Text: Chang Qi's history book
Edited by Chang Qi's history book
[Preface]
When I was a child, especially during the Chinese New Year, there would be all kinds of dried fruit candy on the table at home, but among them, there would always be a strange-shaped date.
The skin of this jujube is slightly whitish, and it is hard, and it is sweet and sweet to eat, and every time I have to serve half a bowl of porridge to eat that jujube.
At the time, I didn't know what it was, so I thought it was too sweet, and my family didn't want me to eat it, I just wanted to eat other fruit candies with beautiful wrappers.
But this kind of jujube is still popular all over the country, everyone has to buy some, sweet and the most popular among children, but I don't know since when, this kind of jujube is rare on the market, why is this?
["Iraqi dates"]
This date was originally called Iraqi dates, which is a very peculiar name, but it is also true to its name, and it is indeed imported from Iraq.
So what is the difference between it and Chinese jujubes? The seeds of jujubes are long and full, and the fruits are dark red when ripe.
The jujube core of Iraqi dates is oval, with a vertical stripe in the middle, and the shape is relatively unique, and some people will collect them as playthings.
Moreover, the taste of Chinese jujube is sweet, and the flesh is soft, while the taste of Iraqi jujube is pure and sweet, which is generally difficult for Chinese people to accept, and the flesh is slightly tough.
Dates are also effective in traditional Chinese medicine, sweet, warm, non-toxic, and have the effects of tonifying and nourishing qi, relieving cough and moistening the lungs, dissolving phlegm and relieving cough.
It has been popular in China for so many years, and I really haven't seen it appear much in recent years, which has attracted my attention.
He is called Iraqi jujube in China because it was imported from Iraq, but it is not only imported from our country, and the main production area is not only Iraq.
Later, with the reduction of the introduction of our country, people also restored their real name dates, alias sea dates, Persian dates, and bezoars, which is one of the reasons why this kind of dates are rarely seen now, because we don't know it.
【Reason for introduction】
In the fifties and sixties, when the economic conditions on the mainland were poor, and the people were short of food and materials, and in such a situation where it was difficult to maintain basic food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, affordable things were the most needed.
As for Iraq, which is difficult to brother and sister to us, it has been under Western sanctions and blockade at that time, and its situation is also difficult, struggling to find a way out.
At that time, the mainland was also in a period of inflation, and the fiscal deficit and the already scarred social situation were once again worse.
At that time, the mainland had a good relationship with Iraq, and the local production of Iraqi dates was extremely high and the price was very low, so in this social situation, the introduction of Iraqi dates was expected, which could alleviate inflationary pressure and help good friends.
The sugar content of Iraqi jujube is as high as more than 70%, and it can be eaten directly as sugar.
At that time, people ate boiled vegetables for a long time, and the ones with a little taste were delicious, and sometimes they were in a hurry, and the alum could lick two bites.
So at that time, sugar was very rare, and ordinary people who had money may not be able to buy it, but now there is this cheap and high-end thing, which is widely welcomed by people as soon as it is listed.
At that time, there were not many things that could be eaten as candy like Iraqi dates, so whether it was given as a gift, bought to entertain guests, or eaten as sugar at home, this price was very suitable.
Because of the unexpected popularity after the listing, the market demand is extremely high, so the number of imports has increased year by year, and some merchants have also made a lot of money.
In fact, it is not only Iraqi dates, after the successful establishment of Cuba, it also began to be sanctioned by the West, and we also imported a lot of Cuban sugar.
At that time, the fineness of Cuban sugar was not as high as in China, so it was yellow, and at that time, there was a single channel, and for a long time only yellow sugar was edible.
In addition to these, there are flour imported from Canada, cigarettes imported from Albania, and the common denominator is that the price is low and the import volume is huge.
But then it was rumored that the flour was too white, it must have been mixed with a lot of talcum powder, and Albanian cigarettes were cheap, but when you smoked them, people around you would smell a lot of stinky feet.
Because of the high sweetness of dates, some people make full use of them and use them to make wine, and the sugar juice leached in them can be used as a seasoning after coagulation, which can be used to cook meat, sweet but not greasy.
This is simply, make the best use of everything, the price is low, the output is high, the taste is novel, the surrounding industrial chain is formed quickly, and the business is also very good.
【Main production area】
Date palm is one of the plants that can grow in arid environments, and the whole body is a treasure, which can provide a lot of resources for the local people, and has an important impact on the drier regions such as North Africa and West Asia.
And because the yield of the date itself is extremely high, and the survival rate is extremely high, the date palm has always been an important crop for the local people to survive, and the transportation of the date palm has greatly promoted the extension of the trade route, which is of great significance.
