Chapter 444 Unfair
What is exciting is not just the dishes, but the historical allusions and humanistic values behind those dishes.
For example, when talking about the dish "Tofu", the content tells the story of who is the inventor of tofu.
In fact, there are many legends about the inventor of tofu, including Le Yi, Liu Chang (Wengchun), Liu An, Wang Mang, Guan Yu, etc. The most widely known reason for the invention of Liu An is that Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records: "Tofu originated from the King of Huainan."
But there were actually many Huainan kings in the Western Han Dynasty, namely Yingbu, Liu Chang, Liu Xi, and Liu An.
Among these four people, the ones most likely to invent tofu are Liu Chang and Liu An.
Liu An is also a strange person. He once "invited thousands of alchemy guests" and collectively compiled the famous book "Huainanzi". It is precisely because of Liu An's strange people and strange things that many people now believe that tofu was invented by Liu An when he was refining alchemy in the mountains and accidentally mixed bean juice with gypsum.
This view is also the mainstream view on the birth of tofu.
But Zhou Zhi raised a question in the book and told another story.
The question is: Liu Chang and Liu Angui are princes, do they still need to do everything personally?
The story is the story of Lady Weng of Pidu in Sichuan.
People in various industries will worship the "ancestor" of their industry. This behavior has become a habit and continues from generation to generation. For example, the construction industry will enshrine Lu Ban, the traditional Chinese medicine industry will enshrine Shennong, etc.
In Pidu, the "ancestral founder" worshiped by tofu practitioners is named "Mrs. Weng".
Who is this Mrs. Weng? We have to find out from the deeds of King Huainan.
According to the "Records of Emperor Xiaowen of the Former Han Dynasty" in Volume 7 of the "Records of the Former Han Dynasty": "In the winter of the sixth year...in November, the king of Huainan was aware of the rebellion, and was apprenticed to Shu County. Dao died in Yong. Mi said Li. ”
Where is Yongdi, Shu County? Pidu Garden Town.
The king of Huainan at that time was Liu Chang. Because he intended to rebel, he was demoted to Sichuan by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty. He married Mrs. Weng in Yong. According to historical records, "the daughter of the Weng family from Pi was welcomed as his wife."
Then we turn to local historical records. According to records, after Liu Chang's death, Mrs. Weng has been keeping vigil for Liu Chang, and after his death, she became an immortal.
There must be a magical story behind a magical figure. It is said that when Mrs. Weng was guarding the tomb of Liu Chang, she worked diligently every day to sweep and offer offerings. Later, as he got older and his teeth became loose, he could only use a stone mill to grind the soybeans into soy milk, cook it and drink it.
Once when I was making an offering, I accidentally spilled the soup from the vegetables into the soy milk, and soon the soy milk condensed into lumps.
Mrs. Weng, who couldn't bear to waste it, tried the condensed soy milk and found that it tasted pretty good.
So I started repeated experiments and groping, and finally discovered the trick: add an appropriate amount of salt brine to the cooked soy milk, and the protein in the beans will coagulate, squeeze it slightly, and cut it into pieces with a knife. , this is "bean flower".
In order to commemorate the merits of Mrs. Weng's invention, later generations buried her after her death behind the Huainan Temple built to worship Liu Chang, King of Huainan, and erected a statue for her, similar to the statue of Liu Chang. And stand in the temple.
But later on, Liu An, the king of Huainan, became more famous than all the kings of Huainan, causing the real inventor of tofu to be overshadowed.
The story of the dish "Bean curd" is of course much more than that. For example, Zhou Zhi believes that Mrs. Weng actually invented not tofu, but "bean curd", which is made from minced vegetable juice. This method is still reserved among many ethnic minorities.
The brine-making method may not be Mrs. Weng's pioneering work. It is hard to imagine that a woman guarding a tomb would have the energy to do this.
The greater possibility is that it is related to the salt smelting industry in Yandu. There, soy milk is an important impurity remover. When added to the brine, it can turn into bean curd, bringing impurities to the surface of the solution. After removing them, you can obtain the clarified liquid for salt production.
So the method of making bean curd by "pointing the brine" has naturally been widely used in salt.
If you put the "bean curd" into a wooden frame and press out the excess water, the white and tender tofu will be successfully made.
The "bean curd" in Sichuan cuisine formed a large scale in Fushun, the salt capital, and then moved south along the Tuojiang River; it spread to Jiangmen Town, Manzhou, where "bean curd" was created; and then to Jiachuan County, where "Liuhe bean curd" was created. ".
Down the Minjiang River, in the Jiazhou area, "Jiazhou Tofu Nao" was formed.
Along the Minjiang River, dishes such as "Ma Po Tofu", "Jingyang Bean Chicken", and "Huaiyuan Curtain Silk" are formed, forming the territory of Sichuan bean products.
There are countless things like this in the book, with various accompanying pictures. The content is substantial and detailed, the information and pictures are authentic and reliable, and the story is also very interesting.
When Zhou Zhi entered the county magistrate's office with a scroll under his arm, his godfather Wu Lingjun was sitting in an armchair in the office, with his feet on the coffee table, reading the large book "The Taste of Sichuan" with relish. talk".
Seeing Zhou Zhi come in, Wu Lingjun felt an inexplicable feeling of respect in his heart.
Just look at the sophisticated and graceful writing style in the book, the deep cultivation, the imaginative allusions and allusions at your fingertips, and the source of each dish that cannot be more detailed. It is hard to believe that this is the handiwork of a sophomore in high school. .
In fact, about half of the content in it was provided or given by myself, but the other half is the result of Jiuzi's own skill and accumulation.
In other words, of the half of the book that I know, a lot of it must be known to Zhuzi;
And the half of the book that I know is unknown to me. !
This is the ideological source of Wu Lingjun's awe-inspiring feeling. Damn it, this is just his own work!
With a slight cough, the godfather put his feet down from the coffee table, turned the book over and threw it on the desk. He pointed at the price behind his back with his stubby fingers: "Twenty yuan! Twenty yuan Yuan Yiben! You have no conscience at all!"
This is the vent of anger driven by naked jealousy, but Zhou Zhi understands his godfather's mood very well.
The same is true for those who use pens. Some people can only do something in the county. Except for official articles in the county journal and county newspaper, they have never even been to Manzhou.
But there are some people’s things that the provincial government is rushing to publish for them! The treatment is so generous!
The key is that half of the things in it can be learned by yourself!
So unfair!
Zhou Zhi was a bit confused when he thought of this, so he had to comfort him: "I didn't set the price. Even if I say it's the copyright owner, I'm still looking up to others. I'll take whatever they ask me to take; I'll take whatever they ask me to take. , I only get half the autonomy..."
< br>The godfather stared: "You're so good at what you get! Old Liu said that he was going to the ministry to attend a meeting this time, and the selection for the first China National Book Award was announced."
"So what? ?" Zhou Zhi rubbed his hands excitedly. He was very frightened when he heard it. Could he still win such a big prize?
"Why are you so excited? You feel so good, don't you?" The godfather was puzzled: "This award is initially determined to be for philosophy and social sciences, literature, art, science and technology including popular science, ancient book collection, children, education, dictionaries and reference books, and ethnic There are nine categories of Chinese-language books. Can you tell me which category you can put this thing into? You still want to win an award?"
"Ah..." Zhou Zhi suddenly felt bad. He really couldn't fit into any category, and muttered: "Can cooking be considered an art... …Then what do you mean by mentioning this?”
(End of this chapter)