Chapter 46 Say bad food

The so-called bad food, I think there are only three categories, one is eating things that should not be eaten.The second is extravagance and recklessness.The third is various bad habits related to diet.All these three categories can be classified as "bad eating". Ethnic and regional differences, eating habits are not the same, coupled with different cultural foundations, so what to eat and what not to eat have their own preferences.There is nothing wrong with the choice of plant-based raw materials, but there is great controversy about the choice of animal-based raw materials.Europeans and Americans are extremely disgusted with eating dog meat in some parts of Asia, and believe that dogs are friends of human beings, and killing pets is the most inhumane act.Fugu is poisonous, and it has always been called "eating fugu at risk of death", but the Japanese like to eat fugu, and some people die because of it every year.With the improvement of living standards in recent years, in addition to chickens, ducks, geese, fish, pigs, cattle and sheep, many rare and endangered animals have also been hunted and killed, and have become delicacies on the table.

Wild pheasants in the Changbai Mountains in the northeast, commonly known as flying dragons, are hunted and killed by tens of thousands a year.Wuyi Mountain in Fujian specializes in eating pangolins, and each diner is given a piece of pangolin scale after eating. It is said that using this to scratch the itching has the effect of detoxifying and relieving itching.Civet cats are sold in many tourist areas in Guangxi, and they have to be slaughtered in front of customers to show that the goods are authentic.In recent years, it has been reported that some people in Qinling, Shaanxi actually hunted and killed brown-eared pheasants and ate salamanders (big scorpions), and some even ate swan meat out of fear of being a "toad".If things continue like this, sooner or later some people will want to eat pandas, Siberian tigers, and Yangtze River dolphins.

There is a large crocodile country in the suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand, where thousands of crocodiles are raised. The big ones are two or three feet long, and the small ones are several feet long. Watching crocodile performances and crocodile breeding is an important project for traveling to Thailand.There is a restaurant in the park that specializes in cooked crocodile meat. Before tourists leave the park, they can eat a bowl of crocodile meat here.The sage said that "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen", except that he regards cooking as a "cheap servant", probably the main meaning is "I can't bear to see him die when he sees his life, and he can't bear to eat his flesh when he hears his voice".It is said that sheep seldom struggle when slaughtering sheep, unlike when pigs are slaughtered, the pigs bark wildly, so there are too many people to bear to watch.It is also said that sheep will cry when they are about to be slaughtered.I saw the slaughter of camels in Inner Mongolia with my own eyes. It is not a lie that the camels shed tears before the execution.It is said that hump and bear's paw should be taken alive. Such a cruel act, I don't know if it will be beneficial to the stomach?Some animals are born to eat meat, so they can eat meat according to normal slaughtering methods, but it is against common sense to "take the liver from a live pig" and "cut the breast from a raw chicken" just for the sake of appetite.In the old days, there were monkey brain eaters in Guangdong who took a live monkey and placed it on a special dining table. The hair on the top of the monkey's head is cut open with a hammer, and the brains of the monkey are eaten with a spoon, which is said to be a great tonic. This cruel and bad habit has disappeared today, but there are many eating methods similar to live animals. Places still exist, I think this should not belong to food culture and human civilization.

Buddhists do not kill animals, but whether milk and eggs can be eaten has always been controversial.The reason for not eating cow's milk is because milk can feed new life, and competing with small life for food seems to be suspected of killing.Chicken eggs are unformed life, so no matter whether they can hatch chicks or not, they probably don't eat them.Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Shihua" has a record of a monk eating chicken eggs: a monk ate chicken eggs so much that everyone was surprised. The monk wrote a verse and said: "The chaotic universe has neither flesh nor hair. The old monk took you Go to the west, so as not to suffer a knife in the world." Listening to it makes some sense, so eating chicken eggs is between the two.

"A gentleman stays away from the kitchen". "I can't bear to see him die when I see him alive, and I can't bear to eat his flesh when I hear his voice."Then, is it hypocrisy not to see its life, not to hear its sound, but to eat it after its death?I don’t think so, the affairs of the world should not be too poor, if you think too deeply, life will not be so easy.Therefore, gentlemen have always eaten meat. Extravagant food is also a kind of bad food. The wine pool and meat forest where Shi Chong fights the rich has always been despised by people.The wasted manpower and financial resources of Litchi are also the object of allegory.During the period of the Republic of China, a certain warlord in Hunan liked to eat cabbage heart. It took two porters to carry two loads of green vegetables to make a plate of stir-fried vegetables.A certain salt merchant in Sichuan likes to eat sparrow legs. In order to make a plate of "agate fragments", he had to hire someone to catch 200 live sparrows in advance.

