The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji lit the fire, added firewood and charcoal. The charcoal ignited quickly and soon the small stove was burning vigorously.

Min Xi took out a frying pan, poured some olive oil from a silver pot, put the dough with the filling in the pan, flattened it with his hands, and then used a spatula to press it even flatter. When one side was golden brown, he turned it over and continued frying.

The pirates looked at it and thought it was nothing new. It was just a pancake, they made it too. The only difference was the specific method and the fillings.

But I have to say that the pie made by this Chinese person is so delicious that when the sea breeze blows, everyone on the deck can smell the fragrance.

Min Xi took out the first baked pancake and placed it on a wooden plate: "Seventh brother, you eat first."

Yun Ji said, "Put it aside for a while, I'll eat with you."

The pirates stared at the golden, greasy pie, unable to imagine what it tasted like.

A pirate who stuttered a little swallowed his saliva: "What does your pie taste like?"

Min Xi said as he made pancakes: "Salty."

Yun Ji saw those people staring at the baked pancakes eagerly, but not in a hurry to eat them, so he just wanted to envy them.

Min Xi baked two more pancakes and said to Yun Ji, "Seventh brother, eat them. They won't taste good if they get cold."

"You come too." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi looked at the dough in his hand and said, "I might as well wait until it's done and then eat it together."

"Then let's wait a little longer. We may not be able to finish so much. We can eat it hot and save the cold ones for noon." Yun Ji said.

Min Xi looked around and said, "Why don't we share these cakes with them?"

Yun Ji said unhappily: "I don't want to give them an advantage."

Min Xi said: "When they first came on board, they threatened to kill us. I said I could cook and help them, but they looked down on me. I wanted to let them know that they ignored me before, but now I am out of their reach!"

When Yun Ji heard this, he picked up a dagger, cut the three stacked cakes in half, dividing them into four portions, and said, "Here, eat." He still knew a few simple English words.

The people around looked at the stack of cut bread and asked in surprise, "Is this for us to eat?"

Min Xi said, "Take it and try it, don't surround me." It was quite awkward, a group of grown men were like children begging for food.

The pirate leader took the lead, stretched out his hand to pinch a corner of the pancake, and the filling inside began to fall out. He quickly caught it with his other hand and put it in his mouth. It was salty and delicious, and it was a delicacy he had never tasted before.

When the others saw the eldest brother took it, they also came over to get the cakes, and carefully protected the cake like the eldest brother. When they ate it, they felt like their souls were flying, how could there be such delicious food in the world!

The crust of this pie is soft and fragrant, and the filling inside has the sweetness of vegetables, the freshness of shrimp, the salty fragrance of ham, and a little bit of sauce flavor. It is extremely delicious.

The big men ate a quarter of the pie in two or three bites, and then looked at the remaining ones with great interest. Three pies were cut into 12 pieces, and each of the onlookers ate one piece. There was still half left, and someone wanted to take it, but the pirate leader stopped him and said, "Call the others, each of them eat a piece and see how it tastes."

It seems that there is a reason why he can become the pirate leader. At least he is fair and just.

After the pirate leader finished speaking, he rubbed his hands, squatted down and said to Min Xi who was making pancakes: "Sir, there are seventeen of us. The amount you gave us is not enough. Can you give us two more? We can pay."

Min Xi raised his head: "You want two more? One pound per cake!" He had no obligation to feed all the pirates with cakes, so he didn't want to give them more and offered a high price.

The pirates around gasped. No matter how delicious the cake was, it was not worth one pound. You have to know that in England, one pound could feed a child for a year.

Unexpectedly, the pirate leader said, "No problem, one pound is one pound." He readily took out two one-pound gold coins.

Min Xi signaled Yun Ji to put the money away. He put the baked pancakes on a plate and said, "Seventh Brother, cut everything for them, just like before."

Soon, the pirates all got their share of the cakes, including Tom who was on the mizzen mast to lower the sails and Owen who was making breakfast for everyone. After they had shared, there were still some triangles left on the plate. The pirates watched eagerly as their companions got their cakes. They were about to grab another one, but the pirate leader took the plate and said, "I paid for it, so the rest belongs to me!"

Everyone swallowed their saliva at the same time. To be honest, the taste was gone just after they tasted it, but one pound per cake was too expensive. Some people hesitated whether to spend money to buy the cake.

Someone is more open-minded: "Sir, I want to buy a cake, this is one pound."

Min Xi said without even looking up: "No more! We haven't eaten yet, and we're afraid there won't be enough!"

Pirates chef Owen came out to greet everyone: "Guys, dinner is ready!"

