This guest is not familiar with it at the beginning, so it is difficult to persuade the food customs.
Zhongxu is afraid of being discouraged and begins to chew and vomit.
Sucking semen is slightly sweet, and the teeth are also bitter.
The face is too cold, and the taste is absolutely charming.
——Song Dynasty, Su Shi
When I was a child, I read this poem by Su Dongpo, but I couldn't understand it. Why do you want to vomit and taste sweet and wonderful when eating betel nut? But since then, I have had a yearning for areca, and I want to taste its delicious.
Later, I heard a beautiful legend about betel nuts: it is said that a long time ago, there lived a girl named Bailiao (Li, meaning beautiful) in a Li village at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain. She is industrious, kind-hearted and clever. The simple skirt she weaves makes the beautiful peacock dare not open its screen; When she sings, even the lark will hold her breath and listen. Young people hundreds of miles away at the foot of Wuzhi Mountain all rushed to propose to her. Bai Liao said to them, "I don't love anyone's property. I only love people who are loyal to love. If anyone gives me the betel nut on the Five Finger Peak, he will be my favorite. " Many suitors went home in fear.
There was a Li hunter named Coco, who loved Bailiao deeply and bravely walked to Wuzhi Mountain. He walked through the virgin forest where few people came to, overcame the attack of wild animals and mountain locusts, finally climbed to the peak, picked up bundles of betel nuts and gave them to Miss Bailiao, and married her happily.
Since then, the local people have taken betel nut as a token of engagement. Once the man has a crush on a girl, he will send betel nut (commonly known as "putting betel nut") to the woman's family to propose marriage. If the woman's parents open the betel nut box and pick up a betel nut to chew, it is an answer to the marriage, otherwise they will return all the betel nuts to show their refusal. When getting married, the bride has to invite both parents and villagers to eat betel nuts. When giving birth to a girl, the women of the Li family always plant a betel nut tree in front of their own house. When the girl grows up and marries, the tree will also be dug up and transplanted to the man's house. It will not be cut down until she dies, to show that she is as faithful as a betel nut tree.
Later, I listened to the love song "Whoever climbs first will taste the betel nut on the high tree", which is familiar to both the mainland and Taiwan. This aroused my fascination for betel nut. You should know that in our time, there was more or less a vague feeling about love.
Areca nut has medicinal value. The Record of Famous Doctors says: "Areca nut is born in the South China Sea, and its smell is bitter, bitter, warm, astringent, non-toxic. It can remove phlegm and remove phlegm, kill three worms, lay corpses, and inch white." It is commonly used in TCM clinic to treat dysentery, tapeworm, biliary ascariasis, schistosomiasis, etc. Eyedrops made of betel nut can treat glaucoma. Doctors and writers of the Five Dynasties highly praised the medicinal value of betel nut. Song • Huang Tingjian once asked people to look for betel nuts: "Red trunked trees in the coal rain, and the water drained behind the elbow. Don't laugh at the poor county magistrate who is hungry, and bother you to send betel nuts.". Song Zhu Xi also praised his achievements in curing diseases and killing insects. The poem said, "When I remember traveling south in the past, my face turned red for the first time. The medicine bag knew it was useful, but the tea bowl could not be the same. Juanji had special effects, and the cultivation of truth recorded different skills. If three Peng were not avoided, it would corrupt the seven non Chinese."
There are many poems chanting betel nuts by poets in past dynasties, such as: Tang Li Bai's "What is a golden plate? A single tree recommends betel nuts", Song Tang Geng's "The scallops are smooth and the betel nuts are red on the cheek", Yuan Zhang Zhu's "The betel nuts are delicious and a single tree sleeps in the sky", Song Sushi's "Don't worry about the moon village for a long time, betel nuts give birth to children and bamboo gives birth to grandchildren"
Areca nut is not only a medicine, but also a gift for folk celebration in Li and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hainan Island. Every festival, give gifts to each other, especially for wedding celebration. It is OK not to give wedding candy, and it is impolite not to give betel nuts. When receiving guests, we always treat them with betel nuts: a piece of fresh betel nuts, a piece of woody leaves, and then smeared with shell paste. Please put it in your mouth and chew it carefully to show your hospitality.
When I read, I had a more thorough understanding of betel nut culture, and what made me feel more gratified was that I had completed my long cherished wish to taste betel nuts. That time, at the students' birthday party, the students took out several bags of areca for everyone to taste. We can't wait to take a piece and put it in the import, and chew it. Wow, it's so bitter! He vomited quickly, but his friend smiled and said, "Take your time to chew, and then you will find the taste.". I took another piece of betel nut and put it into my mouth. This time, it's not as bitter as it used to be. When I chew it again, it's really sweet. Gee, it's amazing!
