For a long time, Su Guo didn't understand that the house where a pig was kept should be a pigsty, so how could it be a "home"? There are "people" and "cows" under the eaves, and even raising a dog is not a home, just raising a pig, which shows the position of pigs in our culture.
China is now the largest pork consumer in the world, accounting for half of the world's share. One catty out of every two catties of pork is eaten by China people. In China people's own meat structure, pork has undoubtedly won the largest share: more than 80% of the meat eaten by China people is pork, and the per capita annual consumption of pork is more than 40 kilograms. The fluctuation of pork price will affect the State Council's concern. But in history, although we have been raising pigs for a long time, people in ancient China had different views on pork, and the ranking of pork was far behind that of mutton.
In ancient eating habits, pork was unpopular for a long time. "The emperor eat too fast, cattle and sheep tapirs from soup to nuts. Governors eat cows, Qing eats sheep, doctors eat tapirs, and scholars eat fish and vegetables. " In ancient eating habits, cattle and sheep are undoubtedly the most aristocratic meat. Even in the Journey to the West, everyone wants to eat Tang monk meat, and Mr. Zhu's is a side dish.
From the ranking, cattle and sheep are above pigs. As we said before, many dynasties were not allowed to slaughter cattle privately. As early as the Han Dynasty, cattle had been protected by legislation, and China law stipulated that "no less teeth should be slaughtered". The punishment for killing cattle in the Han Law is very severe, and those who violate the ban will be punished and pay the price of their lives. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, cattle were forbidden to be slaughtered regardless of their age, weakness, illness and disability. Only cows that die naturally or die of illness can be skinned for sale or eaten by themselves. Therefore, rare things are precious, and beef naturally ranks among the best in the meat list.
As I said before, eating mutton was the mainstream in ancient times. For example, mutton in the Song Dynasty was the main meat of the royal literati. In Song Zhenzong, the royal chef slaughtered 350 sheep every day, while in Injong, he slaughtered 280 sheep every day. In Yingzong, it was reduced to 40 sheep a day. In Zongshen, the royal chef consumed "434,463 Jin of mutton and 4 Liang" a year, while pork only used "4 13 1 Jin", which was less than a fraction of the consumption of mutton. The emperor wants to list-the history of eating (17) non-staple mutton-
In the Song Dynasty, pork was not accepted by the literati and the rich gentry, but the poor people's non-staple food, or pork was a low-grade meat. Su Dongpo, a foodie poet, can write poems if he has food. Eating pork is not a compliment to pork, but a realistic explanation of its status;
"Huangzhou good pork, cheap as dirt. The rich refuse to eat and the poor don't know how to cook. "
When Su Dongpo was in the capital Tokyo, although he was tired of eating sheep and was sent to Huizhou, he was still attracted by the monthly official slaughter of sheep. As a criminal, he can't eat mutton anymore, but it's satisfying to get some sheep bones back to eat.
No difficulty can stop a heart of eating goods. Su Dongpo took office in Hangzhou. In order to manage the West Lake and solve the problem of migrant workers' eating, he creatively invented the "slow stew" of Fang Fei. This pork dish, called Dongpo Meat, has been handed down to this day. However, Su Dongpo's invention was purely unsuccessful. When he was poor, he couldn't afford mutton, so he had to eat pork.
During the Ming Dynasty, pork gradually became popular. According to The History of the Forbidden City in Ming Dynasty compiled by Amin Lu Ya, there are roast pork, pig sausage, pork arm and pork buns in the royal Chinese New Year recipes. It shows that the pork at this time can already be put on the stage of elegance. That is to say, before the Ming Dynasty, "Su Guo" ordered braised pork in a hotel, and I'm afraid he might be considered a Xialiba, but even after the Ming Dynasty, eating pork was not a matter for Chun Xue.
For example, in 1840, British gunboats sailed for the Great Qing Dynasty, but China didn't know that the other side was coming to kick the pavilion, and regarded the other side as a former tributary country. Qishan, as an imperial envoy, was ordered to negotiate with foreigners, and according to the old rule of entertaining envoys, he sent food to the British fleet, including 20 castrated cows, 200 sheep, many ducks and eggs, but no pork. At this time, pork is still not as good as "meat".
Compared with the boldness of eating beef, eating mutton is delicious, as if there were few jokes about eating pork in ancient times. What Su Guo can remember is that at the most famous banquet, the Hongmen Banquet, there was an example of eating pork or raw pork.
At that time, at the banquet, it was the key moment for Xiangzhuang to dance the sword. Sean went out to find Fan Kuai:
Fan Kuai is a soldier, and eating pig's leg is the only way to meet his temperament. But even if you are good, pig elbows are not bad to chew. Imagine that a hero like Fan Kuai can't tear the pork off his elbow with his mouth open, so he has to put it on the shield and cut it slowly, which is also funny.
Fan Kuai, the founding father of the Han Dynasty, later became an official of a general and stayed as prime minister. He was a dog dealer. Heroes don't care where they come from.