The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi could see that in this family only the little Hofstadter was sensible and easy to get along with, and his attitude was relatively humble. Fortunately, he was the one who dealt with them, so he was not so worried about this banquet.

Time was very tight, and after tasting the dishes, they finalized the menu. They wanted roast duck, and chose beggar's chicken for chicken. The mutton would be cooked using fish and mutton cooking methods, and the beef would be made into beef balls. The beef balls could be prepared in advance and did not have to be made on the day of the meal. In addition, there were also baked buns as the staple food and custard buns as the dessert, a total of six dishes, and the rest were left to the British chef.

In fact, these are enough to keep them busy.

In just ten days or so, new pots and stoves need to be made.

Making Chinese woks and steamers is indeed quite difficult for British blacksmiths who have never made Chinese cookware. Even if they used their pots as samples, it still looked daunting.

But little Hofstadter said that this matter would be handled successfully, so we can only trust him.

Min Xi and Yun Ji personally demonstrated how to make the stove, and asked the people in the Earl's Mansion to follow their example. The main thing was to dig a stewing oven, which was needed for both roast duck and baked buns. And there was more than one. It was dug in the backyard of the Earl's Mansion, and they could just fill it up when it was not needed.

However, young Hofstadter did not intend to fill them all. He planned to keep one for his own use later. He also specifically instructed the cook and servants at home to pay close attention to how the two Chinese chefs cooked.

For this banquet, Min Xi and Yun Ji did a lot of preparation work, which took up a lot of time and the restaurant could not operate normally, so even if they were paid 20 pounds, they actually did not make much.

Min Xi's idea was that this was not a question of making money, but of standing up for a friend. Some things, even if there were no results, they had to do them. After all, Baron Fernando had helped them so much, and they couldn't just take care of themselves.

When they were free on the way, they went into the city to ask Hopson about the situation in France. Hopson had not been to France for more than a year, but he had many French friends he was still in touch with. He said that France was relatively stable at the moment, and the king was trying to mediate the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, and there was no war for the time being.

"If you really want to go back to Portugal from France, it doesn't matter much. They are just different sects targeting each other, and you don't belong to any sect. Just don't get involved in their conflicts. If you see something wrong, just hide away." Hopson is on the road all year round for his business and has encountered various emergencies. He thinks there is no problem. If he really can't handle it, he can just give him some money and it will be done with. After all, how many of them are real desperadoes?

After hearing what he said, Min Xi and Yun Ji felt relieved. What they needed to worry about most were the robbers blocking the road. Those small-scale religious wars should have no direct relationship with them, and it would not be such a coincidence that they would be involved in them.

Hopson added, "But it's hard to say what the situation is in Spain. Our relationship with Spain is very bad. We haven't had any contact for many years. I have never been there, but I occasionally hear French friends talk about it. Philip II is moody, and who knows what will happen. Why do you have to go back to Portugal from France? It would be better to just wait for a ship that goes directly back to Portugal."

"We actually came here for sightseeing. We thought that since we had finally come to Europe, we should take a look at the local customs and practices." Min Xi could only say this. He couldn't say that he was worried that your queen would kill people to silence them.

"You really have to be careful then," Hopson said.

"We will."

Three days before the banquet, Min Xi and Yun Ji went to the Earl's Mansion as requested. In addition to hosting the banquet, they were also responsible for the snacks and souvenirs for the guests at the banquet. They baked cookies and cakes two days in advance.

The day before the banquet, Min Xi and Yun Ji went to the Earl's House to make beef balls. The British chef wanted to fry steak, but the braised beef lacked soy sauce. Roast beef and stir-fried beef were somewhat repetitive with fried steak, so they chose beef balls, which could be made in advance, which would just relieve the busyness of the banquet day.

The Earl's Mansion had seen the complexity of Chinese cuisine. After removing the fascia from the beef, they began to beat the beef with heavy objects. Dozens of kilograms of beef were smashed into meat paste. The servants who were called to help had their arms sore after not working for long, but Yun Ji continued to beat the beef like a tireless robot without changing his expression.

In this respect, Min Xi is not as good as Yun Ji. Even though he is a cook, he cannot do this job for a long time.

Yunji was in charge of pounding the meat, and he was in charge of cooking the meatballs. Given the temperature in August in the UK, it was no problem for the cooked meatballs to be kept until the next day.

When the beef balls were ready, the servants in the Earl's Mansion finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally done. This had been such a hassle!

However, they didn't know that the real trouble would come the next day.

