Chapter 7 Have a meal

Eating is sometimes like getting married. The most important thing in name is actually an accessory.Eating a fancy meal is actually just eating vegetables, just like a lady begging a rich man, the purpose is not for women.This diversion of sovereignty contains a turned and not very simple outlook on life.Debating flavors instead of satisfying hunger has become the purpose of our meals.The tongue takes the place of the stomach as the last or highest referee.However, we still disguise enjoyment as a need, not talking about food, just eating, just like when we study philosophy or art, we always say that we can use it for the sake of truth and beauty.Useful things can only be used by people, so they exist; but useless things can use people to cover and defend them, and they can also avoid being discarded.In Plato, the country is divided into three classes of people, which are equivalent to the three components of the soul; hunger, thirst, eating and drinking are the lowest components of the soul, which are equal to the civilians or people in political organizations.The most ingenious politicians know how to perfunctory the people, and disguise their own ambitions as the will and welfare of the people; treat guests to restaurants, and in the name of eating, this is the tongue-to-stomach excuse, as if to say: "Don't complain, it's your job! You are famous, and I work hard for you, what do I owe you?" In fact, God knows--even the hungry stomach knows--if it's just for filling the stomach For the sake of filling the stomach, the bark and grass roots are not much different from (and bird) duck and fish meat!Unexpectedly, so many political roles are needed in the mere physiological process of digestion and excretion.

The ancient Roman poet Persius once lamented that the stomach develops human genius and imparts technology (Magister artisingeni que largitor venter).This meaning has been brought into full play by Rabelais. Volume 3 of "A Family of Giants" has a chapter praising the belly, respected as the true master of mankind, the founder and advocate of various knowledge and professions, birds fly, beasts walk, fish swim, Insect crawling, and all living activities are also for the stomach and intestines.All human creations and activities (including writing) not only show the fullness of the mind, but also the emptiness of the stomach.A full stomach is the most useless, and the mind at that time is in a daze, only worthy of dreaming; we have an unwritten law: taking a nap after lunch is strong evidence.We usually underestimate hunger and only say that it produces beggars, thieves, prostitutes and other things, forgetting that it has also inspired ideas, skills, and the political and economic theory of "everyone eats".The ancient German poet B.H. Brockes wrote a hymn, comparing God to "a great cook (der gross Speisemeister)" who cooks food for all human beings to eat, which still has some religious childishness.Those who make food for us are by no means our real masters.Such a god, do not do worth mentioning.Only those who have brought him food to feed him can dictate our actions.For example, the head of the family is not the father who earns money to support the family, but the child who is still young and sits and eats; this, of course, will not be realized when you are a child, and fathers will never admit it.Rabelais' words seem more reasonable.Just imagine, the stomach asks us to sacrifice tea and food to it all day long. What is it if it is not God?But after all, it is an obscene thing that cannot be put on the table. It blindly accommodates and absorbs, and does not know how to enjoy and appreciate it.Life is thus complicated.On the one hand, there are people who have stomachs and need food to enrich themselves; on the other hand, there are people who have food but need appetite to eat.The first view of life can be said to be a person who eats food; the second one might as well be called a person who eats vegetables.The first type of people work, produce, and create in exchange for food.The second type of people uses the results of the first type of people's activities to invigorate the spleen and whet the appetite, help them eat and increase food intake.Therefore, it is not enough to have music while eating, and there are "beauties" and "beauties" to persuade people to drink; Mountains, let the natural scenic spots come for dinner.Needless to say, try to be particular about the food you eat.With such an affluent material environment, the tongue is like the body, which was originally very casual, but now it will also have chastity and integrity; many things that were used to eating before now seem to tarnish innocence, and they are absolutely unwilling to import again.It seems that you should eat less in such a situation, but in fact you should eat more.If you let your stomach be the master, you will be done when you are full, and you will not lose your sense of proportion.The tongue chooses the fine and the fat, greedy mouth regardless of life, the result is the stomach is unlucky and tired, so I have to avoid the mouth, and the tongue can only "fade out of the bird" as Li Kui said.This is indeed its retribution for being too greedy to forget about Ben!From this point of view, the outlook on life of eating vegetables seems to be inappropriate.

