The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

After the sweet potatoes are steamed, they are almost ready to be roasted.

Min Xi peeled off the sweet potato skin, took a bite, and said, "This sweet potato has a lot of starch, so the taste is just average."

Yunji tried taking a small bite and smacked his lips. He said in surprise, "I didn't expect it to be so delicious. It's much better than taro. It's even a little sweet."

"It's not bad, but you need to drink a lot of water." Min Xi said and took a sip of water.

After eating a steamed sweet potato, Min Xi took a sweet potato out of the stove, waited for it to cool down a little, pressed it with his fingers, and felt that it was cooked. He picked it up and patted the ash on the outer layer in his hand, pinched the slightly charred skin, revealing the light yellow sweet potato flesh, and a fragrance came to his nose: "This is good, definitely better than the steamed one."

He leaned over and took a bite: "Well, it's true, Brother Qi, try the roasted sweet potato."

Yun Ji also picked one out to eat: "Yes, I feel that the roasted ones are sweeter than the steamed ones. Not so dry."

"Yeah, roasted sweet potatoes are the best." Min Xi nodded with satisfaction, "Winter and roasted sweet potatoes are a perfect match. In our time, many varieties of sweet potatoes were cultivated. Some were very starchy and were used to make sweet potato flour, while others were very sugary and were roasted to be very sweet. They taste much better than this."

"It sounds really good. But this one is also very good. It tastes so good and is so easy to grow. It should be able to be promoted in Ming Dynasty soon." Yun Ji said.

After eating the sweet potatoes, they finished their breakfast. They washed their hands, packed their things, and prepared to go out to visit Count Hernandez.

They lived in the southwest corner of the city, and Mora Street was in the northeast corner of the city, which was completely diagonal, and the distance was quite far. Fortunately, they had a carriage, and it didn't take much time to drive there.

The snow a few days ago covered most of the Iberian Peninsula, and the snow in Madrid was more than a foot deep. It was the heaviest snowfall in Madrid in the past decade. However, it has almost melted in the past two days, and only some residual snow is left in particularly shady places, which may not be found without careful search.

The weather was still very cold. They drove to Mora Street and asked someone. The other person raised his hand and pointed forward: "That's the big manor in front."

Yun Ji drove the car forward, and then he found that the houses on the roadside were gone, and a large piece of land facing the street had become a huge manor. It seemed that this was Count Hernandez's house.

The car drove for a long distance before arriving at the gate, which shows how big the manor is.

Min Xi got off the carriage and handed Fernandez's business card to the doorman. When the doorman saw the family emblem, he sent the card inside. After a long while, he came back and opened the door: "Please come in, sir!"

Yun Ji took a look and decided to drive the carriage in because the place was too big.

When they arrived at the gate of the house, a servant came to take their carriage, drove it aside, and fed the horses. Min Xi and Yun Ji carried the gifts and followed the maid's instructions into the hall.

The temperature outside was only a few degrees, very cold, but as soon as I entered the house, I found it was really warm inside. There was more than one fireplace in the room, and each of them was burning with a blazing flame, providing a lot of heat to the room.

When Min Xi entered the room, a beautiful lady in fur coat was standing at the door waiting for him. When she saw them, she looked very surprised: "Excuse me, who are you?"

Min Xi and Yun Ji quickly took off their hats and saluted: "Hello, Madam! I am a friend of Baron Fernando. I have met the Count twice when I was in Lisbon. We are traveling in Spain and would like to visit him. Please forgive us for disturbing you!"

The lady looked at them and her frown relaxed: "You are from China, right?"

Min Xi smiled and replied, "Yes, ma'am, we are from China."

The lady walked up to them and bowed like a lady: "Hello! I am Emma's sister. It was you who saved my sister Emma on the way to Coimbra, right?" This should be the Countess Hernandez.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Yes, ma'am, it was my brother who saved Ms. Emma from the bandits."

"May I ask what your name is, sir?" asked the Countess.

Min Xi introduced himself: "My last name is Min."

Yun Ji said, "My last name is Yun. My Spanish is not very good, please forgive me, Madam."

The countess's face was full of smiles, and she quickly invited the two to the sofa: "It's okay, please sit down! Aurora, quickly pour the tea, use my favorite set of teacups. Have the two guests had breakfast?"

"Madam, we have already had breakfast. Where is the Earl?" Min Xi asked.

"The Count is out and will be back later. You have finally come to Madrid, so you must stay here for a few more days and let the Count accompany you for a good tour." The Countess personally poured tea for the two of them.

