First of all, beef and mutton were aristocratic foods in the pre-Qin period.

At an early age, our ancestors knew how to domesticate six kinds of animals such as pigs, horses, cows, sheep, dogs and chickens to get meat. In their eating habits, cattle and sheep are undoubtedly the most aristocratic food. "Book of Rites Wang Zhi" once recorded: "You don't kill cows without reason, doctors don't kill sheep without reason, scholars don't kill dogs without reason, and Shu Ren doesn't eat treasures without reason." From the ranking, cattle and sheep are above pigs, so why?

First of all, it is related to the preciousness of meat. Cattle farming is the most important production tool in the farming era, and it is not allowed to kill cattle privately in many dynasties. By the Han Dynasty, cattle had been protected by law. At that time, the court stipulated that "young teeth should not be slaughtered." What if they were killed? Sorry, I have to pay for the life of this cow. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, unless it was natural death or disease, it could be peeled and sold or eaten by itself.

As the saying goes, things are scarce, so beef naturally ranked among the best in the meat list at that time.

2. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, beef and mutton were still the staple food.

This kind of eating habit formed in the pre-Qin period has been deeply affecting later generations. In the famous barbecue restaurant in the Tang Dynasty, the menu is as follows: soft beef intestines with flowers, bright fried shrimps, shredded sheepskin, snow baby (fried chicken with bean sprouts), fairy cup (stewed chicken with milk), steamed spring (roasted quail) and so on. Among them are all cows, sheep, chickens and quails.

In Song Dynasty, mutton became the main meat of royal literati in this period because of the fasting of beef. Eating sheep first became popular in the Song Dynasty from the royal family. In Song Zhenzong, the Imperial Chef slaughtered 350 sheep every day, while Injong slaughtered 280 sheep and Yingzong slaughtered 40 sheep. Although pork was imported from Zongshen, the annual consumption of mutton by royal chefs is "434,463 Jin 420", while pork is "465,438+0,365,438 Jin", which is less than a small part of mutton.

As the saying goes, from officials to the people, mutton began to become the first-class meat on the table at that time.

Although pork was still not the main meat of the literati class at that time, or it was still a low-grade meat, it was the staple food of ordinary people. According to Dream of Tokyo, tens of thousands of pigs are bought by traffickers from four towns and sent to Tokyo every day. Countless pork vendors and butchers slaughtered these pigs and sent the meat to the table of ordinary people.

It was Su Dongpo who really came into contact with aristocratic pork. During his tenure in Hangzhou, in order to manage the West Lake and solve the problem of migrant workers' eating, he creatively invented "Dongpo Meat".

Third, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, pork became popular.

"History of the Forbidden City in Ming Dynasty" records that there are roast pork, pig enema, pork arm meat, pork bun and so on in the royal New Year's recipes, which shows that pork has been able to ascend the elegant hall at this time. However, among the people, the popularity of pork is still not as good as that of beef and mutton. According to the price in Beijing, in the five years of Wanli, the price of beef was 0.0 13 Liang/kg, while that of pork was 0.0 18 Liang/kg. In the twenty years of Wanli, pork rose to 0.02 Liang, while beef and mutton still only needed 0.0 15 Liang. So at this time, beef and mutton are still more popular than pork.

In the Qing dynasty, pork finally reversed and became the most important meat of the Han nationality. In Gourmet Yuan Mei's Menu with the Garden, pigs have been listed as a "special sacrifice list" for narration, among which there are 43 dishes related to pork; Beef and mutton are listed as "miscellaneous sacrifices list". "Cattle, sheep and deer are not common in southern families, but the production method is indispensable."

Although pork has successfully reversed people's eating habits, it still cannot shake the noble status of beef and mutton.