In the end, no one paid attention to his shout. After eating dragon liver and phoenix marrow, who could eat Irving's dark cuisine? Irving's cooking level was just to cook the food. No, it might not even be cooked. Sometimes it was even mushy. It could only fill the stomach.

Generally speaking, chefs have bad tempers, and Owen is the same. He is usually very arrogant, so no one dares to offend him, for fear that he will cook worse next time. Now that there is a comparison, Owen no longer dares to be arrogant as a chef, because he himself just finished eating the pancakes made by Min Xi, and they are not at the same level at all.

The pirate leader spent two pounds and ate a whole cake. Although he was still not satisfied, he was very satisfied: "Okay, don't gather around. The two gentlemen haven't finished eating yet. Go eat quickly and don't waste Owen's hard work."

At the urging of the captain, everyone reluctantly entered the cabin to have the not-so-expected breakfast.

Many of these pirates were sailors on merchant ships before. To be honest, their living standards were many times higher after becoming pirates than those of sailors. At least they didn't have to drink stinky water, eat stinky meat, or eat moldy and worm-infested bread. The food was basically fresh, with plenty of meat and vegetables.

They thought that such a life was already heaven, but after eating the cakes made by Min Xi, they felt that the food they were eating was still of hellish standard.

The pirates went into the cabin to get breakfast and came to the deck. Today they had toast and fried fish. The bread was bought ready-made, the crust was hard, and it was as hard to cut as sawing wood. The inside was slightly softer, and they ate it with fried fish.

Normally, such breakfast is considered the best. After all, the chef does not have the patience to make fried fish early in the morning. But compared with Min Xi's pancakes, it is like eating sawdust, tasteless and difficult to swallow.

Min Xi baked the remaining pancakes, took down the pan, put a small copper kettle on it, and poured in fresh water to boil for tea. The fresh water was brought from Lisbon and had been there for many days. Although it was not bad, it was not fresh water. If you want to drink it, it is better to boil it. Although this consumes more fuel, health is more important.

Min Xi picked up a piece with chopsticks and took a bite. It tasted really good, with the sweetness and juiciness of vegetables, the tenderness of shrimps and the unique salty flavor of ham.

Min Xi said: "It is indeed more delicious with the shrimp added."

Yun Ji nodded: "That's right."

Min Xi ate three pancakes and felt full. Yun Ji was eating the fourth one. Min Xi looked at the three pancakes left on the plate and said, "I'm full. You can eat the rest, Seventh Brother."

Yun Ji said, "I can only eat one more at most. You can eat one more, or you'll be hungry later."

Min Xi looked at the pirates who were having breakfast on the deck. They kept glancing over here while eating. Min Xi smiled slyly: "How about selling it?"

Yun Ji looked towards the group of pirates and saw that they were looking this way, just as Min Xi said. He said, "Okay."

Min Xi stood up and said, "I have two cakes here, one for one pound, who wants one?"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone rushed up and said, "I want one, I want one!" It was the person who had said before that he wanted to buy a cake.

Min Xi stretched out his hand: "Okay, give me the money first."

The man took out a gold coin from his dirty purse and put it in Min Xi's palm: "Here you go."

Min Xi took the money and picked up a piece of pancake with chopsticks and gave it to him.

There were a few pirates over there discussing buying cakes together. They probably thought that eating one cake was too extravagant, so they wanted to pool their money to buy one. Just as they were hesitating, someone else came over and said, "I'll take the other one."

When those people heard this, they immediately lost their composure. If they hesitated, they would not be able to buy it.

Min Xi gave the other cake to the man, leaving only one cake on the plate. Everyone looked at the cake eagerly: "There's still one cake left, are you still selling it?"

Min Xi said, "We won't sell it. We'll eat this one ourselves. If you want to eat it, wait for next time."

"Will you still make it at noon?" asked the person who didn't buy the cake.

"It's hard to say, maybe we'll have something else for lunch." Min Xi said, "Go away, don't gather around, we still have to eat."

Being surrounded by a bunch of smelly pirates really affects your appetite.

Only after the crowd dispersed did the two dare to breathe freely.

Yun Ji cut the remaining cake in half with chopsticks: "Ninth brother, eat another half."

Min Xi wanted to refuse, but Yun Ji had already handed the plate to him, so he had to take it and eat half of the pancake.

After eating the cake, Min Xi rolled his eyes and said, "Seventh Brother, these pirates are richer than I thought. Why don't we take the opportunity to make some money from them?" Any pirate can take out a pound to buy cakes, which shows that their income is unimaginably high.