Still, delicious dishes deserve praise.In a world so chaotic and upside down, full of friction and conflict, only two things that are most harmonious are man-made: music and cooking.A bowl of good food is like a piece of music, and it is also a consistent multivariate and harmonious taste, which makes opposite molecules complement each other and become a synthesis that can be separated but inseparable.The most superficial example, such as boiled crab and vinegar, roast duck and sweet sauce, or such as roast pork and apple sauce in western dishes, cod fish and lemon slices, it turns out that there is nothing in the world. Things that are related to each other, but there is a predestined fate, like a beautiful woman and a talented man, a sow and a leprous, forming a perfect spouse and a family that complement each other.Up to now, they are so affectionate that they cannot be separated.In the seasoning, there is also the so-called "pre-determined harmony" (Harmonia praestabilita) in Leibniz's philosophy, and there are also pre-determined uncompromising, such as pepper and boiled shrimp and crab, sweet and sour and fried beef and mutton, just like the ancient In the music, Shang Jiao does not match, and Zheng Yu does not match.The principle of music can be applied to cooking, and Confucius already understood it, so it is recorded that he heard "Shao" in Qi, "I don't know the taste of meat in March".It's a pity that although his old man paid great attention to cooking in the chapter "Xiangdang", he has not yet learned the Samadhi of Taoism. Among the two kinds of harmony, he prefers music.For example, "The Doctrine of the Mean" talks about the cultivation of the body and mind, and only says that "the sound of the heart is called harmony." To develop a musical personality is really the words of a person who listens to music but does not know the taste of meat.According to our opinion, the perfect personality, the "my way" of "one habit", governing the perfect country, not only should be harmonious like music, but also the harmony of cooking should be suspended as an ideal.At this point, we do not follow Confucius, but are willing to praise the forgotten Yi Yin.Yi Yin is the first philosopher chef in China. In his eyes, the whole world is like a kitchen for cooking. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals·Benwei Pian" records Yi Yin and even Wei Shuo Tang, which describes the greatest philosophy of governance as a mouth-watering recipe.This concept has permeated the political consciousness of ancient China, so since the "Shangshu Gu Ming", being a prime minister is always compared to "harmony soup and a cauldron", and Lao Tzu also said that "governing the country is like cooking small fresh food".Mencius once praised Yi Yin as "the one who appointed the sage" and Liu Xiahui as the "the one who harmonized the sage". The text here may be a little misleading.In fact, Liu Xiahui, who allows people to face each other naked, should be regarded as a laissez-faire.But Yi Yin deserves the word "harmony"-this word "harmony" of course also has some connotations of cooking and cooking, and reconciling the five flavors.

Eating also has many social functions, such as connecting feelings, discussing business, etc., that is, "please eat".Although the types of social eating are complex, their nature is extremely simple.Giving food to someone who has something to eat is a treat; eating someone else's food when one has something to eat is to show off face.The subtleties of communication are nothing more than this.Conversely speaking, giving food to those who have nothing to eat is giving food; eating other people's food when one has nothing to eat, and the reward of face turns into shame.This is charity, not diplomacy.As for the number of guests and the ratio of men and women to dinner, we will talk about it another day.But there is a wonderful passage in the very interesting "Almanachdes Courmands" (Almanachdes Courmands), which must be mentioned here.In addition to the study of eating, these eight rare and rare books also discussed the issue of eating.The general idea is: how many days should we eat other people's meals without speaking ill of the master behind their backs? The length of time depends on the quality of the food; therefore, as a person, we should treat guests to dinner more often and eat good meals, so as to enhance the relationship between friends and reduce enemies. slander.This discussion, I sincerely introduce to all friends who do not want to be friends with each other, and friends who are willing to become friends with each other.As for myself, I am waiting for the invitations of all the lords, and try my best to follow what Zhu Bajie said to the little demon under the King of Nanshan: "Don't drag, just wait for my family to eat the future."