Datang First Chef

After the Cold Food Festival, Mo Wenyuan devoted himself to making sugar. Master Huiyuan knew that he was in a hurry, so he sorted out the list of Tianzhu monks in Daxingshan Temple and gave him a copy.

The lightly folded scripture book was delivered to him, with words written on both the front and back.

At present, although most of the Buddhist scriptures in the temple are scrolls, the newly added scriptures in the past two years are all folded books. Hold more content.

Since last year, books from Shangshu to sages have been uniformly used in the folding book format.

The manufacturing process of the scroll is relatively complicated, but more importantly, the capacity of a scroll is too small.In order to facilitate writing, the copyists would fully unfold the scroll and spread it on the desk when writing. If the paper in the scroll was too long, it would roll off the desk and drag on the ground, polluting the paper.In addition, the weight of the axis in the reel is much larger than that of the folded shell, anyone who has used it will know which is more convenient.

In fact, it is more convenient to look through a thread-bound book than a folded book. However, engraving and printing has not been popularized in China for a few years, and it has not yet spread to remote areas. There are not enough craftsmen who can engrave. Undoubtedly more applicable.

Seeing that he got the roster, Huiyuan couldn't wait to open it, and told him: "The monks in Tianzhu study the scriptures in the morning and evening, and sugar is a possession outside the body, so few people pay attention to it."

"Kuang sugar making technique is different from other small skills, even if you know it, it's not convenient to tell you."

Of course Mo Wenyuan knew what Monk Huiyuan meant. Technology is the most valuable asset these days. Many shops that have been in operation for many years have been handed down from generation to generation, such as the vinegar shop in Guangde Square. , different from other vinegar shops, they have a kind of vinegar fermented from the tail of liquor, and only their family members know how to make it for generations.

He said, "I'll save it."

Mo Wenyuan knew very well that his purpose of looking for those monks was not to obtain sugar-making technology, but to conduct field research first to determine how far Tianzhu's sugar-making technology has developed. In addition, is there any other sugar, such as rock sugar, white granulated sugar and the like.

He thought in his heart that even if he didn't know how to make the sugar, he could still look for the Tianzhu merchants in the west market to find the sugar, and maybe in time, he could also go to the Indian countries like Xuanzang's journey to the west and learn the sugar refining method. "Get" back.

Of course, these are things to follow.

……

In the next few days, the monks of Daxingshan Temple can always see Mr. Mo Xiaolang carrying his iconic newsboy bag, a small writing brush in his left hand, and a thread-bound notebook in his right hand. I wrote hard in my notebook.

The appearance of Tianzhu people is different from that of Tang people. The facial features are darker, some have brownish skin, and some have fairer skin.They speak Chinese at different levels. Some have been in the Tang Dynasty for many years and are fluent in Chinese, while others are limited to written communication.

Fortunately, Mo Wenyuan also learned some Gupta script in the temple, so he could understand what they meant.

Gupta script is one of the variants of Sanskrit. Compared with the ancient Sanskrit with a history of thousands of years, this language can be annotated in the way of cutting sounds, so it is widely spread among monks. It is said that Master Xuanzang learned it before his journey to the west. Gupta language, Mo Wenyuan also learned some of this language out of awe of Tang Xuanzang's inexplicable way.

"That is to say, in addition to the brown sugar, there are also large chunks of icing sugar?"

"Yes, white icing is more common. I have seen doctors use it as medicine to treat diseases."

"How big is the candy bar?"

The young monk gestured: "It's as big as half a palm, and as small as a little finger."

Mo Wenyuan has a speed record in his hand, and he has a good idea in his heart. Tianzhu's sugar-making technology is more advanced than he imagined. In addition to brown sugar, they even made rock sugar.

He said sincerely, "If I want to buy some icing sugar and brown sugar, where can I buy them?"

The young monk was stunned for a moment and said: "I'm not sure, you can go to the West Market to have a look." He said, "Few merchants will bring them to Chang'an, Tang has its own sugar refining technology, they can't sell sugar well Price."

After hearing this, Mo Wenyuan was a little disappointed, and after thanking him, he went back.

……

After completing the field survey of sugar in Daxingshan Temple, Mo Wenyuan was not in a hurry to search for every shop run by Tianzhu merchants in the West Market.Li Sanniang organizes a family meeting, and he has to go home for the meeting.

After the Cold Food Festival, Li Sanniang did not stay in Chang'an. She went to Luoyang for a half-month investigation.

The road in Luoyang, Chang'an, is called the Corridor of the Two Beijings. Although Luoyang was not as prosperous as Chang'an when Wu Zetian was in power at this time, it was also the second largest metropolis in the country. Many aristocratic families took root in Luoyang, and the consumption level of the people in the city was not low. , business is booming.

Li Sanniang Restaurant has been operating in Chang'an for many years. It is famous in Chang'an City for its tofu craftsmanship, which is the best in the world. In addition, the price of tofu is not expensive. If it is just side dishes and raw soy products, even ordinary people can eat it. The business is booming, even the big restaurants in West Market can't compare.

