" Xiamen Evening News " news: Xiamen When Ms. Jiang, a citizen, passed by a restaurant in Xiamen Lotus, she found a stuffed peacock placed at the door of the restaurant. The sign below clearly stated the restaurant's special dishes: braised peacock and peacock stew. wait. There are restaurants that serve peacocks as delicacies. What’s going on?
We all know that the peacock is the king of birds and one of the most beautiful ornamental birds in the world. Especially when the peacock opens its tail, it looks like a green gauze fan, and the eye spots on its tail feathers reflect the glory, like many small mirrors. The beautiful tail is like a colorful fan in the hands of a fairy, gradually spreading out, and like translucent pearls scattered on it, it is very beautiful.
Peacock in full bloom
There are two kinds of peacocks in the world: green peacock and blue peacock . The white peacock and black peacock we see in the zoo are actually variants of the blue peacock. The peacock has a green head and a total length of more than 2 meters, of which the tail screen is about 1.5 meters. It is the largest of the Galliformes. The upper tail coverts are particularly long, forming a tail screen, which is bright and beautiful. Green peacocks are distributed in Southeast Asia. In China, they are only found in western and southern Yunnan. The wild population is extremely rare. It is a national first-level protected animal in China.
Whether in the East or the West, the peacock is a symbol of good luck and wealth. In Western mythology, the peacock is the sacred bird of Queen Haola, because Hera is called Juno in Roman mythology, so the peacock is also called the "bird of Juno" in the West. . In Eastern legends, the peacock was bred from the phoenix, the eldest bird of all birds, after receiving the energy of mating. It was born from the same mother as Dapeng, and was named the Great Ming Bodhisattva by Tathagata Buddha . How can such a beautiful and auspicious thing be eaten?
Peacock Dance
Some time ago, Ms. Jiang from Xiamen was passing a restaurant in Lianhua and saw a peacock specimen placed at the door of the restaurant. Under the specimen was a peacock recipe, which said that this restaurant offers special cuisine: red Recipe names such as braised peacock, stir-fried peacock breast with pickled peppers and peacock stew. At that time, Ms. Jiang was very shocked. Why should peacocks be eaten if they are so beautiful? Moreover, peacocks are a national first-level protected animal. Isn’t it illegal to sell them publicly or eat them?
The reporter from "Xiamen Evening News" followed Ms. Jiang's guidance and found this restaurant. The manager of the restaurant told reporters that the Peacock series of recipes are their restaurant's specialties, and guests need to make a reservation to taste them. The peacocks served in their restaurant come from the rare bird peacock breeding cooperative in Datian, Sanming, Fujian. The restaurant purchases the peacocks from the cooperative at a price of 1,288 yuan each according to the customer's reservation. When the market was good, there were many customers who made reservations for Peacock Cuisine. Now, due to the epidemic, there are very few reservations.
Peacock specimens and recipes at the door of the restaurant
As we said before, there are two kinds of peacocks in the world: green peacock and blue peacock. Due to the sharp decrease in the number of green peacocks, they are now rare in the areas where they are distributed. Green peacocks have become a national protected animal and hunting is strictly prohibited. is prohibited from eating. Relatively speaking, Blue peacocks have a wide distribution range, and the artificial breeding technology is relatively mature. They were not listed as endangered protected animals earlier. Moreover, artificially raised blue peacocks contain high protein, low energy, low fat, and low cholesterol, and can be used as high-end delicacies.
The 49th volume of the poultry section of the ancient Chinese "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that "the peacock can ward off evil and can resolve major poisons, hundreds of poisons and medicinal poisons". Its detoxification effect even exceeds pangolin . It has been confirmed by modern science and technology that peacock meat has a complete range of nutrients and is rich in various trace elements. The amino acid ratio is close to the ideal model recommended by the International Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization . It is a high-quality protein, lean meat, and its fat The , cholesterol, , and caloric indicators are better than those of ordinary poultry, mammals, and freshwater fish, and meet the extremely lean meat standards stipulated in the U.S. New Food Standards Act. The bone calcium content of peacock bones is high, and the calcium to phosphorus ratio is better than that of milk, which is almost the same as that of human milk. It is a high-quality source of calcium supplementation.
Peacock Feast
So, is this restaurant’s approach in Xiamen not illegal? actually not. According to the latest version, which is the "Decision on Comprehensive Prohibition of Illegal Wildlife Trade to Effectively Protect People's Life Safety and Health" issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 2020, the blue peacock is not included in the "National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resource Breed Catalog". Previously, The state allows qualified units to operate artificial breeding operations, but it has been explicitly banned after 2020. In other words, it is illegal to sell peacocks and it is illegal to eat peacocks.
Peacock is a symbol of good luck and happiness. If it were you, would you eat it? A few years ago, when artificially bred blue peacocks were still edible, a platform conducted a survey. Among ,500 citizens who participated in the survey, 422 criticized and boycotted Peacock Feast, believing that peacocks represent auspicious spirits. Birds can't bear to eat; 66 people were undecided, and only 12 people expressed their willingness to try it.
The peacock flies southeast
"The peacock flies southeast, wandering for five miles." I will never eat such a beautiful and auspicious thing. If you find anyone selling or eating peacocks in the market, you can report it to the relevant local departments.
