Chapter 12 The third section

The earliest human diet was probably no different from that of animals. They ate whatever they got, regardless of cooking. The ancients called it "drinking blood like hair".Since mastering the technology of making fire with fire, the era of cooked food has begun.The cooked food just started, or can be called primitive cooking, has no stove, no pots and bowls, pottery has not yet been invented, and the main cooking method is just barbecue.Put the pieces of meat directly into the campfire to cook, or heat the stones and put them in a non-ceramic container filled with water and meat, and throw the hot stones repeatedly until the pieces of meat are cooked. "Book of Rites · Li Yun" said: "The former kings, who were not cremated, ate plants and trees, the flesh of birds and beasts, drank their blood, and shod their hair." After using fire, "burnt with guns 〕, to be cooked and broiled, it is considered sweet cheese".These words basically explain the general situation before and after the invention of cooking.

After the completion of the "Green Revolution", grains soon became the main food of human beings.Since grains are not suitable for raw food, the cooked food of grains has become a big problem.The ancients speculated that the prehistoric ancestors probably borrowed the method of grilling meat at first, and roasted the grains on hot stone slabs. "Book of Rites · Li Yun" said: "In the middle ages, there was no cauldron, rice and meat, and the ears were eaten on the burning stone." Although barbecue is an eternal cooking method, it is not suitable for all foods. This method of eating grains is not so perfect, so you can't completely copy the method of grilling meat to eat grains, and you have to find new cooking methods.

Perhaps it was in this search for new ways of cooking that pottery was invented.Early pottery was mostly cooking utensils, which is the best explanation in itself.The pottery cookers invented in prehistoric China include kettles, retorts, tripods, and 鬲 [li chestnuts], etc. Their main function is to cook rather than roast. The objects of cooking have changed, and the cooking methods have also been significantly different.Among the cooking utensils, the invention of the pottery kettle is the most important, and it was used by residents of various Neolithic cultures. Other types of cooking utensils, such as tripods and gilts, were all made from pots.After the tripod and ge left the kitchen, the cauldron returned to the food life, and this is our pot today.

The steamer, which is widely used in modern times, was not invented at the beginning of the appearance of pottery.In the Central Plains, the people of Yangshao had started to use steamers, but they were not very popular. By the time of Longshan culture, the use of steamers had become very common.In the Yangtze River Basin where rice is grown, steamers appeared a little earlier, and the Hemudu culture already had standard pottery steamers, but their use was not widespread. It was not until the Songze, Daxi, and Qujialing cultures that a large number of steamers were used as cooking utensils.The steamer is used on the kettle, tripod and ge.The original steaming method is the earliest practice of human beings to use steam energy, and it is a symbol of the difference between Eastern food culture and Western food culture. This tradition has a history of 6,000 years.Until today, Westerners seldom use steaming method, even chefs in some countries don’t even have the concept of “steaming” method.The West is very good at baking, so the staple food is bread; we are good at steaming, so we make steamed buns.

The tripod, which played a major role in social and political life in the Bronze Age, originated from the prehistoric pottery tripod.The pottery tripod has been widely popular in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River 7,000 years ago, and several of the earliest cultural groups have used tripod-like utensils.Ding was first seen in the Majiabang culture in the Yangtze River Basin, and it was not popularized until later.The larger tripods are usually used as cooking utensils, while the smaller ones are used as food utensils.In the Longshan period, there were more 鬲 and jia [jiajia] in the cooking utensils, which were similar in shape to a tripod, and the three legs were changed from solid to hollow, and the heating surface was increased, which became more scientific and practical.

It can be seen from these cooking utensils that there are mainly two cooking methods in the Neolithic Age, namely steaming and boiling, and the resulting rice and porridge are obtained.This is also the most convenient way to eat the main grains millet and rice, called "grain food".It is speculated that prehistoric residents must eat with both hands, just like many less advanced peoples, but this is not the case.When the porridge and rice are hot, it is inconvenient to grab them with your hands, and you need a suitable tableware. Chopsticks and spoons are used in modern times, and spoons were also used in prehistoric times, and fingers are not used directly.Archeology has discovered special food spoons 7,000 years ago, and the Hemudu people had them, and they were generally made of bone chips.People in Dawenkou also have clam slice spoons, which are very practical with a small handle attached to the ground clam spoons.When relatives die, the bone spoons used by them should be buried in the tomb as burial objects. This custom is popular among residents of Dawenkou and Qijia culture. It has been essential personal equipment in prehistoric times.

