The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After working hard for a few days and making a small profit, the two decided to take a good rest.

However, at about noon the next day, a customer came to the door on horseback, saying that he wanted to have lunch. This was obviously a first-time customer who didn't know the restaurant's rules, and no one knew how he got here.

Min Xi explained: "I'm sorry, sir. Our restaurant needs to be booked in advance. If you don't make a reservation, we won't prepare the food and won't be able to cook."

The customer looked puzzled: "You didn't mention that we needed to make a reservation in advance. I was hungry and saw the restaurant sign on the roadside, so I came here."

It turned out that he came here on a whim, and I thought he was a guest from yesterday's banquet.

Min Xi apologized: "I'm really sorry, we neglected this because this place is very remote and usually no customers come to eat directly. It's all through word of mouth from acquaintances, and everyone knows that reservations are required."

"Then can I have a meal? You won't cook for one person? I'm hungry, just cook something for me, I'll eat whatever you eat." said the guest.

"Okay then, come and eat with me." Min Xi was preparing lunch at that moment, so he killed a chicken, made a boiled chicken, cut some cucumber into shreds, and made some noodles with scallion oil. It was a simple meal.

Because there were guests, Yun Ji mixed a lot of noodles and prepared half a pound of noodles for the guests. Unexpectedly, the guests were very happy with the noodles and didn't want to eat enough: "This is so delicious, can you give me some more?"

Yun Ji had no choice but to knead the dough and make noodles for him.

Good man, after eating at least three or two noodles, the man said he was full: "I am really lucky today. I was just hungry when I saw your restaurant sign. I didn't expect it to be such a surprising restaurant. Why did you open the restaurant in such a remote place? If it was opened in London, I would definitely go there every day."

"We moved here because we didn't want to open a store in the city. We only serve one table per meal, and reservations are required in advance."

"Why?" the guest was puzzled.

Min Xi smiled and said, "I don't want to work too hard. My table charge is not cheap. The cheapest table for four people costs 1 pound."

The customer was stunned for a moment. "One pound for four people? It's not cheap, but your cooking skills are so good, so it's reasonable to charge a little more. How much is this meal today?"

Min Xi said: "This is not a reserved meal. You are eating with us. Just give whatever you want." He didn't want to make money from this man. If he didn't run a restaurant, he would have invited anyone who came to his house for a simple meal at mealtime. This is a Chinese tradition.

The guest rummaged in his pocket, took out a shilling and placed it on the sofa: "Thank you very much for your hospitality."

Min Xi didn't even give me change, he just took the money and said, "Thank you! If you want to come for dinner next time, you can make a reservation in advance so I can prepare a more sumptuous meal for you."

"Okay. Nice to meet you. My last name is Lanier." The guest smiled and stretched out his hand to shake hands with Min Xi.

"My last name is Min. Mr. Lanier is welcome to dine in our restaurant in the future." Min Xi shook hands with him.

"It will definitely come."

After eating and drinking, Lanier mounted his horse and walked slowly, humming a song as he walked. He seemed to be in a good mood.

Seeing the guests leave, Yun Ji said, "I went to the backyard to catch chickens earlier, and took a look at the sweet potato seedlings you planted. They have already sprouted new buds, so they should all be alive."

"Really? I'll go and take a look." Min Xi said as he walked towards the backyard. Sweet potatoes have very strong vitality, and the survival rate of cuttings is almost 100%. As long as it is given enough temperature and humidity, sweet potatoes will definitely grow.

The sweet potatoes planted in the pots have already sprouted new shoots, which are half a finger long, and look very tender and pleasing to the eye.

Yun Ji said: "It's pretty good to be alive."

"Yes, it's a pity that the temperature will get lower and lower in the future. I'm afraid it will be difficult to grow. If no tubers can be produced, we won't be able to keep the seeds." Min Xi felt a little regretful.

"What should we do then? Build a small glass greenhouse for it?" Yun Ji suggested.

When Min Xi heard this, he had an idea: "It's not impossible. Let's find out the cost. If it's not too expensive, we can make one. If it's too expensive, let's go to Spain to find one. The backyard is a bit shady, let's move it to the front yard."

The two of them moved the pot to the front yard and placed it in a sunny spot.

Just as they put the pots in place, they heard the sound of horse hooves outside the courtyard gate. They turned their heads and saw a carriage, no, two carriages, running towards them in the middle of the orchard.

Min Xi said, "Another guest has arrived."

Yunji has good eyesight: "It's Langdon."

