Chapter 2 Chinese who dare to eat

Chinese people's bravery is especially reflected in food.This is a nation that dares to eat almost anything.Eating tree bark, wild vegetables, and even Guanyin soil during times of famine can naturally be regarded as a last resort (including the Red Army on the Long March who took off their cowhide belts and stewed soup). In times of peace, they are still keen to eat all kinds of weird foods.Eating snakes (in the Western "Bible" is the incarnation of the devil) is nothing, in ancient times in the south of the Five Ridges, it was renamed "Mao eel", which is a bit arty or deceptive.Also eat scorpions.I attended a banquet at a restaurant outside Andingmen in Beijing, and the climax was a large plate full of deep-fried scorpions placed in the center of the round table.At that moment, I couldn't help thinking: the Chinese people's mouths are really "poisonous" - so they dare to "fight poison with poison" like this?Of course, it is said that eating highly poisonous puffer fish is a well-known story. The old Jiangnan proverb "Eat puffer fish desperately" is quite like a martyr's desperate poem.That's why I had the impression since I was a child that those who can put life and death aside are firstly revolutionaries, and secondly gourmets.

I don't know if Western society has produced the title of gourmet besides politicians, thinkers, artists, military strategists, etc.?In China, being a gourmet is almost a tradition.Although it has always been similar to "idle job", it is quite enviable.In European civilization, gourmets were absent for a time, just as the explorer it admired, for China, it was an imported vocabulary after modern times.But I privately think that gourmets can also be regarded as a kind of explorer who stays at home - "the parents are still there, so they don't travel far away", the Chinese have no choice but to indulge in adventure in another sense, that is, to hunt for delicacies from mountains and seas.Gourmets use recipes instead of maps, cups instead of compass, and chopsticks instead of oars, sailing in their own taste, and also appreciate the infinite scenery.This risk-taking mentality is brought to the extreme in the case of puffer fish.Fugu is equivalent to the "forbidden fruit" in Chinese food culture - a deadly temptation, its deliciousness is exaggerated because of its mystery and danger.Gourmets not only did not stay away, but flocked to it.I am afraid that even Adam and Eve, who are dereliction of duty, would be ashamed of this kind of courage.

Shennong (i.e. Emperor Yan) can be called a prehistoric gourmet. "Shen Nong Tasted Herbs" is not only for satisfying hunger, but also for identifying the type, taste and nutritional value (including medicinal value) of plants.He greatly enriched the "vegetable basket project" of later generations.In my imagination, the ancestor of the Chinese people was a digger of wild vegetables. His attire and expression were somewhat similar to that of Li Shizhen, an old Chinese doctor compiled later: wearing straw sandals, carrying a bamboo basket, and carrying a small hoe.There is a Shennongjia in Hubei, which is said to be his open-air "canteen".Without Shennong who dared to be the first in the world, our food fortune would be greatly reduced.

Even Confucius, an old scholar in the Spring and Autumn Period, advocated "never tire of fine food, never tire of fine food".When he was running a private school, he didn't like to accept cash, and he was more willing to accept bunches of dried meat donated by his disciples to cover tuition fees.It can be seen that food is the oldest "hard currency".Confucius, in all aspects, can be called the teacher of our nation.He has also influenced generations of gourmets who strive for excellence, making food a culture and a hall of elegance.Chinese recipes (from thread-bound manuscripts to printed matter) are definitely much thicker than the Four Books and Five Classics if piled up.In the eyes of gourmets, it can be read as poetry.For example, Su Shi explained the secret of roasting pork (later named "Dongpo Pork"): "More fire, less water." How refined.As for Yuan Mei, he not only wrote "Suiyuan Poetry Talk", but also wrote - bowing left and right, holding chopsticks as piously as if playing with a penholder, and as unrestrained as holding a penholder when using the penholder... Of course, the poet's eating posture is more elegant after all, and can only be used for Get a peek at Chinese food.There are also many extravagant or barbaric eating, which are intentionally or unintentionally ignored.For example, the so-called "eating monkey brains alive" (locking live monkeys with wooden shackles, knocking out their skulls, and sucking their brains with straws) is absolutely too cruel.It reflects the darkness of human nature.There are also some counter-cultural things in the Chinese diet, which is not without criticism.Mr. Lu Xun said: "Diet problems can not only reflect the material civilization level of a society, but also reflect the social conditions of a certain society and expose various social ills."