Residents of the Neolithic Age living in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins had food sources other than millet and rice harvested from the fields, as well as other non-staple foods. We can list a menu that is not too shabby based on archaeological findings. . The sources of non-staple food for Yangshao residents can be taken as an example from the Banpo people. Judging from the animal bones unearthed from the site, the meat species at that time included deer, deer, rat, hare, raccoon dog, raccoon dog, badger, antelope, eagle and fish.In addition to deer, roe, rabbit, and badger, Longshan residents also enjoy game such as snails, mussels, fish, and soft-shelled turtles.Residents of Dawenkou also eat turtles and crocodiles as delicacies, which is rare in the lives of residents of other cultures.

Residents of the Fuhe culture living in the edge of the northeast mountainous forest hunt wild boars, musk deer, roe deer, elk, gazelle, foxes, squirrels, dogs, badgers, and birds as supplementary food.The Xiaozhushan people who live on large islands and reefs eat not only pigs, dogs, deer, and roe deer, but also a large number of marine shellfish, including oysters, green clams, rusty snails, lychee snails, and clams. Prey on whales.The discovery of prehistoric shell mound sites in South China shows that the coastal ancestors mainly ate oysters, marine fish, sea turtles, and sea turtles, and the leftover shells were piled up into hillocks.The Majiabang people in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River hunt not only sika deer, four elephants, deer, musk deer and wild boar, but also turtles, turtles (yuanyuan), soft-shelled turtles, mussels, clams and fish, and wild apricots, peaches, Water chestnut etc. are food.People in Hemudu also have a wide range of food sources. They hunt and hunt deer, birds, fish, turtles, and soft-shelled turtles, as well as Asian elephants, rhinoceros, four elephants, and red-faced monkeys. They collect acorns, water chestnuts, jujubes, peaches, and barley. , fungi and algae.

The dietary life of human beings in the Neolithic Age is quite consistent with the contemporary saying that "eat mountains by relying on mountains, and drink water by relying on water".Human beings have always maintained a strong interest in delicacies from mountains and seas, which has nothing to do with the tradition of prehistoric food culture.Chinese cooking is full of creativity, first of all reflected in the wide selection of ingredients, grains and vegetables, birds and animals, insects, fish and turtles, everything can be eaten, and this cultural tradition can indeed be traced back to prehistoric times.

Another great achievement of Chinese prehistoric culture in food life is the invention of grain wine making.The ancients said that wine was first brewed by Yi Di, or that it was Du Kang. Jiang Tong, a literati in the Jin Dynasty, said in the article "Jiu Gao": "The rise of wine comes from the emperor. Or Yun Yi Di, one is called Du Kang. There is rice Inexhaustible, left empty mulberry, smoldering into flavor, long-lasting fragrance. It is based on this, and it cannot be explained by strange recipes." He does not believe in traditional sayings, and believes that the success of wine brewing is purely accidental, and it is the fermentation of leftovers. Very insightful.There are often such coincidences in history, some irreversible mistakes, but unexpected successes.The success of human beings' initial brewing may be due to the germination and moldiness of grains due to poor storage. This kind of spoiled grains can be inexhaustible after being cooked, and it is easy to turn into wine mash (lao Lao), which is grain malt wine.It is such mistakes, but people can often taste another kind of deliciousness, and conscious brewing activities are invented.

There are many refined black pottery goblets, goblet-shaped cups, pots, 盉 [he and], etc. in Dawenkou and Longshan cultures, all of which are similar to the wine vessels of the later Shang Dynasty. Archaeologists speculate that they are also wine vessels , it can be confirmed that Dawenkou residents have practiced wine making (Figure 6).It is also reported that Yangshao residents also have a complete set of wine vessels, but they are not uncommon.It should be pointed out that these are all ritualized wine vessels, which are products of a relatively mature stage of winemaking development, and cannot be used as evidence of the beginning of winemaking.To demonstrate when there is wine, the most important basis should be whether there is a brewing utensil.Archeology has indeed found that Dawenkou residents made large brewing vats with drip holes. This kind of brewing utensils can be seen in the Yangshao culture and even the earlier Baijiacun culture. This is the proof of the existence of wine making.In other words, the invention of wine-making technology has a history of no less than 7,000 years or more, and it is the product of agricultural development to a certain stage.With more grain left over for larger wine-making operations, it is certain that wine was a luxury when it first appeared, and people would not use it to make wine in large quantities when there was not enough grain to eat. The successful brewing of wine is a successful attempt by human beings to change the nature and taste of food through chemical means, and it is the first of many other brewing activities. related to brewing technology.Brewing has brought immeasurable impact on human dietary life. Just imagine how dull and tasteless our life would be without brewing!