Chapter 261 Chinese Famous Dishes Recipes

In the 1950s, a bottle of Moutai liquor cost two yuan. This price remained the same until the 1980s, with little change in price, only a few cents, a few dimes, or a few yuan. This was mainly because the price was set by the state.

The family originally brewed wine, so Grandpa and Dad would buy some wines available on the market to taste and evaluate. The family still has several bottles of various brands of wine produced in the 1950s, as Grandpa would say.

"These are all things that your father and I thought tasted good, and we wanted to keep them so that we could bring them out and have a drink with our in-laws when you brothers get married."

Xiao Jiu, born in 1950, was deeply loved by her family, so her grandfather specially brewed a batch of "Daughter's Red" wine. Originally buried under a peach tree, it was dug up and buried in the house in Xihe Village when they moved, so that they could drink it together when she got married.

Their family has no shortage of wine, but they lack wines with collectible value.

The price of Moutai liquor rose from the initial ex-factory price of 1.28 yuan to 2.5 yuan, which is twenty years from the establishment of the factory in 1953 to 1973. Starting from 1974, the ex-factory price rose from 2.5 yuan to 6.2 yuan.

From 1954 to 1956, the market price was 2.84 yuan. From 1957 to 1960, the market price was 2.97 yuan, less than three yuan.

The price will rise to 4.07 yuan starting next year, but it didn't reach 8 yuan until 1973.

"Young man, there's only one bottle left. Do you want it?"

Hearing that there was only one bottle, Xiao Jiu was a little disappointed, but quickly asked, "Want it? How much is a bottle?"

"You need to give me a jin of liquor coupons and 2.97 yuan."

Xiao Jiu quickly counted out three yuan and handed over the five liquor tickets.

After checking, the salesperson brought her a bottle of Moutai liquor in an earthenware bottle, sealed with a cork and a bladder.

Looking at the year it was released, wow!!

It's from 1958! What luck!

Xiao Jiu happily held the Moutai bottle and examined it closely.

Moutai liquor from the 1950s is arguably the most valuable among collectibles. This is because the production volume of Moutai liquor from that era was low, and due to the limitations of the earthenware bottle material, it was prone to evaporation, thus commanding a higher price. Currently, it has fetched a high price of 300,000 to 500,000 yuan at auctions.

Fifty-three years later, Moutai adopted a five-pointed star design, but at this time the registered trademark was "Wheel Brand".

It was the predecessor of the "Five Stars" brand.

This wine is extremely rare on the market.

It still features the familiar red and white design, with small black characters at the top reading "Famous at Home and Abroad," large red characters on a white background in the middle reading "Guizhou Maotai Liquor," and "Produced by the Local State-Owned Maotai Distillery" in the lower right corner. The product manual is at the back.

I'm still so excited even though I only managed to buy one bottle!

Thinking that he still had about twenty kilograms of liquor coupons in his hand, Xiao Jiu couldn't help but sweetly ask the salesperson.

"Sister, will there be more stock? I want to buy more."

The salesperson was quite nice; she laughed as soon as she heard it.

"Why would a young girl like you buy so much wine? This wine is so expensive. These past few years have been tough, so production has been low. This one bottle has been sitting here for over a month without selling. It's hard to say when the next bottle will arrive. Why don't you go look somewhere else?"

A bottle of Moutai liquor sat unsold for a month?

Xiao Jiu was a little confused and found it even more unbelievable.

However, the person did give her a good idea, so she wasn't afraid of going far. She asked the salesperson for several addresses and searched for them in turn, from a department store to a supply and marketing cooperative. Hey, not bad, she actually found five or six bottles.

These wines were all produced in the 1950s without exception. I had heard that they were sealed for several years before being released to the market, and it seems that this was not a rumor. Otherwise, why couldn't I buy any produced in that year?

Of these seven bottles of Moutai, all were produced between 1955 and 1958. I couldn't even get the 1959 vintage. What luck!

It seems she'll need to collect more alcohol tickets in the future.

After a whole morning of fussing around, she bought seven bottles of wine and earned seven candies. The price was 2.97 yuan, and she gave the person three yuan. How do you get change for three li?

She received seven candies, each about the size of her little fingernail. She had only ever seen these kinds of candies at bank windows in her later life, but compared to their packaging, the ones from her later life were clearly more exquisite and beautiful.

After that, she went to a scrap yard, where there wasn't much before the unrest began.

Do not judge this state-owned scrap yard from a futuristic perspective. Although it is not large, it has sorters, movers, organizers, cashiers, and warehouse keepers.

As soon as I entered, I saw a middle-aged woman sitting in the small hut by the door knitting. She glanced at me as I came in.

"What does your little girl want to watch?"

"Hello comrade, I'd like to find some old books and newspapers first."

"Okay, go in and find it yourself. It's in that pile on the right. We've already sorted it into categories. Where did you get it from? If you don't want it, just leave it there."

"Okay, thank you."

Following the custodian's directions, the polite Xiao Jiu went to a pile of waste newspapers and old books.

Xiao Jiu spotted the "Chinese Famous Dishes Recipe" in the old book at a glance. It was compiled in 1958 by local catering service companies in collaboration with famous restaurants and chefs from various regions. The reason it was "at a glance" was because it was still relatively new and had been sent to a recycling station. Xiao Jiu quickly took it in his hands.

