The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Baron Fernando got up from the bed: "Pull open the curtains. What are you making today? Is it a new variety?"

"Yes, sir, it's a meat pie, stuffed with lamb." Jody put the tray on the bedside table and drew the curtains himself.

In an instant, the afternoon sun filled the entire room. Fernando saw the golden meat patties on the tray and immediately grabbed them and stuffed them into his mouth impatiently, without even having time to use the knife and fork beside him.

He took a bite, and the charred aroma of the crust and the juicy meat filling instantly filled his entire mouth and enveloped his taste buds. The juiciness of the mutton pie could not be compared to the shrimp dumplings. He closed his eyes in satisfaction. This was more satisfying than dumplings.

Fernando finished a pancake without stopping, and then stopped to savor it carefully. It was so delicious. Min always surprises him.

The aroma of mutton pies slowly filled the room, and Qiao Di was tempted to swallow his saliva. He was thinking about his own pies downstairs: "Your Excellency Baron, Mr. Min is still waiting downstairs for me to take him to the greenhouse. I will go downstairs first. Please enjoy your meal."

Fernando said without even looking up: "Go ahead. By the way, tell him I'll be there later."

"Yes, sir!" Jodi was a little surprised. Was the Baron going to receive the guests personally?

After leaving the room, Jody took two steps at a time, went downstairs to the kitchen, and finished his own pie first. This meat pie was really the most delicious thing he had ever eaten in his life. He wanted to savor it slowly, but he didn't have time to taste it carefully, so he could only wolf it down. After eating it, it was so delicious that it left a lingering taste in his mouth!

Min Xi and Yun Ji waited in the hall for a long time. They finished a cup of tea and browsed through all the paintings hanging in the hall before Qiao Di arrived.

Qiao Di bowed respectfully and said, "Sir, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Please follow me."

They walked through a long vaulted corridor, out of the castle, and through a long gallery before arriving in front of the glass greenhouse.

The greenhouse looks very large from a distance, and even larger when viewed up close, with an area of ​​at least three or four hundred square meters. The roof and walls are made of glass, and the glass joints are made of oak wood.

Oak is a hard, corrosion-resistant wood, and it is the first choice for European sailing ships. Due to the prosperity of the shipbuilding industry, oak is very expensive. This greenhouse is made up of countless oak strips and small pieces of glass. The labor cost is a huge sum of money, and it costs 3000 reais, which is not an exaggeration.

It was March, the month of spring, when everything was budding and the grey world was slowly being painted with fresh green. But here, it was a completely different world, with grass sprouting, flowers blooming, and fruits ripening all at the same time.

Min Xi saw many flowers and plants, including familiar roses, tulips, lavender, sunflowers, fleshy succulents, giant cacti, gorgeous desert roses, and even sugarcane and papaya. Many of them he recognized or had seen but could not name, but there were even more plants he did not recognize, which should have been transplanted from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Min Xi looked at them and asked the housekeeper, "Are these plants transplanted from all over the world?"

"Yes, some were brought back by our own ship, some were brought back by someone asked by His Excellency the Baron, and some were seedlings and seeds obtained from other greenhouses," Jody introduced.

Min Xi asked: "Is there any classification? For example, according to the origin of a certain continent."

"There were some at the beginning, but later on there were more and some of them were of uncertain origin, so we stopped dividing them," said Jody.

This means that he has to look for it slowly. Min Xi looked at the greenhouse of several hundred square meters and was not in a hurry: "Okay, I'll take my time."

Jody said, "The Baron himself knows them best. He told you to take a look first and he will come later."

When Min Xi heard that the baron would come, he immediately became excited. It would definitely be much better if the host was willing to introduce himself. And from the tone of the butler, there were quite a few people who had greenhouses. This was probably a popular hobby among European nobles.

"Mr. Butler, are there many people building greenhouses?" Min Xi asked.

"No, no, definitely not many. The largest greenhouse in the whole of Lisbon is the greenhouse built by His Excellency the Baron. Some adults have small greenhouses at home, but they are not worth mentioning. There are some large greenhouses in France and the UK. Many of our plants here were obtained by His Excellency the Baron from there." Jodi said.

After hearing this, Min Xi thought to himself, maybe he would have to go to France and Britain to find the seeds he needed, but it would be much more convenient than going to the New World.

He calmed down and appreciated it slowly, actually he was looking carefully so as not to miss the plants he needed.

Yun Ji certainly knew the purpose of his visit to the greenhouse, but he didn't know what kind of plants they needed, so he could only look around randomly.

Min Xi saw most of them and finally found the one he needed. It was a plant more than one meter tall, with branches spreading out like a crown. The leaves were slender with small white flowers on them, and finger-sized fruits. The fruits that grew towards the sky were green. Wasn't it his favorite pepper!

Min Xi excitedly grabbed Yun Ji's wrist, and Yun Ji looked at him in surprise: "What's wrong?"

Min Xi asked the housekeeper who was smelling the roses over there: "Mr. Qiao Di, what is this?"

Jody said, "Oh, this is a plant from the New World. The local natives use it for seasoning. It is said to be a spice, but it is too spicy and no one can stand it, so few people eat it. When it is ripe, the color is bright red, very beautiful. His Excellency the Baron regards it as an ornamental plant."

Min Xi pretended to be surprised: "Spicy spices? Can you give me some to try? I can make some spicy dishes and I need this kind of spices."

"What do you need?" Before Jodi could say anything, he heard the Baron's voice behind him.

It was Baron Fernando who came. Min Xi and Yun Ji quickly bowed and greeted him: "Your Excellency the Baron!"

Min Xi said, "I heard that this is a spicy spice, so I wanted to ask you for some so that I can try to make some spicy dishes."

Fernando said, "Sure, if you need it, just pick some."

Min Xi said, "If there are dried fruits that we collected in the past, that will also be fine."

Fernando said, "Jordi, are there still some seeds from the last harvest?"

"Yes, sir, it has been dried. If Mr. Min needs it, I can get some for you," said Jody.

Min Xi was overjoyed: "Thank you very much!"

Fernando came in person and naturally took on the role of interpreter, and began to explain the origins of each plant, which opened Min Xi's eyes. When he walked to the innermost end, Min Xi found another plant he was looking forward to - tomatoes.

The tomato fruits are beginning to ripen at this moment. They are bright red like small lanterns and are very beautiful and attractive.

Min Xi leaned over and smelled the rich fruity aroma, a familiar and friendly smell: "Sir, what is this? It's so beautiful!"

Fernando said, "Don't get close to it. Be careful. This is a wolfberry brought back from the New World. It's poisonous!"

Min Xi pretended to be disappointed: "Is it poisonous? But it smells so good!" This is the truth. The original tomatoes are much more fragrant than the tomatoes with thick skin and hard fruits that were cultivated later.

"This is what makes it deceptive. Eating it can kill you, so don't try it lightly," said Fernando.

"Do you know if anyone has been poisoned to death after eating it?" Min Xi asked.

"No, it's just that the natives of the New World thought it was poisonous, so we didn't dare to try it," said Fernando.

Min Xi looked at it reluctantly: "Sir, I like this fruit very much. I want two fruits. Is that ok?"

Fernando said, "Of course you can, but remember, you can't eat it, it can kill you."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll remember that and I won't eat it."

Min Xi was so happy that he almost died. Within one day, he found two vegetables, peppers and tomatoes. Unfortunately, there was no corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes, which were more important than these.

Fernando must be a flower lover. He only grows good-looking plants. The flowers and fruits of potatoes, corn and sweet potatoes are too inconspicuous, so they were not selected for his glass greenhouse.

So Min Xi had to continue searching.