The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi was stunned. He didn't expect that the other party would pay attention to their food, so he said: "We eat noodles, which are made of wheat flour. It is not made for us by the cook, but by ourselves." When he introduced the food to the Europeans, he used almost all transliterations. In the future, whenever they mentioned it, they would know that the food came from China.

"Wow, you are amazing. You can even cook. Chinese food is very different from our British food. I believe it must be delicious." Hopson is a person with high emotional intelligence.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, the eating habits in Europe are very different from ours in China. We are not used to the food here, so we usually cook it ourselves."

"I understand. The cooking styles of people from Manchester and London are very different. But my biggest hobby is to taste the food from all over the world, and I can get used to the food from London." Hopson said, looking at Min Xi, "How long do you two plan to live here?"

Min Xi shook his head: "It's not certain yet, we still need to find out the whereabouts of our friends."

Hopson smiled and said, "If possible, I would like to taste the taste of your Chinese food."

Min Xi realized that this foodie wanted to eat for free, so he smiled and said, "Next time we cook, let's make a portion for Mr. Hopson."

Hopson's eyes lit up. "Really? Really? That's great. Thank you very much! I'll pay you."

Min Xi didn't say he didn't want any compensation. Foreigners are very direct. If you directly say they don't want money, they will never give you money in the future. Anyway, there is no friendship between them. They are just guests who met by chance in the same hotel, so there is no need to be polite.

At this time, other people came into the restaurant. It was time for dinner. Min Xi said goodbye to Hopson and took the kitchen utensils back to the room with Yun Ji because they were worried that others would damage their things.

Yun Ji asked him what he talked about with that Hopson, and Min Xi said, "A guy who is very interested in food, he wanted to eat our meal."

"Did you agree?" Yun Ji asked.

"Well, he said he would pay. While we're at it, let's make some for him too, so that the British can also feel the shock of our Ming Dynasty cuisine." Min Xi said with a smile.

Yun Ji chuckled: "You don't want to open a restaurant in England, do you?"

"It's not that I haven't thought about it, but I don't have that plan for now. Let's wait until we confirm the whereabouts of the Baron and the others. I hope they are really okay."

"Don't worry. Since the pirates won't kill us, they probably won't kill them either."

"But what if the ship didn't fall into the hands of pirates, but sank in the sea?"

Yun Ji raised his hand and touched the back of his head: "How could it be such a coincidence. I think they are fine."

"why?"

"Just feel it."

"Okay, trust your instinct. It's still early, let's go out for a walk, get familiar with the environment, and see where the vegetable market is. We have to buy some vegetables tomorrow morning." Since he can cook for himself, he doesn't plan to eat food cooked by others.

Yun Ji had no objection to this. It was just that the mushroom and pork soup he had at noon had left him with such a huge psychological trauma that he lost the courage to try other British food.

The two had a very bad impression of London during this trip. The sanitary conditions here were too poor. Oxford Street was okay because it was the main street and there were many shops. It was very busy and people were not seen urinating or defecating on the street.

But it was hard to say about other streets. After walking around, the two of them saw three people urinating and defecating in the street, two of whom were adults, and even an old woman. Not to mention that you could step on excrement everywhere on the street, it was simply filthy.

Yun Ji was a gentleman, educated in benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, and had never seen such a scene before. Before the people defecating in the street did anything, he was already embarrassed: "This is simply a disgrace to the civilized world, with no sense of shame! They are truly barbarians!"

Min Xi laughed: "Does it feel worse than Lisbon?"

"Yeah, at least I didn't see any adults urinating or defecating in the streets in Lisbon."

Min Xi said: "Maybe London has a longer history than Lisbon, and the urban planning and layout have not kept up, which is why it is so chaotic. Lisbon was moved to the capital later, and the planning of the emerging city is more reasonable."

Yun Ji shook his head helplessly and lost interest in visiting London.

Min Xi was not very interested either, and the two of them returned to the hotel before curfew. There was really a curfew in England, and people were not allowed to walk around before dark.

This is because the situation on the British Isles is unstable and a coup could happen at any time. After being overthrown, Queen Mary I of Scotland is still imprisoned in England. As the only religious queen in Europe, although Elizabeth I is deeply loved by the people of England, she is a thorn in the eyes of the royal families of other European countries. The royal families of France, Spain and other countries want to overthrow her and replace her all the time.

Back at the hotel, the two asked for hot water to take a bath. In such an expensive hotel, hot water was finally free. Judy, the cook who was in charge of boiling water, was not happy when she heard that they both wanted to take a bath: "You two gentlemen are already very clean, and your collars are still so white, why do you want to take a bath?"

