An essay on marinated goose

Aromatic brined goose head

In the night market in small towns, brined goose head is a common thing, and are brined chicken brined duck brined rabbit together in the barbecue (Southeast Sichuan dialect, refers to the pickled food) stalls. It can not reach the hall of elegance, set up a formal banquet, but in the era of scarcity of materials, the average person can eat these things, has been a beautiful enjoyment.

The first time I ate goose head was 50 years ago on a night, when I was in fifth grade. My grandmother came to the city from the countryside that day and discreetly asked me to help her write a letter home. The letter was addressed to my uncle, who was working as a store clerk in a foreign country. In the letter, Grandma complained to my uncle that her aunt at home was not good to her. Although I was only in the fifth grade at the time, I was good at writing essays, so it didn't take me long to finish the letter. I read it to my grandmother, and she was so satisfied that she gave me a five-cent bill and told me not to tell your mother, or she would ask you to hand it over to buy rice.

This 5 cents, let me excited for a few days. According to the value of the time, this 5 cents can buy a bowl of beef noodles or fried noodles, or buy two and a half cakes. At that time, the teacher who taught us was paid only 20 yuan or so a month.

This is the first time I've ever seen a woman in the world who has been in a position to do something like this.

The street adjacent to my house is called Desheng Street, which leads to the waterfront, is the busiest street in the town, and is lined with one barbecue stall after another, in addition to selling a variety of marinated vegetables, and deep-fried fish, crabs, shrimp, and peanuts, hu douban, dried tofu and other alcoholic beverages, in today's terms, called the "food street," but does not sell hot food. It is now called "Food Street", but it doesn't sell hot food. Pedestrians will be attracted by the tantalizing aroma and the wide array of marinades, and they can't help but reach for their wallets. 5 cents in my personal pocket for two days, I finally couldn't resist the temptation of the "food street" and replaced it with a marinated goose head.

At that time, the brined goose head is even the neck of the goose together with the slaughter of the next, naturally eatable. I took this brined goose head, in the street while walking, while gnawing. Into the Chaoyang Gate, through Jiefang Street, out of the East Gate, and then to Desheng Street. In this way, when I walked through half of the old county, about to return home, this goose head has been chewed by me a clean. I threw away the bones of the gnawed meat, with a mouth full of brine aroma back home.

But not long after, this was known to my mother, she was furious, looking for gabions (bamboo strips) to beat me up. I thought I hadn't stolen or robbed anything, and the money was earned by my labor, so I was very unconvinced. Later, my sister said to me behind my mother's back: "You're too much, mom is worried about our school fees for the next semester, how dare you eat 5 cents by yourself! The water and spinach for 5 cents would have been enough for the whole family to eat a meal, but you took it to buy snacks, do you think you should be beaten?"

I felt justified before, but when I heard my sister say that, I felt that I was really a bit shortchanged. Yes, my father died early, my mother is not working, I have two sisters below, a woman pulling four children to live, even the food is a problem, how can I ......

From then on I no longer want to eat snacks, and on Sundays and summer and winter vacations also do everything possible to find a piece of work to do, and earned money also took the initiative to "hand over". "The first thing I'd like to do is to get the best out of the world, and I'd like to be able to do that. Unfortunately, I was too small and it was hard for me to find work. During the summer vacation this year, my mother heard that a construction site needed odd jobs and that she could earn 50 cents for each day of work, so she took my sister and me with her to work. When the construction worker saw that I was too small and didn't want me, I begged him, "Don't look at me as small, but I've done tamping, mortar picking, and scaffolding before, so don't believe me and let me try it for a day." My mother and sister also helped me to beg, the constructor reluctantly agreed.

