pear soup during the change of seasons in autumn and winter, go to the market in advance to pick sweet and refreshing pears, and buy some goji berries, longan and other materials to nourish the skin and qi. After washing and cutting the pears into pieces, put them in a pot and boil them together with other ingredients until the pears are soft, and if you like sweetness, you can add additional rock sugar.
In Shou County, Anhui Province, the common people innovated on the basis of stewed pear soup and gave birth to "roasted pears". The method is very simple, hollow out the core of the center of the pear, and then put it into a small tea jar to boil it with rock sugar water, and then put in hawthorn and wolfberry appropriately, which can make the soup sweet and sour, which can not only moisten the lungs, but also strengthen the spleen and appetize.
If you don't like the way to eat soup and water, there are also peculiar snacks such as "pear paste candy" in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, which are mainly boiled with white sugar, almonds, Sichuan shellfish and pear flesh, and the authentic pear paste candy is amber, and it is not too sweet and greasy, and it can be taken orally or soaked in warm water to dissolve and drink.
In the cold land of the Northeast, the people of the Northeast have not diminished their love for pears, taking advantage of the cold environment, they will put the pears in a low temperature environment, at this time, the tissues in the pears will be destroyed and reorganized, the surface will become jet black, and the taste will become sweeter. When it is necessary to eat, the people of the Northeast will put the frozen pears into a pot and thaw them slowly with warm water, and when they bite into the skin, a rich juice gushes out, which is a delicacy that cannot be experienced in other places.
Pears contain a variety of values, and they can also play a role in promoting nutrition and health care, and there are clear and detailed records in traditional Chinese medicine classics, which really makes people sigh at the wisdom of their ancestors. No matter how you travel all over the country in the future, don't miss the taste of local characteristic varieties, feel the gift of nature with your heart, and the crystallization of human industrious and brave wisdom.