Kaifeng Bistro

"Hey... Miss Zhuozhuo," the fire in the tavern was getting hotter and hotter. Before the two jars of wine were opened, a faint red cloud had already stained Bai Yutang's jade-like cheeks. He deliberately turned the wine jars back. He smiled and asked Zhuo Zhuo: "Wait a minute, let me ask you, do you know how to judge the quality of this wine through the jar?"

"This... How do I know about this? You ask Zhifeng, but he probably doesn't know either. Why don't you tell us, Brother Bai?" Zhuo Zhuo urged Bai Yutang to taste the wine quickly.

Bai Yutang twitched his lips, held one of the jars of wine in his hand, and said to the crowd: "Listen well, to know whether this jar of wine is good or not, you don't need to smell it, you don't need to use it, you just need to gently knock on this jar, If the voice is clear and long, the wine will be good; if the voice is heavy and short, the wine will be bitter..."

"Then, what if there is no sound?" Chang Chang asked.

"If it's muffled and silent, then the wine is already spoiled. What do you think, little shopkeeper?" Bai Yutang lightly tossed the wine jar, which startled everyone, but the wine jar fell steadily. On the table, in front of Tan Zhifeng.

"Brother Bai is right, but how to listen to this sound is a subject of knowledge, and I can only get a rough idea." Tan Zhifeng has heard of this imperial wine brewed by the inner winery of the Song Dynasty for a long time. The sale and purchase of wine managed by the imperial court is called queuing wine, also known as queuing wine.To make wine, you must first have distiller's yeast, which is made by the government's "Duquyuan" and sold to winemakers.There are 72 main stores in Kaifeng that buy distiller's yeast and then make wine. The rest of the small shops like Tan Zhifeng's can only go to the main store to "make wine" and sell them to customers.

The imperial wine is brewed by the French wine storehouse of Guanglu Temple, and the koji used is not the same as the koji supplied to the folk.Therefore, even though Zhou Yanjing brought Kaifeng's top wine "Mei Shou" that everyone praised, it might not be worth a tenth of the Huangfeng wine.

Tan Zhifeng raised his hand and tapped lightly on the wine jar, only to hear that the sound was clear and long-lasting, echoing for a long time.He couldn't help admiring: "Good wine."

The wine jar was opened, and the aroma immediately filled the whole room.Tan Zhifeng carefully filled some and warmed them in a silver bottle, mixed the honey syrup and warm wine that had just been fried by Ophiopogon japonicus in a celadon pot, poured a cup for everyone, everyone could only feel the sweet aroma of Ophiopogon japonicus It melts little by little in the mellowness of the imperial wine, and after drinking it, it does not have the sweetness of the wine, but instead, it feels like the lips and teeth are full of fluid, and the spleen and lungs are extremely refreshing.

Tan Zhifeng explained: "This Ophiopogon japonicus has the effect of nourishing yin and nourishing the lungs. If you drink such a cup before drinking, you will be less likely to get drunk and hurt your spleen and lungs later."

"Come on, Zhuozhuo, Changshang, help me go to the back kitchen to order something." After finishing speaking, Tan Zhifeng called on Zhuozhuo and Changshang to the back kitchen. When they came back, there was another small bowl in front of each of them. The yellow and white things are like gold thread wrapped around broken jade, with bursts of fragrance, it looks very delicate, and people can't help but salivate.

Before waiting for everyone to ask questions, Tan Zhifeng said again: "This is called 'Cheng Yusheng'. Two days ago, Brother Zhan brought the ripe oranges that were rewarded in the palace. There are also large Sydney pears carefully selected by Yiyi at the market, peeled and cored, cut into dice-sized pieces, mixed with the two, and prepared with special honey syrup, iced in snow, and drunk It is specially used to accompany wine when drinking, which can help the wine. Let's try it, how does it taste?"

"It's strange, Zhifeng. I'm also a person who has a little research on the way of eating. Why haven't I heard of many things you make?" Bai Yutang scooped up the "Chengyusheng" in the bowl in front of him, took a sip, and smiled. Ask Tan Zhifeng.

"Oh, this..." Tan Zhifeng thought, he read these from somewhere when he wandered around in various times and places, how can people today know?He could only smile and said: "These are common practices in the mountains and fields, like Ophiopogon japonicus, oranges, and pears, and they are not expensive things. Now the world is in great order, and the four seas are unified. Kaifeng goes up to the palace and down to the palace." Common people, everyone wants to use those rare ingredients as much as possible, and there are more and more processes to make each dish, so it is not easy to see such a simple method, right?"

He sighed, and continued: "The reason why I thought of making this is not only because it is a delicacy with wine, but also because of the two poems you sang that day, Big Brother Bai: 'Fixed at the end of the world, Yiyi to Wuhua. Hanmei The most detestable thing is to write last year's flowers.' I heard that this practice of 'Cheng Yusheng' was originally recorded by an expert in the hermit mountain. He also left a poem behind this practice, and recited it with you This poem is very similar, he said that this poem contains emotions in things, and it has the sigh of "Shu Li"..."

"Oh Zhifeng, you're not finished yet, why don't you let me eat my beauty and beauty supper?" Zhuo Zhuo heard that Tan Zhifeng wanted to continue, and said impatiently: "These poems and words, you can't drink , you see, Shangshang Linger is also hungry, we are going to eat!"

