The imperial meals of the Ming emperors were generally taken care of by the Guanglu Temple and the monk's catering supervisor.

According to Bao Ritang Miscellaneous Notes, the Empress of the Ming Dynasty can get 55 Jin of pork every day, which is only the amount of meat, and there is a set of strict hygiene procedures in the process of serving: this is what the waiter should do, not only to cover his nose and mouth, but also to face sideways to prevent the breathing air from accidentally touching the dishes. Moreover, the disk surface of each dish needs to be covered with gold wire, which can play a role in heat preservation and dust prevention. The most interesting thing is that when they eat, they have to play music.

The imperial meals of the Qing emperors can even subvert your three views.

the Qing dynasty is the closest feudal dynasty to us, so the food level of their emperors is the easiest for us to observe. But I'd rather not visit, and after looking at the bowl of cold noodles at hand, I have no appetite at all.

Take Emperor Qianlong as an example. The way the emperors of the Qing Dynasty ate was really enviable. In Qing Palace Imperial Meal, a statistic was made on the meals of Qianlong in the thirty years of leap in February:

On the first day of eating: bird's nest, red and white duck, fresh hot pot in the south, chicken marinated over the water, old rice water meal, bird's nest shredded soup, hot and sour lamb tripe, bird's nest mixed with shredded chicken, fried fresh shrimp, shredded pear mixed with preserved vegetables and wild chicken feet.

for the second day of junior high school: miscellaneous hot pot, Dongpo meat, mutton buns, fried chicken stewed with bean curd, mutton Wuyi roasted liver, bird's nest hand-torn duck hot pot, water chestnut stewed meat, mutton slices, bee cake, ruler bean cake, bamboo sheep tendon, stewed mutton with sheep blood, smoked duck with bird's nest fire, and stewed chicken with chestnuts.

Zhong Ming Ding Shi-synonymous with the giants.

a clock refers to a musical instrument; The tripod symbolizes the cooker. The saying that "Zhong Ming Ding Shi" originated in the pre-Qin period. At that time, when the nobles ate, they would use various types of tripod to hold all kinds of precious food, and there must be a band playing music to entertain them. According to the rites of Zhou, the dignitaries, regardless of their status, have different standards: the emperor Jiuding, the vassal seven ding, the doctor three ding, and the scholar one to three ding.

In ancient times, there were no chemical plants, no air pollution, no chemical fertilizers in the fields, and no genetically modified seeds. The grain and vegetables produced were pure green natural foods. Chickens and ducks are all stocked, pork is never watered, poultry has never eaten hormones, and fish and shrimp have never drunk organic solvents. The emperor eats all green food and meat, which can ensure absolute food safety.

The ostentation and extravagance of the Zhou Emperor's dining is as follows:

There are 22 departments providing catering services for the Zhou royal family, including 28 officials and 2,124 slaves, which means that there are 2,332 staff members; The richness of ingredients in the pre-Qin period can't be compared with that in the later generations, but even so, there are still more than 12 different delicacies on the menu of Zhou Tianzi, and every meal has at least 26 kinds of food for him to enjoy.

Throughout the past 5, years, our food culture has a long history, extensive and profound, especially the court food. From the Shang and Zhou Dynasties to the Qin and Han Dynasties, to the Tang and Song Dynasties, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the court food culture became more and more mature, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For the three meals a day of ancient emperors, even now, it is much better than that of ordinary people. No matter the health of ingredients, the types of dishes and the special cooking techniques, it is much better than that of us now. If we have to compare, it's a heaven and an underground, and now many of our ingredients are mixed, including fake egg and fake pork. Such a thing is completely impossible in ancient times.