Three people did 10 days, there is no work, but more or less have some income, can always subsidize some of the family. On the day of the checkout, my mother smiled from ear to ear with the 15 yuan of labor money earned by the three of us. With this 15 yuan, the four children's school fees for the next semester could finally be paid. As soon as she was happy, she took out a 10-cent ticket and gave it to me: "I know you all crave that marinated goose head, so I'll go buy two tonight." Then she took out a 5-cent ticket and told my sister to buy two mung bean cakes at the "Tong Fu Yong" store. After dinner, the whole family stayed at the table. When I bought the goose heads, my mother gave one to me and one to my sister. She said that the two younger sisters are still small, can not chew, so each gave a piece of mung bean cake. My sister asked, "Mom, what about you?" Mother said, "I don't want it. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to get the best out of this, but I'm sure you're going to be able to get the best out of this, and I'm sure you're going to be able to get the best out of this.

My sister chopped off half of the head of her goose and gave it to my mother. The mother took it, tore off a little bit of skin and tasted it in her mouth, and said it smelled good. But only tasted a little on the no longer eat, said the stomach is full, and the hand half of the brined goose head to the sister.

I gobbled, a few times will be in the hands of the brine goose head of meat gnawed all, was about to gnaw through the bones to the driving bucket to throw, but was stopped by my mother, said that there, the next meal in the pot to boil a little bit, but also can cook dishes. So I put the bones on the table and went out. After a while, I came back to look for something, but I saw my mother sucking something in her mouth. I saw that she was sucking on the brined goose head that my sister and I had eaten. When my mother saw me coming back, she looked a bit confused. In order to cover up her embarrassment, she did not find words to say: "Look at you, nibble a thing to nibble not clean, here is the head and bone oil miles, bone oil has nutrition ......"

This scene in front of me, so that my nose is sour, tears almost out of the water. Where is the mother does not want to gnaw that brine goose head ah, she is to save the 5 cents! At that time I was secretly determined, when I will make money in the future, I must buy a lot of goose head, so that my mother ate enough!

At the end of the 1950s, an unprecedented famine spread throughout the country, and there was a huge shortage of goods on the market. Not only did we no longer see any barbecue, even sweet potatoes and pumpkins became expensive. And that let me immensely linger on the "food street" is also completely different, the street a wide range of barbecue stalls have long disappeared without a trace. As for the marinated goose head, also become a dream to see the delicacy.

"Three years of difficult times" finally survived, I also finished the teacher training, took up the post of teaching, in Suining, Sichuan Anju town as a respected teacher. As the national economic situation gradually improved, the market also became prosperous from the depression.

I and the teachers after the night shift, often like to patronize the town of a snack store, buy some brussels sprouts or eat a bowl of hot and sour noodles. The first time I saw this, it was a very good time for me to go to the store. Perhaps it is the nostalgia of childhood life, every weekend to come here to improve life, I am bound to gnaw on a goose head, although the flavor than I ate when I was a child brine goose head is far from it.

The Spring Festival is approaching, the school winter vacation, I am also ready to go back to Shehong home for the New Year. I went to the town to buy 10 brined goose heads to bring home.

Still in a night, or the family around eating noodles, I will be a packet of marinated goose head open on the table, let everyone eat. My sister and brother all picked up a chewed up without ceremony, but my mother did not do it. I asked: "Mom, why don't you eat ah?" Mother smiled and said: "Eat, eat." Said also picked up a, put in the mouth and smelled, and put back on the table: "really fragrant, but unfortunately not the blessing of the mouth, the teeth fell out ......"

My heart sank, by 15 watts of electric light, I realized that my mother's hair has been a lot of white, forehead wrinkles are as dense as the years, so I have to go back to my mother's house. I realized that my mother's hair has been a lot of white, forehead wrinkles are as dense and long as the years, and that young once plump cheeks are also due to the loss of teeth some shriveled up. I wanted my mother to eat a full meal of brined goose head wish can not be realized, I feel very guilty and heavy heart. Hard-working mother for most of her life, when the children can earn their own living, life can be a little better, but can not enjoy the children's filial piety, this is how regrettable things ah! Why didn't this "enjoyment" come earlier? I couldn't answer. I silently picked up a marinated goose head gnawing, taste like chewing wax.