Min Xi and Yun Ji discovered that the Count's family used teacups, which was amazing. You know, neither the King of Portugal nor the Queen of England had such tea sets. It was obvious that when the Baron said that Count Hernandez was rich, he was really rich.

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other tacitly, and finally understood the correct way to drink tea.

"Thank you, Madam!" Min Xi picked up the teacup and took a sip. The tea soup was fragrant and slightly sweet. It was indeed a good tea. "This tea tastes really good."

The countess smiled and said, "Yes, this is the count's treasure. We usually only use it to entertain guests who know tea. China is the origin of tea, so I think you must know tea."

"Thank you for your hospitality!" Min Xi thanked sincerely.

"But that is nothing compared with the life you have saved Emma," said the Countess; "Emma was my dearest sister, and you have saved her from the shame and abuse she suffered. I have heard the whole story from the Count, but I should like to hear your account of it."

Min Xi said, looking at Yun Ji: "Seventh brother, you come and talk to the lady."

Yun Ji said, "Ma'am, my Spanish is not very good."

The Countess was stunned for a moment, then said, "I had forgotten that you came from Lisbon. You have been in Lisbon for so long, you should speak Portuguese very well, right?"

Yunji nodded: "Portuguese is OK."

"Then speak Portuguese. Portuguese is my mother tongue." The Countess quickly switched to Portuguese.

Speaking Portuguese, Yunji was able to describe exactly what happened.

The Countess listened attentively, asking questions about small details. She listened very seriously. These two Chinese gentlemen were so brave, they were like knights!

After hearing the story of the rescue, the Countess covered her mouth with a handkerchief, looking frightened: "Oh my God, my God, the situation was really life-threatening at that time. If it weren't for your help, my poor Emma would have been in danger. What about her two poor children? You really saved the lives of our whole family!"

Although this statement is a bit exaggerated, it is indeed the Countess's truest thought.

While they were talking, the housekeeper came to report: "Madam, Madam Alwaka and the others have arrived."

The Countess was startled, then said, "Then please invite them in. It's very presumptuous, but my friends are here, and I hope you two gentlemen don't mind having tea and chatting with them."

Min Xi had come to visit without an appointment, and it was they who were intrusive: "Madam, you are too polite. It is us who are intruding."

"No, no, it's our honor that you are willing to visit us. You are our distinguished guests, please make yourself at home here," said the Countess hurriedly.

As they were talking, the door opened, and a gust of air mixed with body odor and fragrance wafted in from outside. A high-pitched female voice said, "Aurora, we are here!" It was a group of ladies who came, probably the Countess's sisters.

The Countess had stood up and was greeting the guests in front of the sofa. Everyone came up to her one by one and hugged and kissed her on the cheek.

The Countess led the guests to the sofa and said, "Let me introduce you. These two are my distinguished guests, Yun and Min. They are from China! They are the saviors of my sister Emma." It can be seen that her sister's experience has become a wonder in her circle of friends, and everyone knows about it.

Several ladies opened their mouths exaggeratedly and looked at Min Xi and Yun Ji: "Hello! Warmly welcome you! It's a pleasure to meet you. We have heard about your heroic deeds from the Countess a long time ago. You are really knights. I am Mrs. Alvarka, welcome to Madrid!"

Min Xi and Yun Ji stood up to greet the ladies, and were immediately surrounded by several enthusiastic ladies. Five or six pairs of eyes were staring at them, as if they wanted to see through them.

That was fine, but I don't know what kind of fragrance these noble ladies used to cover up their body odor. The fragrance and body odor mixed together, not to mention how irritating it was. Even though they had lived in Europe for such a long time, their noses still couldn't get used to the body odor of Europeans. They could only hold their breath as much as possible and reduce the number of breaths.

Fortunately, the Countess saved them from the disaster: "Well, ladies, let our distinguished guest take a seat. Please take a seat as well."

Several ladies dispersed and sat around the coffee table, finally putting some distance between themselves and the two of them.

Mrs. Alcahua was definitely a community expert. She asked whatever came to her mind. For example, as soon as we sat down, she started to ask, "You two gentlemen are much younger than I thought. It is really rare to be so young and successful. Are you 16 years old?"

Min Xixin said that they didn't look like minors, "Madam, we are already over 20 years old."

Mrs. Alwaka showed an exaggerated expression: "You look really young. I think the ladies in your country must also look younger than their actual age. How enviable!"

Mrs. Alwaka has a high emotional intelligence and she praised Chinese women in a roundabout way.