The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The guests invited by Sanvis were distinguished persons, including Baron Fernando from Lisbon, Count Silva from Beja, and his two partners and friends, Captain Wolfe and grain merchant Costa.

They gathered together today to discuss a business deal. Several people wanted to jointly buy an ocean-going galleon and go to the New World to do business.

The Baron is not involved. He is the introducer of Sandvis and Count Silva, so Sandvis will be the host today.

The restaurant of the tavern was brightly lit, and several people sat on the sofa smoking and chatting, while Diego served the dishes one by one. When Sanvis saw that four dishes were served, he invited everyone to the table to eat.

Everyone sat down at the table and looked at the dishes on it. They were all familiar cod, but the cooking methods seemed to be something they had never seen before, so it felt quite new.

Sanvis explained: "You may not have seen this way of eating. This is the Chinese way of eating, called a whole fish feast. The cook is from China. This is my first time tasting it. Let's all see the oriental craftsmanship."

The baron said: "I heard that Chinese eating habits are very different from ours, so let's try their cooking skills."

As the host, Sanvis distributed food to everyone, and the first person he gave food to was the Earl, who had the most distinguished status.

The count tasted the fried fish on the plate and raised his eyebrows: "Well, it's a very good experience."

The others also tasted the fried fish. The Baron said it most directly: "Delicious! I have eaten thousands of cods, but none can compare to this. Orientals really know how to eat."

They tried a few other dishes and felt that they had never eaten anything so delicious.

The baron couldn't help but ask: "Can you invite your Chinese chef? I want to see who made this delicacy."

Sanvis waved to little Diego who was serving beside him and whispered a few words in his ear. Diego nodded and turned to go to the kitchen.

Min Xi was cooking noodles in the kitchen, with shredded omelette and leftover vegetable and cod soup as toppings.

When he heard the guest wanted to see him, he said, "Please wait a moment. My main course will be ready soon."

Min Xi prepared the noodles and brought them to the dining table with little Diego.

As soon as Min Xi appeared, everyone's eyes were on him, because they had never seen a real Chinese person before.

The baron asked, "Are you today's cook? What's your name? Where are you from? Can you speak Flangji?"

Min Xi nodded: "Yes, sir. My name is Min, I am from China. I made all the food today. Is it to your taste?"

The baron nodded with satisfaction. "It's delicious! Mr. Sanvis found a good cook."

Sanvis didn't dare to recognize Min Xi as his cook, and said quickly: "Your Excellency Baron, Min is not my cook, he is my tenant, who came to help me temporarily."

The baron nodded approvingly: "The food from the East is indeed extraordinary, just as Marco Polo said in his travels."

Min Xi had never read The Travels of Marco Polo, so naturally he didn't know what Marco Polo said about Chinese food: "Thank you for your compliment."

The baron added: "You speak very well in the language of the Flange. Are you also an explorer?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "I guess so. This is the noodles I made, and it's also the staple food for today. Please enjoy." He placed the noodles in his hand in front of the guests.

The Italians had never seen noodles before. They only used flour to make bread and biscuits. The Italians learned how to make noodles from China, but their learning was a bit weird. So when noodles were placed in front of them, they were all surprised.

"What is it made of?" asked the Baron.

Min Xi replied: "It is wheat flour. Please enjoy it, my distinguished guests."

The Baron was very curious. It was really new for him as he had never seen wheat flour eaten with soup like this. Seeing there was soup, he tried to scoop up some noodles with a spoon, but he didn't get a single one.

Min Xi suggested: "It is better to eat noodles with a fork."

The baron suddenly asked: "What do you eat noodles with in China?"

Min Xi smiled and replied, "We Chinese eat with chopsticks. Chopsticks are two small sticks made of bamboo or wood. They have a certain threshold for use and require practice. Once you learn how to use them, it will be very convenient to eat anything, including the slipperiest beans. They are a bit like the extension of human fingers."

Everyone present raised their eyebrows, expressing their curiosity, but they all listened to the advice and chose to use forks to eat the noodles.

Min Xi took the opportunity to leave, and even performed a standard gentleman's greeting: "Please enjoy your meal, everyone."

The people at the table began to eat noodles with forks. Forks were certainly not as good as chopsticks, but at least they could still pick up the noodles. Apart from oatmeal, they had never eaten wet staple food, only dry bread and biscuits. They had never thought that flour could be made into noodles and cooked into soup.

After taking a bite, everyone was completely conquered by the delicate and soft texture of the noodles, which was even better than freshly baked wheat bread. After all, yeast powder had not yet been discovered in Europe at that time, and the bread they ate was all baked from dead dough, and the freshly baked bread was dry and hard.

"It turns out that wheat flour can be eaten this way! The Chinese are so smart!" Baron Fernando praised.

In the minds of early Westerners, China was a mysterious and civilized country, completely different from the primitive natives of Africa and America. Many Western intellectuals even regarded the mysterious Eastern country as a utopian existence.

It was only after the Industrial Revolution, when Western robbers blasted open China's door with their powerful ships and cannons, and saw the backward and barbaric phenomena in agricultural China, that all their filters were shattered. From then on, they claimed to be God's chosen people and no longer took the Chinese seriously.

But in this era, the filter is still there, so even though Min Xi and Yun Ji have fallen to this point, people with insight still dare not look down on them.

Count Silva asked, "How did this Chinese get here?"

Sanvis then explained their origins.

The Earl was very interested: "In that case, can we ask them to be our guides? We can do business with the Chinese."

Sanvis said, “It’s not impossible.”

The baron asked, "They live in your tavern?"

Sanvis nodded. "Yes. They were shipwrecked, their boat capsized, and they lost everything. They are waiting for a chance to return home, so they are staying with me for the time being."

The baron said, "Ask him for me if he is interested in living in my manor. As long as he cooks for me once in a while, or teaches my cook how to cook."

Sanvis was stunned. It turned out that the Baron wanted to poach people. He couldn't refuse, so he said, "I will ask them for the Baron later."