Everyone has the desire to eat and drink.How to drink and eat depends on personal likes and dislikes and one's own economic conditions, which is understandable.But excessive extravagance is not the same thing as waste and attention to food, it is just a manifestation of ignorance and lack of culture. Although I grew up in a more affluent living environment, I was taught the traditional education of "Who knows that every piece of Chinese food is hard work" and "One meter is three barriers". , After eating, I always have to watch that there is not a grain of rice left in my bowl.This method of education is too old-fashioned in the eyes of today's youth.The old grandmother is from Zhucheng, Shandong. She told me that there are two brothers in her hometown. The elder brother is a big landlord.The younger brother is a self-reliant farmer. Every time he visits his elder brother, he always brings back a bag of leftover dumplings, dried and saved a sack.Soon the older brother ran out of money and begged for a living. The younger brother had to ask for food at his door. The younger brother cooked him a big bowl of steaming noodles, which he thought was the best delicacy in the world.Later, my younger brother used this kind of "noodles" to donate to him for three months. After he recovered, he told him that these were the dumpling sides he had eaten and thrown away for more than two years.Later, my elder brother changed his past and gradually revitalized the family business.I've heard this story countless times, and I don't care if it's true or not, but I dare not forget the teaching of not being reckless.

In recent years, people's lives have become a little richer, and the trend of extravagance and waste is also increasing day by day.It is often a pity to see sixty-seven percent of the food left when the guests leave the table in restaurants.It is not uncommon to see rich people ostentatiously spending tens of thousands of dollars at every turn.The total consumption of swallow-winged purple abalone is about 2,000 yuan per person, and the banquet for ten people can reach 20,000 yuan, which is equivalent to the annual income of a salaried worker. Such a huge difference is worrying.The trend of eating public funds has been repeatedly banned, cleverly set up names, and eat and drink, even in poor areas and loss-making enterprises.What's more, eating relief funds, disaster relief funds, poverty alleviation funds, and education funds, I don't know how these princes who live in temples can bear it?Those who can eat people's fat and people's ointment, is there anything in the world that dare not eat in their mouths and stomachs?

The custom of taking away food leftovers was very popular in Hong Kong in the 1970s, and it has also become popular in the Mainland in recent years. It is a very good phenomenon.However, it is also occasionally seen that a small meal is wasted in vain. This kind of situation is more common in people who treat guests with public funds. Most of Xi Zhujun and Xi Zhujun are afraid of being suspected of "taking advantage", so no one is willing to take it home.Furthermore, it is a couple dining, it is a pity that the food is ordered for a table, and the mind is away from eating.After the meal, most of the men "bad money", in order not to appear "stingy", they mostly go away.In fact, if a girl is a cultivated person, her impression of such a man will be greatly discounted.

Violent people don't care about people's merits, and those who persecute don't hesitate to use material resources.It's not bad food, why? Yuan Mei has a "restriction list". When it comes to the fourteen precepts in diet, there are "abstinence from excessive drinking" and "abstinence from forced concessions". It can be seen that excessive drinking and forced concessions are both bad food. Appropriate drinking with food can not only increase appetite, but also improve interest.According to the individual's adaptability to alcohol, no matter how much it is, reaching "slightly drunk" should be the best state.I can't drink by nature, and I have to say it's a great regret. I can't experience the enjoyment of "it's like snow in the evening, can I have a drink?"Alcohol can stimulate people's nerve center, make people excited, stimulate creativity and inspiration, so Li Taibai can fight wine and write hundreds of poems.Before the flowers and under the moon, how elegant is a pot of thin wine, no matter if you drink alone?I know a gentleman who used to go to Xinjiang on official business. With his status, he can fly to and from Xinjiang, but he never takes a plane when he travels to Xinjiang. Set off.At that time, it was still four or five days before the train arrived in Xinjiang, and the fellow travelers were so miserable that they always took the plane four or five days later than him, hoping to meet up in Urumqi at the same time.Asked the reason, the answer said that what he wanted was to drink alcohol for a few days on the train, sleep after drinking, and drink after sleeping, which is called "going out of Yangguan once drunk".The above-mentioned ways of drinking alcohol are not included in the list of excessive drinking.