"Hehe, beauty and beauty supper? Others eat it for beauty, and you may only gain weight if you eat it. Don't blame us for not stopping you." Yi Yi sneered from the side.Zhuo Zhuo didn't care but raised up the Maimen Dongjian mixed with imperial wine, and said to everyone: "Come on! Everyone drank this cup of spring, summer, autumn and winter wine. My lord and Bai lord come to our tavern to play more!"

"Okay, cheers!" Everyone raised their wine cups in unison, Ling'er and Changshang's small cups were also filled with light juice made from wheat mendong without wine, and Shangshang gently grabbed Ling'er's cup I raised my hands to touch everyone's wine glasses, and the bright candlelight reflected the bright red smiling faces of the children. In a blink of an eye, everyone drank the wine in the glasses and began to chat while eating supper.

"Hey, Guard Zhan, you said that you entered the palace a few days ago, besides this wine, did the government reward you with any other good things?" After drinking a glass of wine, Zhuo Zhuo asked curiously while eating. Zhan Zhao beside him.Who wants Zhan Zhao to listen, put down the wine cup, and sighed softly: "Oh! The officials have been worried about the war in the Northwest for the past few days. When they summoned the two of us, we had just finished discussing the strategy against the enemy with the important ministers of the court. I see Those adults frowned tightly when they left the hall, which shows that the situation is still not optimistic."

When Tan Zhifeng thought that Bo and the terrible monster Taotie had fled back to Xixia, he couldn't help but feel a cold war in his heart. He hurriedly asked Zhan Zhao, "I heard that the court and China have been hesitant about whether to fight or defend. Are you sending troops?"

Bai Yutang sneered, and said: "Those so-called important ministers in the court have always been carefree, only thinking about their own wealth and life. This time Mr. Han tried hard to persuade the officials, but they were obstructed by those people. In the end, originally The number of soldiers and horses to attack from five routes has been reduced to two. It is not yet known whether Yan Yan Road will cooperate with Lord Han to attack, and now Lord Han has rushed back to Jingyuan Road to prepare for the battle, and these people in the court are still arguing endlessly..."

The more he talked, the more gloomy his face became. He raised his wine glass and took a sip, and then stopped making a sound.At this time, Zhan Zhao continued: "Not only that, you must know that Zhifeng also knows that since the Tanyuan alliance, although the Song Dynasty and the Khitan in the north have lived in peace, the leader of the Khitan, Yelu Zongzhen, is not a trustworthy person. , and now my Great Song Dynasty has been defeated one after another...many people are worried..."

Tan Zhifeng was sitting next to Zhuo Zhuo, facing Bai Yutang. Hearing what Zhan Zhao said, Bai Yutang put down his wine glass and gave him a warning look.Zhan Zhao lowered his eyes, stirred the plate of "Cheng Yu Sheng" in front of him, and said, "I just know that you said that someone tasted this delicacy, but they felt the sorrow of millet separation in their hearts. It's just like when the Zhou Dynasty was at the beginning, the world was ruled, and then it was destroyed by barbarians. The dog army invaded the capital and burned Haojing into ruins. The Zhou Dynasty had to move its capital to Luoyang, and it has been declining since then... But now the Song Dynasty is rich but the soldiers are poor and weak. The worries of the officials and the adults are indeed not unreasonable."

"Liao Kingdom?" After hearing Zhan Zhao's words, everyone's heart became heavy.Ever since he came to Kaifeng, the taverns were filled with scholars who were studying nearby. Tan Zhifeng often listened to them talking about state affairs, and he also understood that since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there had been uninterrupted disputes with the Khitan in the north. Yuan Zhimeng, to put it nicely, is to reward them with old coins, and to put it bluntly, it is to spend money to buy peace.Although the Song Dynasty was sitting on a rich land in the south of the Yangtze River, it is much better to spend money than to fight, but now Xixia has repeatedly invaded and won consecutive battles, but the Liao Kingdom is silent in the north.

Several people were preoccupied, but the wine was poured even faster, and the jar of wine soon bottomed out.This imperial wine really has a long aftertaste, with a rich and long-lasting aroma. With the addition of Ophiopogon japonicus, everyone didn't feel drunk after drinking it. Instead, they felt that their blood was smooth and comfortable.

However, when Bai Yutang was about to open the second altar, Zhan Zhao said, "It's getting late today, and I still have work to do. The children are tired, and you, Zhifeng, have been busy preparing these things for us. There is still a chance to drink freely in the future, so let’s stop here today.”

Tan Zhifeng heard that Zhan Zhao had something to do, so he didn't want to keep him anymore. Seeing Zhan Zhao got up to bid him farewell, he quickly returned the gift and said, "Brother Zhan has been working hard these days, so let someone tell us what we want to eat, and we will make it right." I'm waiting for you!"

Zhan Zhao nodded with a smile, put on his outer robe and went out, approached Bai Yutang with a bright smile and asked him, "Brother Bai? Why didn't you send him off?"

Bai Yutang raised his eyes, cast a sidelong glance at Zhuo Zhuo, his face was blushing and his heart was pounding, and he ran into the back kitchen with the jar of Huangfeng wine in his arms, while he drank the remaining wine in his cup little by little. Lift the curtain and walk outside.