The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

It was the first time for Min Xi to enjoy this treatment. He raised his hand and touched the little guy's head: "Miguel is so good!"

Yun Ji's eyes popped out when he saw this. This little guy is really brave! He did something he wanted to do but didn't dare to do.

The countess looked at her son being taken away by the tutor, turned around and said to Min Xi with a smile: "I have never seen Miguel treat anyone like this. It seems that he really likes you."

"It's my honor!" Min Xi smiled and bowed.

The Earl laughed: "This kid has learned how to bribe you."

After dinner, they moved from the dining table to the sofa by the fireplace to rest and drink tea to digest the food.

During the chat, Min Xi learned that Count Hernandez actually owned six galleons, a large piece of land and hundreds of slaves in the New World. His family was one of the first Spaniards to invest in overseas expansion, and they had always been lucky and had never suffered a big loss. Through slow accumulation, they have now accumulated amazing wealth.

His overseas territories not only had plantations, but also gold and silver mines, and he would ship back a large amount of gold and silver from the New World every year. The bulk of these would be given to the king, and the rest would belong to him, which was also quite an astonishing wealth.

This can be seen from the tableware in the Earl's house. The tea sets for drinking tea are all Chinese porcelain. The tableware for eating is also mainly porcelain, and some tableware is gold. Only the knives, forks and spoons are silver, because it is said that silver can be disinfected, so it has not been completely abandoned.

In Spain, porcelain is more valuable than gold. After all, every Spanish noble family can afford gold, but not necessarily porcelain.

No wonder the count built such a large manor, it was all made with money. Min Xi traveled to three countries and met many rich people. Baron Fernando was very rich, and Baron Hofstadt was also very rich, but they were not as rich as Count Hernandez.

After all, the Spanish Invincible Armada had only more than a hundred warships, and the count personally owned six large ships. No wonder Baron Fernando said that his cousin had plenty of money.

"My ship has never been to China. I will go to China to do business with you when I have the chance," said the count.

Min Xi discovered that Europeans really regarded China as a hot spot. Anyone with a little financial resources wanted to do business with China because the profits were so lucrative.

Min Xi smiled and said, "Welcome." In business, there's give and take, as long as they're not here to rob, that's fine.

The next day, the Earl started to prepare the luggage. The family would definitely need to take a lot of things with them. Min Xi and Yun Ji didn't have much to pack, so they could just take their original luggage with them. The sweet potatoes, corn and rice they bought in Madrid could be left at the Earl's house first. They would return to Madrid on their way back, so they could take these things with them.

In the morning, when Min Si was making snacks for the children in the kitchen, Mrs. Alwaka came to deliver the invitation to the Countess and Min Si.

The Countess held the invitation and said, "My dear, we may not be able to attend your party."

"Why?" said Mrs. Arwaka.

"We are going to leave for Valencia the day after tomorrow," said the Countess, "and your party will not be held for another few days, and we cannot wait."

Mrs. Alvarka was very surprised: "Why did you suddenly decide to go to Valencia? I haven't heard you mention it before. What about the two Chinese gentlemen? They should be free to go, right?"

"You'll have to ask them," said the Countess. "I'll send for him."

Min Xi is making snacks in the kitchen at the moment. Peel the sweet potatoes, cut them into French fries, put them into the batter with sugar, and fry them in a pan. The fried sweet potato fries are crispy, sweet and fragrant. It is a very simple and delicious fried snack.

He made this snack not only to satisfy the children's cravings, but also to relieve his homesickness. This was a snack his grandmother often made for him when he was a child. Because his grandparents didn't have much money, he couldn't eat snacks as often as other children, so his grandmother made snacks for him herself.

Grandma picked up the battered sweet potato strips horizontally and vertically and put them on the spatula, put them into the oil pan and fried them. After they were shaped, she took them off the spatula and fried them until they were golden brown. When they were cooked, they tasted especially sweet. Because the French fries were stuck together horizontally and vertically, they looked like a crab with its claws and teeth bared, so grandma called them "crabs".

Fried crab strips were Min Xi's favorite snack throughout his childhood and adolescence. However, no one fried crabs for him anymore after his grandmother passed away.

Yunji eats fried "crabs": "Fragrant and crispy, very delicious!"

"It's delicious, right? I didn't have many snacks when I was a child, so my grandma often made this for me." Min Xi was busy with his hands, with a smile on his lips. He felt happy when he thought of his loving grandma.

"Yeah, very delicious." Yun Ji looked at his profile and knew that he must be missing his relatives.

