沒有冰淇淋，古人夏天都吃什么？

炎炎夏日，我們可以吃冰淇淋和凍酸奶，那么古人在熱天里吃什么來降溫解暑呢？

在炎熱的夏日，人們的胃口一般都不好。相比一碗熱湯面，冰淇淋和水果聽上去更清涼提神。

在過去，中國古人在夏天也吃“冰淇淋”和水果制品。來看看古人在熱天里享用的三種美食。

Su shan 酥山

Crushed ice. [Photo/VCG]

Su shan is a dish that looks like crushed ice with milk and butter.
酥山是一種用牛奶、奶油制成的看起來像刨冰的美食。

Poet Wang Lingran from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) described how people made and enjoyed su shan in his poem Ode to Su He Shan. According to the text, sugar was added to su shan that was shaped into many forms. Sometimes, su shan was decorated with flowers and leaves to make it more beautiful.
唐代詩人王泠然在詩歌《蘇合山賦》中描述了人們如何制作和享用酥山。根據詩中所介紹的，人們在酥中加入糖，并做出各種造型。有時候，酥山還用花朵、樹葉作為裝飾。

"It is neither solid, nor watery and disappears once it touches teeth," the poet wrote.
王泠然在詩中寫道：“非固非絺；觸皓齒而便消”。

The su shan in his poem was thought by many scholars to be an early form of ice cream. However, only the royals and nobles were lucky enough to have large iceboxes to create the delicacy in summer.
他筆下的酥山被很多學者認為是冰淇淋的早期形態。不過，只有王公貴族才有幸擁有大型冰窖來制作這一夏日美食。

Ice and iced beverages 冰食和冷飲

Iced juice. [Photo/VCG]

Although there were no fridges in ancient times, iceboxes to store ice cubes in summer had become very common in rich families by the Tang Dynasty.
盡管古代沒有冰箱，但有錢人家夏天用冰窖來儲存冰塊在唐代已經很普遍了。

At that time, people either had ice water or crunched shaved ice.
那時候，人們既可以喝冰水也可以吃冰沙。

People could easily buy iced beverages on the street during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As a community service, some rich people even provided free ice water and medicine on the street for free.
在宋代，人們很容易就能在街上買到用冰鎮的冷飲。一些有錢人家甚至義務地在街頭路邊“散暑藥冰水”。

Ice water sold during the Song Dynasty was often added to mung beans or licorice to help prevent heat stroke.
宋代市面上出售的冰水還經常被加入綠豆湯或甘草湯來幫助人們祛暑降溫。

Cherries with cheese and cane syrup 糖酪澆櫻桃

During the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern dynasties (220-581), dairy food appeared more frequently on ancient Chinese people's tables.
在魏晉南北朝時期，奶制品越來越多地出現在中國古人的餐桌上。

People made three kinds of cheese. One was called tian lao, or sweet cheese, which tasted like cheese yet looked like yogurt. Another is gan lao, or dried cheese, similar to solid cheese eaten today. The last one is cu lao, a kind of half-sour, half-sweet cheese, like yogurt.
當時有三種酪制品。一種叫甜酪，味道是奶酪的口感，但形態上更近似酸奶。另一種叫干酪，比較接近我們今天吃的固態西式奶酪制品。還有一種叫酢酪，類似于酸奶，味道酸甜。

The climate in the Yellow River area in the Tang Dynasty was warmer and moister, very different from today. Many cherry trees were planted there at that time. The fruit was common in early summer and people often added cheese and cane syrup to the cherries.
唐代黃河流域的氣候更為溫暖潮濕，與今日很不相同。許多櫻桃樹就是在那個時候被栽種在那里的。初夏櫻桃大量結實，人們經常將乳酪、蔗糖和櫻桃混拌在一起享用。

Lu You, a noted poet from the Song Dynasty, once wrote: "eat cherry, peach and cheese at the same time".
宋代詩人陸游有詩句云：“蠟櫻、桃子、酪同時?！?/p>

Thus in the Song Dynasty, when ancient Chinese people sent cherries as gifts, cheese was often presented together.
因而在宋代，古人在饋贈櫻桃的時候，常常連同乳酪一并奉送。

When rich noble people had cherries with cheese and cane syrup, they often used plates and bowls made of gold or colored glaze to make the fruit look more mouthwatering.
當富有的貴人享用糖酪澆櫻桃時，他們經常用金盤、彩畫榼等器皿來盛放，讓這道美食在視覺上更加賞心悅目。

（本文內容主要參考孟暉所著的《花露天香》一書）

英文來源：中國日報網（作者李虹睿）
翻譯&編輯：丹妮