Louis Simpson wrote "American Poetry": "Whatever it is, it must have / A stomach that can digest / Eraser, coal, uranium, moon, poetry. / Like a shark that holds a shoe. / It Must swim across the vast desert, / Roaring like a human voice along the way.” Thinking of ancient China, I seem to see a huge stomach: in addition to whole grains, it is also filled with bird’s nest, shark’s fin, bear’s paw, sea cucumber, tiger Bones, etc., and even golden pills, afterbirth clothes, and human blood steamed buns from the ignorant age... This is a stomach with amazing digestive power, which has been wriggling for thousands of years.Its stomach acid can literally corrode stone or metal.The appetite of the Chinese people is really too big, too good.

Since the end of the 20th century, "environmental protection" has become an issue that has received more and more attention around the world. The Chinese people's all-inclusive recipes are also worthy of scrutiny and pickiness. I checked the menu of the Manchu Banquet in the Qing Dynasty, and found that there were dragon liver (replaced by giant salamander or pangolin), phoenix marrow (replaced by peacock or flying dragon), xiangpi (that is, elephant trunk, which can also be replaced by rhinoceros nose and scorpion nose), owl Sunburn (roasted owl), lion breast (breast of a lioness), leopard fetus, orangutan lip, monkey brain, tiger eye, hump, shark fin and lip, bear bile and paw, crane...even swan meat.Many species of wild animals are now endangered.I literally smell blood.Not without shame: Did my delicious ancestors unintentionally aggravate this ecological crisis?The tireless pursuit of delicious food has virtually caused their fault.It's all about desire.And the evil consequences of gluttony are becoming more and more apparent at present.

How many wild tigers, leopards, elephants, and bears are left in China?How many alligators and salamanders are left? Putting together an ancestral recipe, I am atoning for these endangered animals—including writing this article.The promulgation of the Wildlife Protection Law has regulated the appetite of the Chinese people.There are some things that cannot be eaten, and that is tantamount to eroding one's own future, eroding the only earth.Rare animals protected by law are equivalent to the "forbidden fruit" of modern society.Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden because they ate the "forbidden fruit".Alas, the original sin of mankind has always been related to eating.I regard the extinction of some species as another original sin committed by human beings.

Our awareness of environmental protection should first start from the daily dining table.Knives and forks must be legal and must be responsible. When my friend Zou Jingzhi went to Xiangxi, he met a store quietly selling salamanders and asked him if he wanted to eat it?He flatly refused.It's not that he can't afford the high price, but he feels that "I have already joined Greenpeace in my mind." (The original words) If every Chinese has such awareness, the negative effects of food culture will be reduced to zero .Zou Jingzhi wrote an essay called "Eating Misdeeds".Eating endangered animals is naturally a misdemeanor.I hope that the bad deeds of the Chinese in this regard can be completely eradicated.

It’s a pity that I recently went on a business trip to a mountainous area in a southern province, and I heard that the local rich people entertained distinguished guests with pangolin stew. Once discovered by law enforcement agencies, they falsely claimed that the pangolin was killed by a vehicle while crawling across the road.Using prohibited food to raise the status and the grade of the banquet is definitely the work of the vanity of the Chinese people.That night, I dreamed of a bloody pangolin.This is undoubtedly a nightmare. Chinese people eat dog meat.This is especially true in South Korea, a neighboring country separated by a strip of water.There seems to be nothing wrong with this, because dogs are not considered endangered and rare animals.Europeans and Americans are quite critical of this, and even want to ask for quitting this practice as a prerequisite for South Korea to host the World Cup.Europeans and Americans do not eat dog meat, not because of any legal constraints, but purely emotionally: they have always believed that dogs are the most loyal friends of human beings.This seems too soft-hearted and even a little pedantic.But I thought, wouldn't it be a good thing if the human heart could be softer and kinder?In Europe and the United States, cruelty to animals is strictly prohibited, otherwise they will be subject to high fines.More importantly, most people are consciously complying.Yes, it is time for human beings to realize their conscience.