Rebirth of Jiuyouyan

Xi Jiuzui's preparations are proceeding in an orderly manner. Compared with the waiter and shopkeeper Cheng who memorize menus every day, Steward Fang is almost invisible.

It wasn't that he was dodging, but that Xia Yue, who needed to go to the wine cellar and couldn't get away, gave him a task. Steward Fang hurried out of Yincheng and rushed to a kiln factory twenty miles away.

Previously, Xia Yue asked the housekeeper about the kiln factory with the best craftsmanship in Yincheng, so he sent two servants to bring his own letter. masonry as an example.He didn't know how Luoyue burned paper ceramics. Since there are many magical ores here, it must be beyond the knowledge of his previous life to guess, so he only mentioned it a little, hoping that the other party would think of a way.

The kiln owner over there is still very young, but about 35 years old, and his skills are among the best in Yincheng. After receiving Xia Yue's letter, he was very interested, and asked his servant to come back the same day to report that the order was accepted.It's just that the kind of masonry itself is a stone, not a fired brick, and the price is quite expensive, so it is not suitable, but there is a kind of clay that can be tried.

What the kiln owner thought of was a kind of clay called Luotao, and there was a lot of it on a barren hill near the kiln.The kiln owner once tried to use falling peaches to fire containers, but for some reason only small cups and bowls were successful, and larger bowls and bowls would burn out.Therefore, although it is found that it is very good in heat insulation, but because it cannot be made into a large container, even if the small container has a good insulation effect, it is of little use, so the kiln owner gave up the idea of ​​​​development.

Xia Yue's request reminded him of this kind of clay. If it's just a one-size-fits-all drinking utensil, there should be no problem.The kiln owner decided to give it a try. If he succeeded, he would not only be able to sign a long-term contract with the Yun family, but also stop wasting the rare and ready-made Luotao, which would be very cost-effective.

On the night of the first day of the new year, a letter came from the kiln factory, saying that the first batch had been trial-produced, the effect was mediocre, and the heat preservation could last for an hour. He asked when the young master of the Yun family would come over to see the finished products.

Xia Yue couldn't go there, and he used up the whole day of the second day of junior high school. Afterwards, there would be new wine in the storage tank. He had to go to the storage room almost every day, so the matter of the wine utensils was left to Steward Fang to handle. up.

In the early morning of the third day of junior high school, Steward Fang went straight over with the contract he had drawn up.An hour is enough for them, a drink is only one-tenth of a liter, no matter how slow they drink, it will not last an hour, it is definitely enough.The only thing to worry about is the appearance. Steward Fang does not know what the finished product looks like, so he is inevitably a little worried. After all, it is to be served to customers. It is rare that Xi Jiuzui has set up a menu. Dark ugly guy.

When shopkeeper Cheng knew that Steward Fang was worried, he tried his best to hold back his laughter.It's not that he thinks this worry is unreasonable, it's just that...he himself didn't think about it at all. Wasn't the purpose of doing this for the young master to keep warm? Why is Fang Ziming worried not about the effect of heat insulation, but Is it ugly or not?

Shopkeeper Cheng, who turned his back and snickered after watching the person leave, would never dare to say that Steward Fang was too thoughtful and like a courtier.

When Steward Fang returned to Xijiuzui in the evening, he was all smiles.

The reason why Luotao is called Luotao, according to the kiln owner who named it, is that it feels like a peach that has fallen to the ground, and it is light pink in color.The fired wine utensils look pretty even without glaze.

After all, it is used in Xijiuzui, and it still needs to be glazed. There are twelve wine utensils in this batch. Steward Fang and the kiln owner decided on the pattern of sea water pattern and twig pattern, and then took away a plain bowl by himself. arms.

"Why did you take one for yourself?" Shopkeeper Cheng took out a bottle from his arms to see Steward Fang happily, and stared at him.

"I've paid for it," Steward Fang took out a handkerchief and wiped it again and again, loving it a lot, "Don't worry, Shao Bo is not so stingy, so the second batch has been ordered."

"Who told you that?" Shopkeeper Cheng leaned over the counter, looking at Steward Fang with a sad face, "I mean, why did you steal one? What about mine?"

Steward Fang paused in his hands, then silently glanced at him, thought for a while, and finally ignored him.

Shopkeeper Cheng almost stared a hole in the bottle in Steward Fang's hand.

Xia Yue had to go out almost every day, so busy that it didn't look like it was Chinese New Year.

In the morning at Yin time, I have to get up, wash and dress, eat some breakfast, and arrive at the wine store in half an hour, just in time to wash and steam the rice.

Yunjia Wine Store is backed by a small mountain, and there is a mountain spring flowing down the mountain, which was introduced into Tibet, and this mountain spring is used for washing rice and brewing wine.

Washing rice in the cold winter is very hard work, and it is basically the work of apprentices to touch cold water, but Xia Yue rolled up his sleeves and tied his hem to join in in order to experience every process of wine making.

After washing the rice, the rice should be transported to Tibet for steaming.

After entering the wine store, Xia Yue took off his outer robe and wore short clothes for easy movement, and worked with other Tibetans.Climbing up the wooden ladder, using a wooden shovel to turn back and forth the steamed rice in the wooden bucket at a high place, the steaming steam is enveloped, and there is no way to feel cold.

The huge wooden barrel for steaming rice is called a steamer. It looks bigger when standing on it than from the bottom. It can easily fit eight or nine adult officials in it.The steamed rice is put into a one-foot-high wooden barrel with a wooden shovel, and the Tibetans carry the wooden barrel on their shoulders to the drying field, and spread it out to dissipate heat.Many Tibetans turn over steamed rice shirtless, and Xia Yue is no exception.

