Zhang Hong was the first to pick it up and taste it. He carefully poured it into the bowl without pouring too much and drank it in one gulp.
Then his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Sweet!"
Of course it is sweet, but the sweetness at this time is actually very different from the sweetness in later generations. However, for people of this era, it is still an extremely difficult taste to taste.
If you want to eat sweets, the most convenient way is to find three places. The first is the fruit tree, the second is the bee nest, and the third is the bear den.
The first two may not be so easy to find, but as long as you find the third one, you can basically find the first two, and you don’t have to worry about being chased by bees. Therefore, many "bear-slaying warriors" appeared in ancient times. .
Not only do they want to kill the big bear, but they also want to seize his honey and steal his fruits.
Compared with the Southwest Hospitable Bear Cave that everyone passed by before, it can be seen that the Hospitable Bear is indeed very poor. There is only water and no honey at home, but now it has moved...
"what is this?"
Zhang Hong felt like there were ten civets scratching him in his heart, while Yu Zai patted the clay pot: "This is sugarcane pulp, also called Zhu Zhe."
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, malt sugar was produced, and the main raw material was wheat. During the period from Emperor Ku to Yao, wheat spread from Asia Minor to the Central Plains and was quickly cultivated in the north. By the time of the Western Zhou Dynasty, wheat was already very common. Cereals even once took the place of a certain unlucky guy among the five grains....
"The original Zhou Dynasty is delicious, and the pansy tea is sweet" is an ancient poem in the "Book of Songs".
In the south, because it was difficult to grow wheat and a variety of rice, the clever Chu people found a thing called "Zhu Zhe", which is wild sugar cane. Since there was no human cultivation, the sugar cane at this time was sweet. The smell is not that big...
However, after the juice is squeezed, the sugarcane pulp actually tastes pretty good. The nobles of the Chu State like this taste. From this time on, sugarcane has been cultivated in the Chu region, but not many were cultivated. After all, in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period, grains were the only Of course, most of the fields must be used to grow grains. It is impossible to leave too much arable land for sugar cane. Another point is that sugar cane is too easy to obtain.
Therefore, the act of planting sugar cane is only done by a small number of people.
There is a saying in Chuci's "Calling Souls": "The turtles, turtles, cannons, and lambs are more like pulp."
The real white sugar only appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and it was turbid. Refined white sugar did not come until the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, rich people had to use two cups of butter and white sugar to boil milk for drinking.
In fact, the life of the people during the Warring States Period was in many cases even worse than that of the Three Dynasties period. This only refers to common people and even slaves, not to the class above scholars.
Advanced developments all belong to the upper class. For example, plows and oxen plowing obviously appeared very early. However, at the end of the Warring States Period, Zhao State even stated that the important factor why Zhao could not defeat Qin was that Qin State vigorously and extensively promoted oxen plowing. Tools, but Zhao Guo couldn't do it...
An important reason is privatization and class distinction. A large amount of wealth and resources are concentrated in the hands of the nobles. What is distributed to the lowly people is only the most basic survival standard. The nobles will not let others share resources with them. As for their What kind of interests are the little heads calculating? That's another story.
In the Three Generations period, because the world was a public one, the resources of the leader and the resources of the clansmen were not much different, and everyone had a positive hope of working together. Therefore, the ancient songs at this time can obviously reflect many things.
Take the scene shown in "Song of Attacking the Soil". By the Xia, Shang and early Zhou dynasties, basically not many civilians could have such a leisurely and comfortable time. This is also an important reason why Confucius and others praised the ancient sage kings.
"Sugar cane is a common thing in the south, but the taste when chewed dry is not too sweet (in the current era), so after being squeezed into juice, it is what you taste now, although it is a little worse than stone honey, ah, that's it The kind with joints that look like bamboo..."
Before Yu Zai could finish his words, he was immediately interrupted by Zhang Hong!
"Very good, already very good! I know what plant you are talking about! It turns out to be Bai? Ah!"
Zhang Hong laughed loudly: "Each place has different names for these plants and trees. The sugar cane and Zhuzhe in your mouth are what we call Bai?!"
"There is a tree in Lunzhe Mountain in the south. It looks like a walnut tree and has red texture. The juice that flows out is sweet. People will not feel hungry after eating it and can also relieve fatigue. It is called white?."
Yu Zai was also stunned for a moment. The south is indeed where sugar cane grows. But after hearing this, it turns out that there are also large sugar cane forests growing in the further south.
Zhang Hong was already eager to give it a try and had already planned that if he left and returned to the South China Sea, he would chop down mountains and cut sugar cane. However, his idea was just a thought. After all, the Akafang clan seemed to have something better to offer.
There wasn't much sugarcane syrup, and several people tasted it and said it was good. At this time, everyone was staring at the last clay pot.
It's like a mysterious lottery. There are good things in the front, so the last one won't bring you down, right?
The expectations are already high.
Tofu, fried soybean skin, and sugarcane pulp not only mobilized everyone's enthusiasm for grain cultivation, but also made everyone understand new sugar source plants. It is conceivable that from now on, sugar cane will definitely start to be planted.
Rather than risking being stung to death by fighting swarms of bees or becoming a bear slayer, isn't it easier to get syrup by chopping immobile sugar cane?
Yu Zai didn't keep everyone waiting any longer and opened the last clay pot.
The black liquid sits quietly in it.
"vinegar?"
The people around looked at each other in confusion, but someone’s nose twitched: “That’s not right, this doesn’t smell like vinegar.”
"It's soy sauce."
"Soy sauce? Not meat sauce?"
Vinegar and soy sauce have been brewed before. After three years of work, after the operation of a few friends in the mill, vinegar and soy sauce have become the most popular agricultural products of the Akagata family. And what is the so-called "soy sauce" this time?
"The raw material of this thing is still bean sprouts!"
As Yuzai spoke, he was even more emotional: "Come on, let's have a taste. Zhang Hong can cut a piece of tofu and dip it in it."
So Zhang Hong followed what Yu Zai said. When he put the steamed tofu dipped in soy sauce into his mouth, he froze on the spot for a while, and then let out an earth-shattering roar!
"This, this is the natural law of the world!"
You, salt, sauce and vinegar are now all in full swing, and the hot southern life is about to turn a new page!
Times and years have slowly entered the next small stage, which is the "copper cooking period" of food development!
Five flavors cooked in oil, cooked in a cauldron and plate!
