Meat is a must-have delicacy on the human table, and from ancient times to the present, people's pursuit of food has never stopped. In ancient texts** and costume TV series, we can often see the guests in the restaurant ordering meat, shouting "Xiao Er, cut two catties of meat".
Especially in the ancient texts of the Song Dynasty, this is even more vividly reflected. Whether ancient or modern, meat is an important part of people's tables.
Water Margin stills) What kind of meat does the "two catties of meat" mentioned by the people of the Song Dynasty refer to? Why didn't they say it explicitly? Although the Song Dynasty had a thriving commercial and its annual output accounted for a considerable proportion of the total economy, the dynasty was essentially an agrarian society.
Due to the limitation of productivity, there was no automated machinery and equipment in the countryside at that time, and all farm work had to be completed by manpower. The strength of a cow is several times that of ordinary people, it does not feel tired when working, and it is a pure vegetarian and easy to raise. Thus, in ancient societies that were highly dependent on an agrarian economy.
In the stills of the Water Margin, we can see that the court of the Song Dynasty made regulations in order to ensure the agricultural foundation, prohibiting private suicide of cattle. Not only that, but the imperial court also stipulated that the number of cattle slaughtered each year could not exceed a certain value, which made it very difficult to kill a cow in the Song Dynasty.
What's even more interesting is that due to the Song Dynasty's years of war, the northern nomadic culture gradually integrated into the Central Plains civilization, which also made the Song Dynasty's culture more colorful.
Although pork had a brief revival during the Song Dynasty, its fishy smell and rough and fatty meat made it unpopular among the Song Dynasty.
In contrast, mutton has been loved by the ancients since the Han Dynasty, especially under the invasion of the Mongols and the propaganda of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, mutton has become a frequent guest on people's tables.
During the Song Dynasty, the wise ancients inherited and carried forward the skills of cooking mutton in the Tang Dynasty, and created more kinds of mutton dishes, making the taste of mutton more delicious and memorable.
Although two catties of meat can be called mutton, in the Southern Song Dynasty, the sixteen states of Yanyun and the Central Plains have been occupied by the Liao, Xia, Jin and Mongols, and the quality and quality of mutton have undergone great changes.
Although the Song Dynasty was a prosperous period for mutton, the palace consumed tens of thousands of fat sheep every year, compared to only a thousand pigs. It would be unrealistic to say that every customer asks for mutton when ordering food in a restaurant.
After all, restaurants are a mixed place where people from all walks of life can patronize it, but not everyone can afford mutton. Therefore, the people who really enjoy mutton are either relatives of the emperor or the imperial court, and at the lowest are rich businessmen.
Compared with mutton, beef was a rare delicacy in the Song Dynasty. Due to the rarity of things, the ** of beef is naturally much higher than that of mutton. However, beef is not something that can be eaten just by looking at it.
If any guest can eat at any time, then you have to question whether the restaurant is legally slaughtering cattle. According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, only cattle that died of old age and disease could quickly enter the table.
Therefore, if you want to taste delicious beef, you must not only have rich economic strength, but also have enough luck.
This sheet of pork ** hints at a problem, even if the restaurant is able to legally obtain the beef, the guests are not patient enough. It's almost impossible to get a customer to risk jail time to buy two catties of beef.
However, there is another possibility, that is, the heroes of the green forest and the heroes of the rivers and lakes. Due to their special status, these people are usually able to give beef to the corresponding restaurants without interruption, and these restaurants are illegal operators.
During the Song Dynasty, pork was popular, and the people of the capital had to consume tens of thousands of pigs and 100,000 sheep a year. After all, mutton is expensive, beef waits too long, and some game meats such as horse meat, dog meat, rabbit meat, and donkey meat are not common, and there are some special reasons for eating these meats.
And fish, chicken, duck, goose, the ancients did not sell by the pound, usually a whole **.
Water Margin stills) Although the pork was not delicious at first, after Su Dongpo's improvement, it can already be used to remove its fishy smell with wine. With the prosperity of the brewing industry in the Song Dynasty, the shortcomings of pork were gradually overcome, so the popularity of pork had a solid foundation.
In those days, a horse could be exchanged for fifty pigs, and although the ** of mutton, beef and pork were different, they were generally in the range of two catties of meat. After all, guests come from all walks of life and from all corners of the world, and you always have to think about your own face when ordering in front of a large audience.