As they were talking, the carriage had already arrived at the gate of the courtyard. Yun Ji went over and opened the door: "Mr. Langdon, please come in!"

"Hi! Let me introduce you to a guest, Mr. Ford." Langdon said, turning to the carriage behind him, "This is it. Isn't the environment nice?"

"The environment is good, but it's a bit remote." The person in the carriage behind answered.

The carriage entered the yard, the guests got off the carriage and followed Yun Ji into the house.

This was a guest at yesterday's banquet. Yesterday's dinner was truly amazing. Someone could make such delicious food out of ordinary chicken and duck. After he finished eating, he asked around about the chef's background. It happened that this person knew Langdon. Hearing that Langdon knew the chef, he asked him to lead the way. Langdon also wanted to know about his meeting with Her Majesty the Queen yesterday, so he brought him along.

Min Xi poured tea for the guests: "Do you want to order food? What time, how many people?"

Ford said, "I am planning to hold a party soon. There won't be many people, maybe 10 to 20. I would like to ask you to help us organize the party."

Min Xi looked at him: "I wonder if you have heard how much preparation I made for yesterday's banquet at the Baron's house, customizing cooking utensils and building stoves. If you don't mind the trouble, then prepare these first. By the way, you can borrow those cooking utensils from the Baron's house, but you still have to build the stove yourself, otherwise you can only eat at my place. By the way, you haven't told me the time of your banquet. If you are too rushed, it will be too late. It takes a few days for the stove to be completely dry."

When Ford heard this, a helpless expression showed on his face. It seemed that asking them to cook was not an easy task.

Ford looked around the living room again, his eyes falling on the dining table in the corner of the living room: "But you can't seat 10 or 20 people here."

Min Xi asked: "What kind of gathering are you having? Is it formal or just a family or friends gathering?"

“A dinner with friends.”

"Sir, do you want a more formal banquet, or just a good meal?"

"It's all right. We are all close friends. It doesn't matter what the meal is. The most important thing is to enjoy the meal."

"I do have a suggestion. We can have a barbecue. That way, we won't be restricted by cooking utensils and stoves, and everyone can enjoy their meal," said Min Xi.

"Barbecue?" asked Ford.

Min Xi nodded: "Yes. We can roast a whole lamb, and we can also make the chicken we ate yesterday."

"What about the main course and dessert?"

"I can't make yesterday's staple food, but I can replace it with something else. Fried dumplings should be good too. Desserts are OK. I can bring the steamer. There aren't that many of you, so my pot is enough."

Langdon said quickly, "The fried dumplings are delicious. I've tried them before. They're very fragrant and not much different from yesterday's main course."

Ford was convinced: "Okay, then, let's do as you ask."

Min Xi said: "You can buy one or two sheep according to the number of people, and you can decide how many chickens you need. Tell me the time and place, and we will go there in advance to make preparations."

Knowing that the party was the day after tomorrow, Min Xi asked them to prepare the food and charcoal in advance, and he would arrange a day to prepare the food for them. And they agreed on the price, 3 pounds.

This price is not too much. After all, if 10 or 20 people come to his restaurant for a meal, the price is not less than this. This is still a door-to-door service. Although he does not need to provide the ingredients, he still has to prepare the spices for the barbecue. Although it is only one meal, it takes a whole day and the restaurant cannot operate.

Langdon waited for them to finish talking about these things, but did not leave with them. Instead, he asked about the meeting with the queen last night: "You are so lucky. You can meet the queen just by cooking. Until now, I can only see the queen from afar and have never talked to her. How is the queen? Is she very beautiful and charming? What did she say to you?"

It was obvious that he was a little fan of the Queen. Min Xi said, "He talked about the Portuguese delegation and wanted us to send a message to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. The Queen wanted to establish trade relations with Ming Dynasty."

Langdon's eyes sparkled. "She is indeed my queen. She is so wise and great. Her thoughts are so different from ours! I love her so much!"

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other, smiled slightly, and said nothing more.

Langdon reveled for a moment. “And what else?”

"Gone!"

"Didn't I praise your cooking?"

"I praised him, and even asked His Excellency the Baron to give me some extra money as a reward."

Langdon laughed. “It’s something Her Majesty would do. She would never pay for it herself if she could.”

After Langdon went back that day, no customers came to order food. However, a customer came the next day to make a reservation for lunch, but the next day was already booked, so the meal had to be postponed for another day.

On the day of the door-to-door service at Ford's, all I could do was write on the sign "I'm out today for something, please order tomorrow."