This work is repeated every day, boring, but meaningful.And every day, when cooling the steamed rice, the wine storehouse welcomes the first ray of sunshine in the morning.

Sprinkle the first koji fungus on the steamed rice that has dissipated heat, rub it with your hands, and spread it evenly. After waiting for an hour, sprinkle the second koji fungus. After kneading evenly, pile all the steamed rice into a ball, wrap it in a white cloth and place it.

It is usually past noon when this process is completed.

While waiting for the second time to spread the koji mushrooms, Master Du would call Xia Yue away and take him to watch the koji making.

Liquor is brewed with rice and water. Steamed rice, koji rice and water are poured into shallow flat large round basins called half-cut barrels, and then two Tibetans are in charge of each half-cut barrel. Stirring, this process is called folding.It is an ancient method of making sake using the natural yeast that has accumulated over the years and floats in the air of the brewery.

What you pay attention to is not strength, but rhythm. It can be said that it is a more boring job than steaming rice. It needs to repeat a single movement in a continuous cycle, but this simple process will create a turbulence in the half-cut barrel. An environment for the growth of complex microorganisms.

This is explained in modern language. There are different bacteria growing in this half-cut barrel, lactic acid bacteria, nitrate-reducing bacteria, and yeast.These bacteria will disappear after creating an environment suitable for the growth of the next bacteria. It is as if various bacteria are fighting each other in a battlefield called a half-cut barrel. Bacteria are constantly being eliminated. In the end, lactic acid bacteria will win the final victory .But lactic acid bacteria are not the final masters of the world in the half-cut bucket. Their function is to inhibit the reproduction of miscellaneous bacteria and create an environment suitable for the growth of yeast.When this task is completed, the lactic acid bacteria will also disappear from the barrel world.

Folding is the process to make this chaotic battlefield come into being.Xia Yue has always found it incredible that in Luo Yue, who had no concept of microorganisms, and in the ancient times of the previous life, why did people discover such a wine-making method?

The continuous disappearance and appearance of microorganisms will eventually make such delicious wine be born in the world.

Xia Yue thought to himself, because of this, good wine will bring people indescribable touch.

After noon, Xia Yue bid farewell to the Tibetans who gradually got to know him in the wine cellar, hurried home to eat his medicinal diet, and after a short rest, he took Shiyan out to go to Xijiuzui.

Shiyan needs to teach Cheng the shopkeeper and waiter waiters to warm the wine before the opening on the eighth day of the new year.

Because they don't have Shiyan's golden fingers, they can only remember the temperature by touching the wine bottle first.While they were experimenting with hot water, Shi Yan and Xia Yue were studying how many charcoals to use, how long to heat them, how long to scald them, and what temperature they could reach.

There is no thermometer, but fortunately there is a Fulang that can be used as a thermometer.Xia Yue tried to set the temperature level by himself. Now the wine needs to be scalded in winter, and when the weather turns hot, the wine needs to be iced. After all, some wines are not suitable for scalding, but need to be chilled to taste better.Xia Yue planned to build an ice cellar now.

There are different temperature classifications for Japanese sake. Xia Yue thinks that although such fine temperature changes cannot be achieved here, he can refer to some.The normal temperature of wine that has not been scalded is about 35 degrees, and the human body temperature is [-] degrees. Xia Yue decided to only take [-] degrees and [-] degrees.

Shi Yan watched Xia Yue write down the name, and then read it out.

"Normal temperature, skin temperature, warm perm, hot perm?"

Xia Yue smiled, put down his pen and got up, fetched three new bottles, and scalded them with hot water of about 35 degrees, [-] degrees and [-] degrees respectively, so that Shi Yan could feel it and write it down.He is very glad that he used to think that using a thermometer was too unprofessional, and deliberately practiced the skill of scalding wine, otherwise he would not be able to teach Shiyan even if he knew how to taste the wine at a certain temperature.

Shi Yan memorized them one by one, and then tried to iron the same temperature by himself, and recorded the amount of charcoal needed, the heating time, and the time of boiling wine, and then tried again and again.With Xia Yue's assistance, it took the couple three days to finalize this Xi Jiu Zui's exclusive method of warming wine.At this time, shopkeeper Cheng and the others also touched the hot bottle for three days, and finally they were able to distinguish the difference between different temperatures.

The kiln delivered the first batch of eleven seawater patterns and the second batch of ten twig-wrapped finished products on the sixth day of the lunar new year.Xia Yue stuffed Shi Yan with a sea water pattern and asked him to take it home, so Xi Jiuzui finally used twenty peach bottles.

Tao Zun was the name given by the kiln owner, and Xia Yue accepted it kindly.Each peach bottle has a capacity of one cup, long body, thin neck, round belly, and a slightly larger mouth than a plum bottle. Instead of a round mouth, it has a pointed mouth for easy pouring.The wall of the peach bottle is relatively thick, and it is only used to hold and pour wine. The plum bottle is still used for hot wine, and then poured into the peach bottle before serving to the guests. It can prevent interested people from stealing Xijiuzui's technique of warming wine.

During this period, shopkeeper Cheng has re-hanged the plate, wine is divided into categories, followed by various dishes.The price of the new wine is easy to accept, and the taste is lively and powerful, while the mature wine is more expensive and has a deeper taste. The shopkeeper Cheng arranges them in order according to the year, and hangs a plate indicating the year next to the wine brand, and then hangs a price tag.

The menus are also all ready. The menu written by Steward Fang himself is elegant and elegant, deliberately leaving the ethereal and graceful style. He is used to the shopkeeper Cheng who is usually sloppy, and he is a bit maladapted.

When everything was ready, everyone realized that it was already the seventh day of the lunar new year, and Xijiuzui would reopen the door to welcome guests tomorrow.