"These are all ready. Take them out for everyone to taste." Min Xi said.

"Okay." Yun Ji went out with the fried "crabs" and happened to meet the maid who came to greet them: "Mrs. Alwaka is here, she wants to see you, sir."

When Min Xi heard this, he knew that it was Mrs. Alwaka who came to deliver the invitation, but he was still frying French fries. The oil temperature was just right. If he left it there, he was afraid that it would burn. So he said, "Go and tell Mrs. Alwaka that I really can't leave here. Please ask her to wait for a while. I will see her after I am done."

"Okay." The maid agreed and left.

Yun Ji asked Min Xi: "Should I take it out?"

"Go ahead, it's a good opportunity to invite the guests to try it. Bring a few forks." Min Xi smiled. This was the most common food for the common people. I wonder what the nobles would think after eating it.

Yun Ji placed the fried "crab" on the coffee table: "This is a snack made by Min, please have a taste, Madam."

Fried "crabs" are different from French fries. French fries are eaten one by one, while fried crabs are eaten one by one. It is indeed a bit inconvenient for aristocratic ladies to eat them alive.

However, the Countess was very considerate and used a fork to pick up a head and started eating: "Let me try it. Hmm, it tastes very good, very sweet, and a little crispy. This is made by Mr. Min, you can try it too."

Mrs. Alwaka was extremely surprised: "Mr. Min did it?"

"Yes, he is a very good cook and he loves to cook. I ate the food he cooked yesterday. I tell you, I have never eaten such delicious food in my life!" The Countess spoke exaggeratedly, but she knew that she was telling the truth.

Mrs. Alwaka was skeptical: "Really?" To verify, she picked up a "crab" with a fork. The first bite was crispy and the sweetness was not so obvious. After eating two more bites, she found it was quite sweet.

"Oh, it's really nice. But what is this?" asked Mrs. Arwaka.

The countess didn't know what it was either. She turned to look at Yunji, who said in Portuguese, "This is sweet potato, a crop brought back from the New World."

"Then it's similar to yesterday's popcorn, made from food brought back from the New World, right?" asked the Countess.

"Yes, ma'am."

The Countess explained to Mrs. Alvarka in Spanish and praised yesterday’s popcorn: “The popcorn is really sweet and the children love it. I tell you, if you have tasted the food cooked by Mr. Min, you will never forget it for the rest of your life.”

Mrs. Alwaka became even more curious about Min Xi. She handed the invitation in her hand to Yun Ji: "Sir, this is the invitation to our banquet. I hope you can come."

Yunji barely understood the Spanish and said in simple phrases: "Please wait and let Min come to talk to you. He is still busy. My Spanish is not very good."

Mrs. Alwaka smiled and said to Yunji, "It's okay, I'll wait for him to come and talk to him."

Yun Ji quickly said goodbye to the ladies and left. He was really not good at dealing with ladies.

Mrs. Alwaka looked at Yun Ji's back and said with a sigh, "Mr. Yun is as beautiful as an angel."

The Countess smiled and said, "Yes, Mr. Min is also good-looking. I wonder if all Chinese people are as good-looking as them."

After the Countess finished eating a "crab", she said to the maid, "Take some fried sweet potatoes and send them to Miguel and Sofia. They will definitely like them."

After Min Xi finished frying the "crabs", he came out of the kitchen and apologized to Mrs. Alwaka. Mrs. Alwaka was eating the "crabs". She put down her fork and said, "It's okay. The snacks you made are very delicious. We all like them very much. I couldn't help but eat three!"

"Thank you for your likes." Min Xi sat down on the sofa.

Mrs. Alwaka pushed the invitation in front of him and said, "I hope you can come and enjoy it."

Min Xi took a look and said, "Madam, I'm very sorry. I originally planned to stay in Madrid for a while, but I changed my schedule and went to Valencia and Barcelona, ​​so I can't attend your party."

Mrs. Alvarca said in surprise, "You are going to Valencia too? Are you going with the Count and his people?"

"Yes, the Count's family is going to Valencia for vacation, so we will travel together," said Min Xi.

Mrs. Alwaka looked disappointed: "That's such a pity!" She had originally thought that she could invite two Chinese guests to her banquet and create a sensational topic.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am. If we come back from Barcelona and have enough time, we will visit you again," said Min Xi.

When Mrs. Alvaro heard him say this, she said, "Well, I forgive you. When you return to Madrid, you must come to my house."

"must!"