First of all, the cooking level. The ancient cooking technology is far from mature, and some important spices have not been found or spread to China. For example, in the Shang Zhouwang era, there was no wok for cooking, only salt and plums were used as seasoning. His wine pool is full of meat, the wine is just light wine, and the meat is just barbecue. Think about it, without cumin seasoning and pepper, what good taste can barbecue have?
Secondly, the emperor can't eat fresh fruits and vegetables casually, especially those that are only available for one or two months a year, let alone the emperor. Because the eunuchs who serve food are worried that once the emperor knows the taste of bone marrow, he will eat it at any time, such as winter bamboo shoots in summer and fresh broad beans in winter. If the sacrifice is not good, he will lose his head.
Similarly, some folk delicacies were not available to emperors: during the Qianlong period, Yangzhou salt merchants were famous for their exquisite food. When Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, the salt merchants carefully made a banquet for Qianlong. Salt merchants were very surprised to find that Gan Long didn't respond. So I spend money to get information. The eunuch said, "Are you afraid of your food? Long live the Lord who eats your food. What shall we do when we return to the palace? So when you serve every dish, we always put a spoonful of sugar. " If this spoonful of sugar goes down, you won't be able to eat anything delicious.
maybe you will be eccentric again. How can a cook in the palace be better than a cook in Yangzhou? This is because there are too many rules in the palace. How to cook a dish, how much ingredients to use and what seasonings to put should be recorded. Chefs can only cook according to the recipe, not play by themselves. In this way, even a first-class chef can hardly give play to his highest level, and the emperor can't eat the best dishes he cooks.
another important reason why the emperor can't eat well is the restriction of court dining etiquette. As we all know, many dishes have to be cooked to taste the most delicious taste. Crispy fried food is not only not delicious, but also tastes bad when it is cold. However, the emperor is very particular about eating. He has to set the table first and serve dishes that suit his identity. The chef in the kitchen must prepare the dishes half a day or even a day ago, or simmer on the fire or stew in a large steamer. Such dishes can only be ugly. Moreover, the royal chef is far away from the place where the emperor dines, and even the newly cooked dishes will pass the best time to eat before the emperor.
in the Qing dynasty, the court etiquette also stipulated that the emperor ate alone. China people's diet not only satisfies their appetite, but also plays an important role in gathering relatives and friends and exchanging feelings. But the emperor can't. He can't enjoy family happiness in good food. Even if you ask your empresses to accompany you to dinner, you should obey the ceremony of the monarch and the minister. It is serious and very boring.
What's more, even if the emperor meets his favorite dishes, he can't eat as much as he wants. There is a rule in the imperial court that the emperor can only eat one bite of all his dishes. If you like, have a second bite, and this dish will not be served again in a few months. If the emperor takes the third bite, he will never eat this dish again in his life. Why do you ask? I was afraid that people would know what the emperor liked to eat, so they were poisoned.
In the same way, in order to prevent being poisoned, every dish should be tasted by a little eunuch before being sent. This is called "tasting food". Looking at it from another angle, what was served to the emperor was actually the leftovers eaten by the little eunuch. Finally, emperors generally lack hunger, and hunger is the best ingredient of food.