"We've been traveling all day and are covered in dust, so we need to take a shower," said Min Xi.

It's summer now, and these Europeans don't want to wash every day. Even if Europe is not so hot, it doesn't mean they won't sweat. Don't they have any idea of ​​their body odor? Europeans even have a strange belief that bathing will bring disease, so they rarely bathe. It's really deadly to be with these people.

After taking a shower and dressing, they prepared to go to the balcony to blow dry their hair.

Someone knocked on the door. Min Xi opened it and it was Hopson. When the other party saw him, he was stunned for a moment before he said, "It's a long night. Are you two respected gentlemen going to bed now? Come to the living room to play cards. I'll introduce you to some friends. There is an old gentleman of distinguished status who also wants to meet you."

Min Xi thought about how both he and Yun Ji had long hair and looked lazy, so he politely declined: "Thank you, sir. We are not in a proper manner right now and it is too offensive. Forget about it tonight, let's do it tomorrow."

Hopson looked at Min Xi's long hair. When he opened the door just now, he almost thought he had knocked on the wrong door. The person who opened the door was a black-haired girl. When he saw her face clearly, he realized it was Min Xi: "Do all Chinese people have such long hair?"

Min Xi said, "Yes. We Chinese believe that it is not polite to have untidy hair in front of others. This is disrespectful to others, so please forgive us for not being able to meet guests."

Hopson shrugged: "Okay, I respect your habits, see you tomorrow."

Min Xi closed the door and entered the room. He saw Yun Ji combing his hair. Min Xi noticed that he was only combing one part. "What's wrong, Seventh Brother?"

Yun Ji said: "My scalp feels a little itchy."

Min Xi heard him say: "Now that you mention it, my scalp feels a little itchy. Could it be that there were lice on the bed in that small hotel last night?"

They believed the pirates and said Jonathan's Inn was clean, but it wasn't.

Yun Ji gave a wry smile.

The more Min Xi thought about it, the more itchy his scalp became. He couldn't help but scratch it: "Can it be true? I'm most afraid of lice." Their long hair is difficult to wash, and it would be a disaster if they got lice.

Yun Ji sighed: "If it were in the Ming Dynasty, we could kill the lice with herbs. How can we do that here?"

Min Xi continued to scratch his head: "If it really gets longer, I'll cut my hair."

Yun Ji looked at him without saying anything.

Min Xi frowned. "I'm telling the truth. I absolutely cannot tolerate myself getting lice. We didn't even get lice on the Shark. If we get lice in England, I'll really curse my mother."

Yunji said, "If it really gets too long, I'll cut your hair together with you."

Min Xi laughed: "Really? But it will take several years to grow up."

"Then let it grow slowly." After staying in Europe for a long time and seeing all kinds of short hair, Yun Ji is not so obsessed with his hair anymore. If his hair hasn't grown long by the time he returns, he can just tie it into a bun. It's not a big deal.

Of course, it would be better if you didn't cut it.

The next morning, as soon as the five o'clock bell struck, Min Xi and Yun Ji woke up, just as early as they usually did when they got up early to buy groceries.

The two got up and went out to buy vegetables. When they went out for a walk yesterday evening, they roughly knew where the vegetable market was. Not far from Oxford Street, about ten minutes' walk away, there was a very large open-air market.

When they arrived, the market was already very busy, with all kinds of vendors and farmers from the suburbs setting up stalls to sell their wares. The goods were also varied, some familiar, and many unfamiliar.

This market is large and has a wide variety of products. The only bad thing is that it is too dirty and messy. There is a thick layer of black ash on the ground. If it rains, you can imagine what the situation is like.

The smell in the market is also very turbid, with the smells of various animals and excrement, and even human excrement mixed together, which is really frustrating.

Compared to Lisbon, which lives by the sea and eats mainly seafood, London has much less seafood. After all, London is dozens of miles away from the estuary, and even river fish is very rare. Although they are close to the Thames, Londoners mainly eat poultry and livestock.

Although there was no seafood to buy and pork was not available, they did have another choice, which was beef. This was probably because England had excellent pastures, so the animal husbandry industry was relatively developed.

They asked about the price, and found out that a chicken cost 2 pence, which was very cheap, but when converted into Flanders currency, it would cost 160 dores, which was enough to buy four chickens in Lisbon.

So if you spend money here, you can’t convert it, otherwise you will be heartbroken.

Min Si bought a chicken, some beef, 10 eggs, some vegetables like onions and carrots, and went to the flour store to buy some wheat flour. The total cost was 1 shilling, which was still very cheap unless it was converted into riyals.

Unfortunately, they earn rees but spend pennies.