The next morning, Min Xi and Yun Ji arrived at the Earl's Mansion and ordered people to kill chickens and ducks to prepare for the evening banquet. The number of chickens and ducks needed was as many as hundreds. They had to be killed, feathered, and their internal organs removed, dried, and then pickled with spices. Of course, Min Xi and Yun Ji couldn't do all of this. If they did it alone, who knows how long it would take.

Little Hofstadter sent him ten servants. Although these people could not cook, they could still help.

The morning is mainly spent on preparation work, and after lunch, it is time to really get busy. If you start too early, it will get cold and lose its flavor. If you start too late, it will not be able to be served in time for the banquet, which will be considered a mistake.

After lunch, guests arrived one after another. The Hofstadt family was busy entertaining the guests and showing them around their new home. They were somewhat showing off, after all, not everyone could afford to build such a large manor. It was said that this manor had more than 300 rooms, second only to the current queen's palace and the manors of several dignitaries.

It’s not that he couldn’t build more rooms, but in order not to overstep his authority, the house was the largest he could build.

How could such a large manor not arouse envy, jealousy and hatred?

Baron Hofstadt was not popular among the nobles. British nobles were always arrogant, and nouveau riche were always looked down upon. If he had held a banquet at any other time, at least half of the people would not come if he had sent out an invitation. But today, all the dignitaries in London came, because the Queen was going to attend the banquet, and they had to consider the Queen's face, not just Baron Hofstadt's.

The guests attended in their best attire, each wearing jewels and precious stones, and their clothes were elegant and graceful, making the huge baronial estate lively and luxurious.

The servants responsible for entertaining the guests also politely moved among the crowd, carrying wine glasses and snacks, and serving the guests.

The cakes and cookies baked by Min Xi and Yun Ji came in handy at this moment. Seeing the cute shape of the cookies, the guests picked up a piece and put it in their mouths. After taking a bite, they were often surprised and had to admit that the baron had put a lot of effort into organizing this banquet.

Count and Lady Comstock were also invited. As soon as they saw the shape of the cookies, they knew that Min Xi and Yun Ji were invited to host the banquet.

Mrs. Comstock curled her lips and said, "It seems that Hofstadter has some connections. He was able to invite these two here."

As earls, they couldn't invite the queen, but a baron could. It would be a lie to say they weren't jealous. But if she was really asked to entertain the queen, it would cost so much, and she might not really be willing.

At about five o'clock, several carriages with a four-wheeled carriage in front and behind slowly drove into the manor. All the guests stood up and looked towards the door. It was Her Majesty the Queen who had arrived.

Her Majesty the Queen stepped down from the carriage surrounded by her close ministers. She was wearing a dark red dress and a ruby-encrusted hair crown on her long golden hair. She was not very beautiful, but had a majestic temperament. When she pursed her lips and did not smile, there was a cold look on her face.

Everyone bowed respectfully to Queen Elizabeth, and the host of the banquet, Baron Hofstadter, served the Queen in a humble manner.

Min Xi naturally couldn't see this scene from the kitchen, but he could hear the faint cheers coming from outside: "The queen has arrived, and we can finally start the feast."

He waited too long for the meal to start because the roast duck and beggar's chicken were already prepared and would get cold if the meal wasn't served soon.

Sure enough, just after five o'clock, the banquet officially began.

The first dish served was a grilled steak made by a British chef. Because there were too many guests and limited frying pans, the steak that was grilled first was already cold, so it was served as a cold dish.

Although the weather was not that cold, the steak was hard and tough. Most of the guests had cold steak, and only the most distinguished people such as the Queen had hot steak.

British banquets are basically like this, and no one thinks there is anything wrong with it. People come to a banquet not for a few bites of food, but for socializing.

The second dish was fish and mutton. The fish was boneless and skinless sea bass, and the mutton was boneless, so that the stewed meat could be eaten in large mouthfuls without the need for customers to pick out fish bones and bones.

Although this dish is a soup, it is mainly meat, with soup as a supplement. When everyone saw the second dish had large pieces of meat in the bowl, instead of the usual cream soup or vegetable soup, they scooped a mouthful and tasted it. They were immediately amazed by the delicious taste, and almost swallowed their tongues.

At this time, Queen Elizabeth, who was sitting at the top, also took a sip of the soup and raised her eyebrows: "Hofstadter, the chef is very good today. The soup is very delicious."

Baron Hofstadt, who was sitting below her, was overjoyed: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty!"