In fact, the diet of ancient people is not as colorful as it is now on the screen, and it can even be said that it is not so good. The history of ancient diet was a watershed in the Song Dynasty. Not only did wok cooking appear in the Song Dynasty, but most modern cooking methods in China also appeared in the Song Dynasty. Relatively speaking, the diet before the Song Dynasty was much monotonous, because the cooking methods were quite monotonous.

However, there is one thing to be clear here, that is, wok cooking appeared in the Song Dynasty, and wok cooking also appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but pottery pots and bronzes were used at that time, and the effect was not as good as wok cooking.

In ancient times, due to the limitation of production capacity, the utensils that could be used to make cooked food at that time were usually only stone tools and pottery. Although bronze utensils appeared in Shang and Zhou dynasties and were used for cooking because of technological progress, bronzes at that time were not available to everyone, because they were so precious that only nobles could cook with bronzes and civilians could only use pottery and the like.

However, bronzes and pottery are too thick, have poor thermal conductivity, and the cooking effect is not much better. At that time, the main cooking methods were also monotonous, mainly cooking, barbecue and steaming. The cooked food is only seasoned with salt, plums and various sauces. If you are poor, you generally can't eat salt, and the staple food at that time was also very single, mainly corn, soybeans and wheat, which was rough and rough.

Although iron appeared and began to spread in the Warring States period, it was still very precious at that time, mainly used to make weapons and farm tools, and there were few cookers. Until the Qin and Han Dynasties and even the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, bronzes and pottery were still the most important cookers at that time, but the cooking methods began to change.

There was no concept of cooking in Qin and Han Dynasties. At that time, the cooking style was more like Korean food today, mainly barbecue, mixed vegetables and stew. The food is tasteless, the production of various staple foods is far less refined than it is now, and there are fewer kinds of dishes. Although the noodle-making technology was improved in the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian brought more kinds of food from the Western Regions, but the food at that time was still inedible due to the lag of production efficiency and related cooking technology.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, cooking began to appear due to the improvement of metal smelting technology, but cooking was still bronze and pottery, and cooking was not popular at that time because of the preciousness of edible oil and the poor effect of cooking with bronze and pottery. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, more and more foods and cooking methods were introduced from abroad, and people's pursuit of diet became higher and higher, and the diet began to change and improve.

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the technology of iron smelting got unprecedented development. Due to the development of iron smelting industry, the production cost of ironware has been greatly reduced, and bronzes have gradually withdrawn from practical fields and been replaced by ironware. Cheap iron pots appeared in the Song Dynasty and spread rapidly, which was almost a necessary cooker for every household.

Because the wok is lighter and more durable, and the heat conduction effect is better, the effect of cooking methods such as stir-frying has been greatly improved. At the same time, most of today's cooking methods appeared in the Song Dynasty and were improved. Compared with the previous generation, the diet in Song Dynasty reached a peak.

Also in the Song Dynasty, China people's original habit of having two meals a day changed into three meals a day, and in Kaifeng and other big cities, there were "fourth meals" such as take-out and supper.

Iron pot is also a very important commodity in the list of foreign trade commodities in Song Dynasty. At that time, countless iron pots in the Song Dynasty were shipped from Persia and Arabia and brought to Europe by merchants in southwest Asia. A large number of iron pots were found in the sinking of Nanhai No.1. The appearance of iron pots is not only a great progress in China's diet, but also of great significance to the promotion of diets in various countries.

The diet of the ancients before the Song Dynasty was really not so good.

In terms of staple food, until the Tang Dynasty, the staple food in the north was still millet, and the popularization of shelled rice in the south only began in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was only in the Song Dynasty that wheat became the staple food in the north, but flour was not necessary. Due to backward technology, only nobles can eat flour, and ordinary people can only eat wheat rice and porridge, which increased slightly during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

In terms of vegetables, the types of vegetables before the Song Dynasty can't be compared with today's, and the cooking methods are monotonous. Due to the lack of salt and other utensils and seasonings, the common cooking methods of vegetables at that time were boiled and cold salad. The nobles could add salt or fry, but the food they made was tasteless.

As for meat, it is even more difficult. In ancient times, beef was unpalatable, because slaughtering cattle was forbidden, and pork did not become the mainstream until the Ming Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, mutton was the main food. Due to the restrictions of etiquette and economic conditions, most people in ancient times could eat meat every day, usually poultry and fish, in small quantities. The common practice is still cooking and barbecue, but salt is rarely put. As for pepper, it only appeared in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.