The main production areas of dates are Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, and the mainland was also introduced in the Tang Dynasty, such as Xinjiang, Fujian, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong and other regions in the mainland.
Because the region is different, the growing environment, and the weather conditions are different, so their taste, sweetness, and pulp content are of course different.
For example, Iraqi dates have a dark brown appearance, the fruit is small overall, mostly round or long in shape, the flesh is mostly soft and juicy, and the taste is very rich and sweet.
The dates of Xinjiang have always been famous for their soft taste and moderate sweetness, with a yellow-brown appearance, large fruits, and mostly oval or cylindrical shapes.
In contrast, Xinjiang's dates have a soft taste, moderate sweetness and sourness, and they are not too sweet and greasy to eat, which is also more in line with modern people's pursuit of healthy food.
[Disappearing]
As for why it disappeared, in addition to the above-mentioned name change, many people don't know each other, there are other more important reasons.
It was at that time that there was a sudden rumor that this kind of jujube would transmit hepatitis, although this statement was not confirmed, but many people still did not dare to eat it anymore.
And there are many people who still don't want to give up, so they will detoxify the dates and then eat them, but after the poisoning, the dates will become sticky, and many dates will stick together, and the appearance is very unsightly.
In fact, the spread of hepatitis has nothing to do with the half-dime of dates, because concentrated sugar is the same as concentrated salt, and they are both very good fungicides.
Bacteria and viruses need the most basic water to survive, and concentrated sugar is like a desiccant, so the bacteria have no room to survive in the dates, and their own water cannot be preserved at all.
Moreover, dates not only do not infect hepatitis, but also have great benefits to the human liver, and the sweetness of dates is synthesized with natural fructose glucose, which is very easy to digest and can also be used by diabetics.
But people didn't know about this at the time, and the dissemination of information was not as developed as it was, not to mention how much panic the hepatitis brought to the Chinese people back then.
In the final analysis, the main reason for the hepatitis epidemic that year was because of natural disasters, lack of food and clothing, poor national physique, and poor sanitary conditions, which naturally led to the epidemic of hepatitis.
Among them, the culprit of the hepatitis A epidemic was later identified, which was caused by eating raw cockles.
Another theory about the disappearance of Iraqi dates is that inflation is over, the mission of the date has disappeared, and now it is an ordinary date.
In addition, our relations with Iraq have deteriorated, and we have a faint hostile posture, and we do not plan to support Iraq anymore, in short, we are not short of food, and the friendship boat with Iraq has also capsized, so there is no need to import it anymore.
Then this makes it even more obvious that the spread of hepatitis is nonsense, China is a country of etiquette, advocates peace, and of course will not take the initiative to sow discord.
However, the popular group of Iraqi dates is ordinary people, and suddenly their favorite snacks are gone, how to explain it, and of course they can't understand a bunch of international situations.
Therefore, according to their own speculations, the people spread the theory of "spreading hepatitis", and the official was worried about how to explain it to the people, so they simply turned a blind eye and did not come forward to clarify.
Later, the international situation was peaceful, and all countries were harmonious on the surface, and Iraqi dates quietly returned to the Chinese market, although they were not as popular as before, but they were also available.
【Conclusion】
Nowadays, the life of Chinese people is getting better and better, and more and more common childhood foods are now mostly gone, which is the result of the change of the times, and there are better alternatives in life.
Later, our economic conditions have also improved, life is getting better and better, and there are already other edible desserts, which makes Iraqi dates even more difficult to swallow
Fresh dates are super high in sugar, and most of the Chinese people taste light, which is too sweet for us to accept, and we naturally give up after having a better alternative.
The Iraqi dates that were used to satisfy the stomach have now become a new thing, and the current sales unit price can reach 20-30 yuan a catty, which can also be said to be a souvenir of the difficult season we have experienced before.
With the development of science and technology and the advancement of technology, it has gradually been known to future generations that this rumor is not true, so if you want to try it, you can buy some to try.
But in any case, when our country is in difficulty, being able to get the help of these countries is not the icing on the cake, but it is a real relief in the snow.
Links to previous issues
If the Chinese population halves and only 700 million people remain, what kind of changes will happen to the mainland?
China's largest rebel province, ancient and modern rebellions, large and small, have never been absent! Why are the people's customs so strong?
Japan's "lying flat immortals", who only eat rice with pickles, have 94.7 million in 20 years, what happened?
It is also a Chinese seed, why is the yield per mu of rice grown in the United States higher than that of China?