The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

When the guests heard what Her Majesty the Queen said, they all agreed: "This soup tastes really good, so fresh!"

"What is this made of? Why is it so delicious? This meat looks like lamb."

"It seems there is another kind of meat in it, but I don't know what kind of meat it is."

The guests were talking quietly. They had not had high expectations for today's banquet, but this dish of fish and mutton was a feast for their taste buds.

"Which cook invented this new method? This dish tastes really good!"

Because the fish and mutton tasted so good, everyone ate almost all of the dish, and even the queen didn't have much left.

The next dish served was again a British chef's dish, roast venison.

The Queen took a bite and found that there was nothing special about it, so she put down her knife and fork without saying anything, but just didn't eat more.

Seeing this, the baron signaled the butler to hurry up and serve the next dish. Soon, the roast duck was served. On each person's plate were a few slices of roast duck, three lotus leaf pancakes wrapped with roast duck, and a small sauce dish filled with sweet noodle sauce. In order to roll these lotus leaf pancakes, Min Xi and the kitchen helpers were so busy that their fingers almost cramped.

When the servants serve the dishes, they will explain to the guests how to eat them, and they can eat them with or without sauce.

Queen Elizabeth took a look at the duck on the plate and asked, "Hofstadter, what is this? Why have I never seen it before?"

The baron replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, this is roast duck, made by the Chinese chef I asked."

Queen Elizabeth picked up a piece of duck meat with a fork, dipped it in some sweet noodle sauce and put it in her mouth. The skin was crispy on the outside, but the inside was very tender. With the taste of sweet noodle sauce, it had a light sweetness. It tasted really good. After she finished eating, she asked, "Oh, a Chinese chef? Is he a Chinese, or a chef who can cook Chinese food?"

The Baron replied: "Two Chinese who can cook Chinese food. They are from China."

Queen Elizabeth put down her fork and looked at the baron. "Are you serious? There are two Chinese in London? Right here?"

"It's absolutely true! I have seen them." The baron swore.

Queen Elizabeth thought for a moment and said, "I want to meet them after the banquet."

The baron was shocked. She didn't know why Elizabeth wanted to meet two Chinese people, but she agreed: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Min Xi, who was busy preparing beggar's chicken at the moment, did not know that he was about to meet the most famous queen in British history.

Queen Elizabeth asked, "So today's dishes are all made by Chinese chefs?"

The baron did not dare to lie: "The soup and the roast duck were made by the Chinese chefs, and they also made the rest."

Queen Elizabeth nodded, stopped talking, and began to enjoy the roast duck. As a queen, she had eaten countless delicacies from land and sea, but none of them was as delicious as this ordinary duck. These two Chinese people were indeed good at cooking.

The next dish was beggar's chicken. Naturally, all the meat was torn off and placed on a plate before being served. This dish had a richer flavor than the roast duck. After all, the marinated chicken was stewed in a sealed mud block, and the flavor had completely penetrated into the meat. It was also tender and juicy enough, and tasted better than the roast duck.

This was already the fifth course. According to British banquet standards, the banquet would have ended with four courses and desserts could have been served. However, the Earl had invited Min Si to cook, so of course he had to perform well, so today there were not four courses, but six.

The Queen of England obviously liked the beggar's chicken more. She had a lotus leaf pancake left from the roast duck, but when the chicken dish came, she ate almost nothing.

The last dish was beef meatball vegetable soup, served with some vegetable salad.

This way of serving food was so un-British that the Queen knew it was made by a Chinese chef: "What kind of soup is this?"

"Beef ball soup," the Count introduced.

The Queen had just eaten two meat dishes and felt a little greasy, so she drank some soup. She found it refreshing and delicious, and it really helped to relieve the greasiness, and was better than English vegetable soup.

She ate another beef meatball. The elastic texture surprised the queen. She didn't expect that there could be meat that was so chewy, but not as hard to chew as cartilage. The meatball was also very delicious. Although it was called a beef meatball, it didn't taste like beef. It seems that Chinese people are very good at eating.

When the main course and dessert came, the queen was already very full and didn't plan to eat any more, but she found that everyone else at the table was nodding while eating, so she tasted a little. The baked buns with lamb and onion stuffing were so delicious, and the dessert of custard buns was also delicious. If she wasn't already very full, she would have eaten the whole thing.

Min Xi and Yun Ji, who had finally finished their work, had received a message from the butler saying that Her Majesty the Queen planned to meet with them after dinner.

