The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

When Yun Ji heard the guest introduce himself like this, he couldn't help but complain to Min Xi in Chinese: "Why are they either nobles or people of nobles? How many nobles are there in Europe?"

Min Xi couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "This is not surprising. Europe is so small and is divided into so many small countries. Each country has its own ruling system, so there are naturally many nobles. And who among the poor would travel far away?"

Yun Ji nodded after listening to this. It made sense. Even in the Ming Dynasty, people without money would not travel far. They could not even afford the food and accommodation expenses along the way, let alone the travel permit.

It was actually quite nice to have Garcia traveling with them. After all, he was from Madrid and knew the route. This way they didn't have to worry about taking a detour and could just follow each other.

And there was no need to worry about camping, as the entire Iberian Peninsula had just snowed. The snow in Spain was heavier than in Portugal, and the ground was wet everywhere, making it impossible to pitch a tent. We had to stay in a hotel for the next few days.

The reason they didn't stay in a hotel was that they were worried that the hotel was too dirty. Now they had no choice but to try to choose a cleaner hotel.

Plus, Garcia has experience and knows where is the best place, so just follow him. Garcia is indeed a housekeeper, doing things properly. His only request is to eat with Min Xi and Yun Ji, and they don't eat for free. Every day, they take the initiative to pay for the food, and Min Xi and Yun Ji are only responsible for cooking.

Meeting such a sensible travel companion, Min Xi was of course happy to spend more time on the food and to make more changes under the existing conditions, even though it would be a bit troublesome.

It took them only three days to reach Madrid from Badajoz. Min Xide admitted that the road conditions in Spain were better than those in Portugal. Garcia said that this was the result of the construction of a nationwide road network after Philip II ascended the throne.

This reminded Min Xi of Qin Shi Huang's "standardization of the track for all vehicles". It seemed that Philip II was not only keen on fighting, but also made some achievements in domestic affairs.

After arriving in Madrid, Garcia recommended a hotel to them: "This hotel is owned by someone I know. The conditions are very good, especially it is very clean. I think you will definitely like it."

Along the way, he also realized that Min Xi and Yun Ji were both very clean people. Every time they arrived at a hotel, they would change their own quilts and mattresses and would not use those in the store.

"Thank you! We also want to visit Count Hernandez. Do you know him?" Min Xi asked.

Garcia looked at him in surprise: "Do you know Count Hernandez?"

"Yes, I have met him several times before in Lisbon, and I came here this time to visit him. Do you know where he lives?"

Garcia said with some embarrassment: "He lives in Mora Street. The largest manor on that street belongs to him. But if you meet Count Hernandez, please do not mention Count Flores and my name."

Min Xi noticed the unnatural expression and tone of his voice: "Okay, I won't mention you to the earl." It seems that there is a disagreement between the two earls.

After a while, Garcia said, "To be honest, Count Hernandez and our Lord have some differences of opinion. They don't interact with each other and avoid each other in social occasions."

"I've made note of it. Thank you for your reminder." Min Xi thanked him.

The hotel recommended by Garcia is very good, the surrounding environment is very quiet, the streets are clean, the shops are clean, 5 pesos a night, a little more expensive than the hotel in Badajoz. The only disadvantage is that it is a little remote, but it doesn't matter, they have their own carriages, it is convenient to go anywhere, after all, Madrid is the capital moved here after Philip II ascended the throne, how big can it be?

After settling in, the two of them still replaced the bedding with their own. No matter how clean the hotel was, it could not withstand the strong body odor of foreigners. Changing the sheets and quilt covers did not mean that the pillows, quilts and mattresses would no longer have an odor.

It was the first time that the hotel owner saw guests acting like them, but he didn't say anything. He had seen many guests with strange quirks and he would get used to it. At least this guest used his own quilt and mattress, so they didn't have to wash the sheets and quilt covers.

Soon the boss found out that there was something more troublesome. Because Min Xi asked him to use the kitchen to cook for himself. Although the boss didn't understand, he still agreed. After all, this was introduced by Garcia. Although this request was a bit excessive, it was still good. At least he didn't have to prepare meals for them and could save some money.

At night, the two wanted to boil water for a bath. They had not taken a bath on the road for so many days. They were going to visit Count Hernandez tomorrow, and they felt it would be impolite not to take a bath.

The boss couldn't understand it even more. Aren't you afraid of getting sick if you take a shower in this weather? Which Spaniard would choose to take a shower in winter? If you want to take a shower, you should go to a bathhouse.