Two months ago, Li Sanniang even bought another yard and converted it into a food manufacturing workshop, employing many people to work in it, specializing in the production of gluten and bean curd, two soy products that are selling well.

It can be said that Li Sanniang Restaurant is no longer a simple restaurant, but a commercial group integrating production, sales of semi-finished products and restaurants.

Li Sanniang said: "I heard before that besides Chang'an locals, many of the diners in the restaurant come from other places for their fame, so just stay here to try something new."

"There is even a gentleman of the noble family who buys a large amount of dried gluten and dried bean curd in the store and ships them to other places."

There is no refrigerator in this era, and if it is water gluten, it will go bad in less than two days. In order to prolong the storage time of soy products, in addition to those made every day, the store also sells dried gluten and dried bean curd.

The production method is not difficult. After air-drying the gluten bean skin, put it in a pot to cook, and finally dehydrate it, so that it can be stored for more time. Mo Wenyuan tried it, and it can last for about ten days in hot summer. Wait until It's cold, and there is no problem zooming in for half a month.As long as the convoy travels fast enough, it can be sent to other cities.

Li Sanniang smiled slightly, and made an even more astonishing move. She even unfolded a large drawing and placed it on the low table.

Zhao Erniang was illiterate before, but after marrying Mo Xiaogou, she needed to do some bookkeeping work, so she worked hard to learn to read. She achieved remarkable results, and she could recognize seven or eight commonly used characters within a month.

Mo Wenyuan was dumbfounded. He didn't expect his aunt to have the same sense of sampling and survey as a sociologist, and to record all the figures precisely like an economist.

Li Sanniang said loudly: "I stood behind the counter selling gluten and tofu skin for ten days, during which time I asked everyone where they went to buy food, most of them were locals from Chang'an, but there were also many ladies and gentlemen from other places. "

"Among them, the most people send food to Luoyang, and the people in the Jiangnan area are less. But if I remember correctly, when the weather cools down, some merchants will come to the restaurants to buy gluten and send it to Jiangnan."

"The weather is getting warmer today, food is perishable, and there are fewer Nanren people to buy."

Mo Xiaogou is rather naive and didn't understand what Li Sanniang meant, but Zhao Erniang was already lost in thought, and Mo Wenyuan knew his aunt very well, and he knew that she had the demeanor of a strong lady in the shopping mall, so he said directly: "Aniang What do you mean, you want to open a store in Luoyang Jiangnan and other places?"

Li Sanniang was overjoyed when she saw that Mo Wenyuan was able to catch up with her thoughts: "That's right, I want to open a store in Luoyang first."

Where there is a demand, there is a market. Although Li Sanniang cannot form an abstract concept into a concrete theory, she has understood the reason.She has many considerations. One is that the people in Luoyang are rich, so there is no need to worry about no one visiting the store after it opens; the other is that Luoyang is very close to Chang'an, so you can call back and forth in a few days if it is fast. It is the first time to open a branch. A better place to take care of.

A few days ago, she chatted with Luoyang people who came to buy gluten, and Fang Dialect said that although tofu is sold in Luoyang City, gluten and other things have never appeared, and she is a special product of Chang'an City.

Making tofu is actually not difficult, as long as you are willing to learn, you can learn it.

The tofu in Li Sanniang's store is all bought from Daxingshan Temple, so it's not easy to be a teacher and spend money to teach techniques. In fact, it is monks who teach techniques now.

Monks are already tied to tofu.

In the beginning, the monks of Daxingshan Temple went out to travel. You must know that besides begging for alms, monks also often do some small business to earn money. When traveling to other places, he made some tofu and sold them in exchange for travel expenses.

Now when monks travel abroad, in addition to scriptures and bowls, there is one more thing they must bring, and that is sour soup.

At the beginning, only the monks of Daxingshan Temple learned how to do it. During their travels, the monks passed on the way to the local people, or stayed in the local temples. As the monks went to more and more places, tofu also spread. .

Even in cities in the south of the Yangtze River or farther away, there are specialized tofu shops, some of which are opened by ordinary people, and some of which are opened by temples.

Although the price fluctuates, it will not be ridiculously high. It is far worse than meat.

The price of meat is high, and ordinary people can't afford meat, but they can buy tofu as a side dish.Bean products are highly nutritious and taste similar to meat. They are popular among high-ranking officials and ordinary people alike.

Mo Xiaogou finally came to his senses and said, "Auntie wants to open a shop in Luoyang. Have you chosen the address of the courtyard?" He has a natural admiration for Li Sanniang, and he just needs to do what the other party says. That's right.

Li Sanniang said: "I'm about to start preparations." She said, "In your opinion, is this store open or not?"

Mo Wenyuan and Mo Xiaogou said in unison: "Of course it is possible!"

The opening of the store in Luoyang was settled like this.