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other. The news came a little suddenly. The queen was so decisive in her style of doing things. She just learned of their existence and was about to meet them.

In that case, let's meet. The two washed their faces, sat down to eat something, and rested for a while. They guessed that the queen would say something to them. When they met, they would definitely talk about the Portuguese mission.

After the meal, the nobles began to drink tea and rest to prepare for the evening dance.

Min Xi and Yun Ji ate something casually, and when it was almost dark, the housekeeper came over and asked them to meet Her Majesty the Queen.

Min Xi and Yun Ji followed the butler through the indoor corridor. They didn't know how many doors they passed before they finally arrived at the reception room where the queen was. Outside stood several guards with guns and knight swords. The queen's servants also stood outside the door. The butler saluted him and said, "Your Excellency, the two Chinese gentlemen have arrived."

The courtier nodded: "Okay, I will take them to see His Majesty, you can leave."

The butler politely turned away. The courtier looked at Min Xi and Yun Ji, unable to conceal his surprise. He signaled the guards to search Min Xi and Yun Ji: "I'm very sorry, sir. This is our duty. In order to ensure the safety of Her Majesty the Queen, please understand."

Min Xi and Yun Ji did not say anything, but just opened their arms and let them search them. After making sure that there were no dangerous items on them, the guards nodded to indicate that it was safe.

The courtier nodded, knocked three times, and then opened the door: "Your Majesty, the two Chinese gentlemen have arrived."

"Come in." A majestic female voice answered.

"Come in!" The courtier gestured for him to come in.

Min Xi and Yun Ji entered the room and bowed to Queen Elizabeth: "Greetings, Her Majesty!"

There were dozens or even hundreds of candles lit in the room, making the small reception room brightly lit. As soon as they entered, they were clearly illuminated. The Queen of England looked at them with scrutiny, and after a long time she spoke, "No need to be polite, please sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Min Xi and Yun Ji then raised their heads and looked around the room. The woman in red in the middle was Elizabeth I. She was younger than Min Xi had expected, about 20 or 30 years old, with thick golden-brown hair piled on her head, revealing a broad and smooth forehead, making her look less feminine.

It was hard to tell what color her eyes were, but they were very sharp, her lips were tightly pursed, and the corners of her mouth were slightly drooped, making her look a little cold. This queen who had never married in her life was extremely intelligent, had outstanding political talents, was decisive and used iron-fisted means.

At this moment, Min Xi realized that it might not be easy to hide something from her. He and Yun Ji had agreed before that he would be mainly responsible for answering questions. If the queen asked, he would say that Yun Ji's English was not very good.

Accompanying the queen, in addition to Baron Hofstadter, were two middle-aged men, both of whom were quite handsome. Rumor has it that although the queen has never been married, she has never stopped having romantic affairs and is also obsessed with looks, and this has been confirmed.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were allowed to sit down, about two or three meters away from the queen.

Queen Elizabeth finally spoke: "You two are from China? How did you get to my territory?" She was declaring sovereignty as soon as she opened her mouth.

Min Xi was not afraid of her. First of all, he was a Chinese, not a subject of the queen. Secondly, he was a modern man from an equal society and had less awe for the ancient dignitaries.

Min Xi said, "Yes, Your Majesty, we are from China. When we were trading at sea, we encountered a storm in the Indian Ocean and our ship was destroyed. We were rescued by a Portuguese merchant ship and came to Lisbon, Portugal. We lived there for more than a year. In June, we followed the Portuguese ship to visit Britain. Unexpectedly, we encountered an accident and our ship sank, and we were separated from another mission ship. We were rescued by a British ship and came to Britain."

Queen Elizabeth's eyes were very sharp: "What's the accident?"

Min Si looked Queen Elizabeth straight in the eye and told her the truth: "We encountered pirates."

Queen Elizabeth snorted coldly: "I heard earlier that you encountered a storm."

It seems that Fergus has passed the message to the Queen. Min Si sighed helplessly: "Your Majesty is very observant and will definitely find out our origins. I didn't mean to deceive Your Majesty, but I am worried that the pirates who attacked us may be from Britain. I am afraid that you will think that we will tell the truth to the King of Portugal and affect the relationship between Britain and Portugal, and you will not let us leave Britain."

When Queen Elizabeth heard this, she asked with great interest, "Then why did you say that you came to England on the mission ship? As long as you don't say it, none of us will know."

Min Xi's eyes were firm: "Because I hope Her Majesty can send someone to find the whereabouts of the delegation ship. There are good friends of ours among the members of the delegation."