Obviously, there was no place to take a shower in the hotel. Min Xi and Yun Ji had no choice but to fetch water and wash themselves in the room before changing into clean clothes. The boss couldn't understand them, and they couldn't understand Europeans. They had such a strong body odor, but their noses couldn't smell it. They were all Ninja Turtles.

The journey from Lisbon to Madrid took eight days, which was within the expected time, which meant they had enough time to find the crop seeds they needed.

They arrived late, so they cleaned up the store on the first day and went to bed early. The next morning, they got up and went to the neighborhood to familiarize themselves with the environment and went to the market. Min Xi was surprised to find that someone was selling sweet potatoes.

This surprised Min Xi so much that he took a closer look and found that it was indeed a sweet potato. Min Xi suppressed his excitement, squatted down in front of the stall, picked up a fist-sized sweet potato, and asked, "What is this? How much is it?"

The stall owner was a middle-aged man. When he saw Min Xi's appearance, he knew that he was from another place and said, "This is a magical fruit from the New World. It's very sweet. If you don't believe me, buy some and try it. I won't lie to you!"

"How to sell it?" Min Xi asked.

"1 peso for 1 pound." This is almost an exorbitant price. The stall owner had been here for the whole morning, but no one was interested. Finally, he met a foreigner who didn't know the value of his goods, so he took whatever money he could make.

Min Xi said, "I'll pay 2 reais and I want all of them. Can you give me the basket too?" This pile of sweet potatoes must weigh about to kilograms.

When the stall owner heard this, he was overjoyed. He thought he had met a rich man: "Of course, I'll give it all to you!"

Min Xi took out a 2 Real silver coin and handed it to the stall owner, who hurriedly put all the sweet potatoes into the basket, smiling brightly: "Thank you, sir, take it!"

Yun Ji carried the basket on his back. Min Xi was also very happy. He didn't expect that Madrid was such a good place. It was so easy to buy sweet potatoes. It would be great if he could buy potatoes. Then he wouldn't have to visit the professor.

Yun Ji asked: "This is the sweet potato, right? Do you need so many?"

Min Xi said happily, "It's sweet potatoes. The more the better. Besides using them as seeds, we can also eat them. Let's try them later to see what they taste like."

"it is good!"

Min Xi went around the vegetable market again, but didn't find the seeds he needed, so he bought some vegetables and took them back.

On the way back, Min Xi said to Yun Ji, "Let's go to another vegetable market tomorrow morning. Maybe we can buy other seeds."

"Will there be the bean you need?" Yun Ji asked.

"Potatoes. Yes, if I could buy potatoes in the market, it would be much easier and this trip to Spain would be perfect." Min Xi was in a very good mood and hummed happily. After finding potatoes, he went back to Lisbon to farm. Farming really gives people a sense of accomplishment.

"Some people actually brought these sweet potatoes to the market to sell, which means there are many people in Spain who grow them," said Yun Ji.

"Yes, it must have been promoted. Spain has many mountains, so it is actually quite suitable for growing sweet potatoes."

Back at the hotel, Min Xi took out a few sweet potatoes, washed them, peeled one, cut it in half and gave it to Yun Ji: "Try it."

"Can it be eaten raw?" Yun Ji took it hesitantly.

"Eat it, it won't be poisonous to you." Min Xi said and took a bite.

The texture of this sweet potato is very hard and only slightly sweet. It is not very delicious when eaten raw. This is the kind of sweet potato with more starch. His grandmother used to grow it to filter out the starch and make sweet potato flour. Min Xi thought of the hot and sour noodles and couldn't help drooling.

Yun Ji smiled and asked, "Is it really that delicious?"

Min Xi said, "You don't understand. I was thinking of using this to make hot and sour noodles. It's sour and spicy, and it's very appetizing."

"So we can do something with this too?"

Min Xi looked at the basket of sweet potatoes and shook his head: "No, there are too few to make it. Let's go back and plant some this year. After the harvest in the fall, I will make you hot and sour noodles."

"it is good."

Min Xi finished eating half of a raw sweet potato and put the others in the pot to steam. Seeing the blazing fire in the stove, he threw a few more small sweet potatoes in. "Okay, wait until they're cooked. Breakfast is done."

Yun Ji asked, "Is this what you're eating for breakfast?"

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, I ate this this morning. Steamed sweet potatoes and baked sweet potatoes."