If you drink too much, it is the drinker who suffers.Those who indulge in alcohol and make trouble with alcohol are really disgusted.Alcoholism at a banquet, although ugly and full of appearances, is nothing more than two. One is to use one's own ability, and the other is to force others to make things difficult. The final result is that a few people leave the table and vomit, and a few people get on the table, only to say that they have a good time.It goes without saying that drinking and drinking are uncivilized. Even food is optional. Yuan Zicai said in "Abstinence from Alcoholism": "Only sober people can know the right and wrong of things; Awake people can know it. Yi Yin said: "The taste is so subtle that the mouth can't express it." The mouth can't speak, how can someone who is drunk and drunk can know the taste? It is often seen that people who fight with thumb eat good food like sawdust , absent-minded. The so-called wine is the only thing to do, how can you know the rest, and the way to treat the taste is ruined." It can be seen that those who indulge in alcohol and make a fuss are not connoisseurs of food.

For a formal banquet of Western food, the dishes are very simple, nothing more than the first appetizer, the second soup, then two or three main courses, and finally pudding dessert.Each dish is displayed in front of you by the waiter with a tray or a small dining car, soliciting the opinions of the guests, eating more or less, or refusing, it is all based on personal choice. This is a civilized way of eating.Now the official banquets at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and the Great Hall of the People also serve Chinese and Western food, and this form is adopted.Chinese people are hospitable, and Chinese food has many more dishes than Western food, but no one forces you to eat it, so you can do whatever you want.However, in general banquets, the style of giving is still very popular. The host is kind and forcibly apportions. No matter whether public chopsticks or private chopsticks are used, public spoons or private spoons, they always serve guests with more than one dish.One meal is served immediately, and so on, and finally piled up cloudy, which is boring. How can there be any appetite?Treating guests like this is also a kind of bad food. Nowadays, we pay attention to "eating environment", which refers to the layout and atmosphere of the drinking and dining environment.With the prosperity and development of the social economy, the decoration and fixtures of large and small restaurants are becoming more and more exquisite, even reaching luxury.Of course, a comfortable eating environment has a direct impact on dining mood and appetite.There is heating in winter and air conditioning in summer, which is naturally comfortable.A few years ago, some medium-sized restaurants even wrote the words "air conditioner is on" on the glass windows in the summer to attract customers, but today it seems to be a joke. Whether the environment is good or not depends on the level of the restaurant's management, so they are vying to make articles in this area. In addition to making things better, there are often those who add to the snake's feet by setting up juggling performances, singing and dancing to accompany meals, making a mess of smoke. , A big spoiler.Food served with music has been very popular in the banquets of the upper-class aristocrats for three generations. "The son of heaven drinks alcohol, with ritual and music" ("Yue Ling"). "Wang Dashi, Sanyou, all order to play bells and drums" ("Zhou Lichun Official").The records of dining with music are mostly the embodiment of etiquette and music.In later dynasties, official banquets and catering in shops were also effective.Eating with relaxing and melodious music can increase appetite and stimulate emotions, but if you make too much noise, you will not only fail to increase the interest in eating, but will seriously hurt the spleen and stomach, which is counterproductive. Shaoxing, Zhejiang is a place where people gather together. Several authentic Shaoxing famous dishes and a pot of aged flower carvings are probably the fascination of all tourists who explore the ancient times.When I went to Shaoxing a few years ago, the host invited a banquet to a certain restaurant. Needless to say, the hall is spacious and gorgeously decorated. In addition, there is a small stage where acrobatics are being performed. food.A kung fu performer came on the stage, claiming that there is no sound in the world that he can't learn. He first learned from chickens, dogs and trains, and then someone shouted: "Can you learn how to scream from ghosts!" Excited, said it could be performed immediately.Then all the lights in the hall were extinguished, followed by thunder and lightning, howling ghosts and wolves, and a child sitting next to him was so frightened that he cried.What is the benefit of such a meal?Some high-end hotels in Beijing also put on singing and dancing to accompany meals. In addition to singing and dancing, there are even Chinese women wearing three-point swimsuits.It's incredible. I ate in a good restaurant in Jinan, and I also encountered performances such as singing, dancing and acrobatics accompanied by meals. The host just said, "Misters and ladies, bosses and rich..." It sounds very unpleasant.In some small and medium-sized cities on both sides of the Yangtze River, it is common to meet thirteen, fourteen-year-old or even younger girls singing and singing in restaurants. What kind of mentality do people who drink alcohol have? The eating environment should be comfortable, quiet, and clean, and there must be a degree of escalation. As for the snake's foot, it's okay.The mainstream of Chinese traditional culture is splendor and brilliance, and all the traditional essence of the old era should be inherited.As for the dross of "seeking favor" and "beautiful voice and appearance", it is better not to enter the eating environment.As for food and drink, good and civilized habits should be followed, whether for food or taste, and the eating environment should also be purified. Bad habits in Chinese food should be gradually eliminated with the improvement of social civilization and progress.