The entire set consists of ten books, but she only found three of them among these old books.

Xiao Jiu patiently continued rummaging through the other books and finally found four more.

Unfortunately, I couldn't buy the remaining three books. I'll check with the bookstore later to see if they have them and then I'll get them for myself.

Then she dug out "One Hundred Ways to Prepare Coarse Grains", "How to Eat Sweet Potatoes", "One Hundred Ways to Eat Yams", "Four Hundred Ways to Eat Potatoes", and even a picture book of "Wild Edible Plants". These were the most useful recipes during difficult times, so how did they end up in the junkyard?

Xiao Jiu didn't understand, but he still quickly took it in his hand, because in the turbulent decade after 1966, the recipe was criticized as "poisonous weeds".

Because of his excessive promotion of lavish spending on food and drink, he was accused of crimes such as catering to the needs of the bourgeoisie, promoting peaceful evolution, and corrupting revolutionary cadres and masses.

As a result, people across the country were on edge, and the cookbook industry fell silent for a time.

In addition to these old-fashioned recipes, she also found some traditional Chinese characters, with many pages missing, which looked like recipes and prescriptions passed down from her ancestors.

Xiao Jiu, who was originally squatting, unknowingly started sitting because she was looking at things for so long that she didn't even notice when the custodian came to check on her.

If she weren't so young, so focused on her reading, and had chosen a thick stack of books, they probably would have chased her away.

They didn't come to call her until it was almost lunchtime and they were about to leave work.

"My dear girl, you've been looking around for an hour or two. Have you made your choice yet? I'm about to leave work!"

Xiao Jiu snapped out of her daze and quickly glanced at her watch. Wow, it was almost midnight!

"Excuse me, comrade, I'm so engrossed in choosing these items, I'll get up and weigh them now."

Xiao Jiu has already selected nearly fifty old books, covering a wide range of topics including medicine, food, textbooks, and novels. If she doesn't buy these books now, they might be used as evidence in a crime later. Moreover, judging from the content she has selected, she even feels that she has come a little late and plans to come and take a look when she has time in the future.

The books, which cost one cent per pound, were weighed and given three cents in the end.

The comrade was very kind and even helped her tie it up so she could easily carry it home.

Xiao Jiu was also tactful; he took two White Rabbit candies from his pocket and handed them over.

"Comrade, thank you for your hard work. I'll come earlier next time I have time, so as not to delay your departure from get off work."

Upon seeing the candy, the storekeeper immediately accepted it with a beaming smile.

"Oh, you're such a studious little student. Why are you being so polite? If you need anything, just bring it. I don't have much else, but I have plenty of old books and newspapers. You're definitely a good student, buying so many books. You've really got a broad range of knowledge."

Xiao Jiu smiled and waved her hand: "These are all for my family. I have a lot of students in my family. Okay, then you go ahead with your business."

After leaving the junkyard, I immediately found a secluded spot and transferred the two stacks of books to my spatial storage.

Her stomach started rumbling at that moment. She had just washed her hands at the scrap yard, and now that she had arrived at the state-run restaurant, seeing the huge crowd inside, she instinctively chose to give up.

"Who said there are economic difficulties? How come so many people are still eating here?"

I found a place to enter the space, cooked myself a bowl of noodles, and served it with a sauce made from scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Just before taking it out of the pot, I sprinkled some greens on the noodles. I slurped up a big bowl of noodles and ate it with great satisfaction.

In the afternoon, she took the coupons to the supply and marketing cooperative and used them for soap, matches, salt, enamel basins, enamel bowls, enamel teacups, rubber shoes, raincoats, and other items. In total, she bought more than a dozen items and spent eight yuan and sixty cents.

She exchanged quite a few of those food coupons that were about to expire with her classmates, and the one with the earliest expiration date that she currently has is one she wants to spend before the first quarter of next year.

You can keep the meat coupons for now. They have a long validity period, especially those issued during difficult times. Who knows when the meat will be available again? Even if you have coupons, you can't buy meat if there's no meat available.

Today she was fortunate enough to witness the scene of city dwellers receiving their food rations; those at the front of the line had reportedly started queuing the night before.

At this time, no one can feel at ease until the food is delivered to their home. Those who arrive late may not only find it difficult to buy, but may also only receive coarse grains instead of refined grains.

On the day of issuing invoices at the end of the month or the beginning of the next month, long queues form at major supply and marketing cooperatives, department stores, and grain and oil shops.

Tickets that can be used immediately will never be saved for next month.

After buying daily necessities, I went to buy fabric, mainly for my older sister. In those days, fabric cost about four cents a foot. Common types of fabric included cotton, wool, polyester, dacron, acrylic, and polyester. Depending on the practical value and the height and weight of an adult woman, she would need about seven to twelve feet of fabric.

Based on the height of her sisters and the type of fabric (mostly cotton), Xiao Jiu bought 58 feet of cloth from four or five state-run supply and marketing cooperatives.

I also bought ten pairs of Liberation shoes in different sizes for my family. Each pair cost three yuan and fifty cents, which is thirty-five yuan in total.

The money came quickly and went away quickly. In one day, her savings dropped to 2,995 yuan. Before going back to school, Xiao Jiu, who had OCD, went to sell another batch of vegetables to make up 3,000 yuan before returning to school satisfied.