Food is the most important thing for the people. In the Song Dynasty, the city's commercial economy was prosperous, and the catering industry developed rapidly, which played an important role in the development of China's catering culture.

Keywords Northern Song Dynasty; Bianjing (Tokyo); Catering industry; Business.

the text "is a collection of treasures from all over the world, all of which belong to the market;" The peculiar smell in the atlas area. I am in the kitchen. " Meng Yuanlao, the author of Dream of China in Tokyo, wrote in the preface. This is a book that comprehensively reflects the social life of Beijing in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the prosperous catering industry described in it is particularly eye-catching. Below I will study the catering in the Northern Song Dynasty from two aspects.

? First, the dietary characteristics

? (1) There are many varieties of fruits and vegetables. According to the Tokyo Dream Record, there are 31 kinds of peaches, such as winter peach, flat peach and rouge peach, 16 kinds of apricots, such as golden apricot, ginkgo and water apricot, 27 kinds of pears, such as water pear, red pear and rain pear, 27 kinds of plums, such as royal plum and musk plum, 11 kinds of cherries, such as purple cherry and preserved cherry, 9 kinds of pomegranates, such as Chiba pomegranate and pink pomegranate, and Lin Ling. When it first came out, each pair could be worth 31,111 to 51,111 yuan, and the dignitaries scrambled to get it at a high price. It can be seen that the planting industry is relatively developed, and the society is prosperous and stable, which can basically meet the fresh fruit needs of the people and nobles.

? (2) Love for mutton. Song people believe that "ginseng supplements qi and mutton supplements shape". Therefore, expensive sheep and cheap pigs have become a social fashion, which is probably a unique point of the diet in the Song Dynasty. There are many kinds of records in Dream of China in Tokyo, such as lamb wine, sheep rice, sheep in the oven, and even a special "hot mutton shop". In today's view, mutton has high protein quality and low fat content, so favoring mutton can be regarded as a way of keeping in good health for the people in Song Dynasty.

? Second, the catering form

? (1) Festive diets are different. For example, in beginning of autumn, melons, fruits, pears and dates are listed as the main fruits; In August and autumn, the club will cut pork and mutton, duck cake, melon and ginger into pieces and spread them on the rice with a harmonious taste, which is called "social rice"; Eat crabs and grapes in the Mid-Autumn Festival. Different diets express people's love for life, and also pin their good wishes for family, people and things.

(2) Pay attention to eating. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the catering industry was the most developed industry in Tokyo. There are hotels all over the streets of Tokyo, and there are 72 large-scale shops. There are countless small hotels, such as "dividing tea", "meat shops" and "cake shops". In the big restaurant, the decoration in the store is very particular. In the restaurant, "two corridors are small pavilions", "hanging window flowers and bamboo, hanging curtains"; These designs not only satisfy customers' appetite, but also satisfy their eyes. And people pay attention to the style of eating is also interesting, two people need to eat with a pair of bowls, two pairs of plates and lamps, five fruit and vegetable dishes, and three or five water and vegetable bowls. Even if a person drinks alone, the fruits and vegetables are exquisite and delicate, and the bowls are also made of silver spoons and the like, which is full of fun.

? In short, through Tokyo Dream of China, we can see that in the Northern Song Dynasty, "glitz made the citizens lose their simplicity and roughness, and their feelings were delicate and rich, with high taste", and they paid more attention to the interest of life. The prosperous catering industry symbolizes the activity of the market economy, leaving a precious food culture and bearing the breath of progress and prosperity of an era. Worthy of the title of "dynasty on the tip of the tongue"

References: Dream of China in Tokyo, written by Yuan Zhen Song Meng.