The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Professor Castro took a cloth bag from the shelf, opened it, and found half a bag of potatoes inside. The potatoes were not big, the largest one was about the size of a duck egg, and most were the size of chicken eggs or even smaller. The skin looked a little wilted, and sprouts had begun to appear on it.

Professor Castro said: "To be honest, I haven't figured out how to store these seeds yet. No matter where you put them, they will start to sprout after a while. These have already started to sprout. You can take them home and plant them in a month or two."

"Thank you, professor. I'll remember that." Min Xi agreed readily.

Professor Castro gave Min Xi four large ones, thought for a moment, and then gave him four egg-sized ones: "Is that enough?"

Min Xi said: "That's enough, thank you professor!"

When the professor closed the bag, he grabbed a handful of small ones for him. "This is a food crop of the natives of the New World, but I've eaten it before and it tastes average, not as good as batata. It has no taste when eaten raw, and it doesn't have any special taste when cooked, but it's not bad. If you grow it, you can try it. You know how to cook, so maybe you can make it better than us."

Min Xi asked: "Professor, can we eat it even if it sprouts?"

The professor shook his head. "I haven't tried it yet, but in our field of botany, there are still many mysteries that have not been solved. Some plants, such as wheat, will produce sugar after germination, and can make maltose. But some plants will produce some unknown substances after germination, which may be poisonous if eaten. Therefore, we don't easily try unfamiliar sprouting plants. Even if we want to eat them, we only eat a little bit for experiments. So you'd better be careful. It's best not to eat unfamiliar plants after they have sprouted."

"Thank you, professor!" Min Xi asked this question because he was actually worried that the professor would eat sprouted potatoes, but when he heard him say that, he felt relieved. At least the professor would not eat sprouted potatoes casually.

Coming out of the botanical garden, Yun Ji asked, "Is that the potato you mentioned?"

"Yes!" Min Xi's face was full of joy.

Yun Ji asked: "Is it planted the same way as sweet potatoes?"

"Not entirely. Sweet potato seedlings can be propagated from cuttings, but potatoes cannot. They can only be planted from the tuber."

Yun Ji looked at the potatoes the professor gave him: "So the quantity is not much."

"Yes, but the larger pieces can be cut into pieces. One or two buds can be used to plant one plant. These can probably produce about 10 to 20 plants. All that is grown this year will be kept as seeds. There will be more next year. We definitely won’t be able to eat them all in the first two years." Min Xi said.

"I think I heard the professor say it doesn't taste very good?"

"Compared with the sweet sweet potato, it is indeed not as delicious. But it is actually not bad, it just has no taste. Rice and flour also have no taste, they are just grains. But potatoes can also be used to cook dishes, and there are many ways to eat them, more than sweet potatoes." Min Xi said.

Sweet potatoes are generally used to make vermicelli and snacks, and are rarely used in cooking. They are not as diverse as potatoes as a staple food. After all, their sweetness limits their uses.

"Now that you mention it, I'm kind of looking forward to it," Yun Ji said.

"When the potatoes are planted this year, I'll cook them for you. But we have to see how they grow and how many fruits they produce. In Europe, potatoes are more suitable for winter planting. In the south of our Ming Dynasty, we plant them in winter and harvest them in spring, but in the north of your country, we can only plant them in spring because the temperature is too low in winter and the ground is frozen. Potatoes can't stand the cold."

Yun Ji said, "So, we have to go back and plant crops quickly? It's almost February now."

"Yes. Let's go back in two days and plant the crops before March. We should be able to harvest them in May or June. If we really can't grow any, we'll go to Valencia again in the fall and ask Professor Castro for some seeds," said Min Xi.

"it is good!"

After getting the potatoes, Min Xi and Yun Ji began to prepare for their return trip, buying gifts for everyone and purchasing Spanish specialties.

When the count heard that they decided to go back, he was very surprised. Didn't they plan to stay in Spain for a month? They had only been here for less than half a month.

"Is there something urgent that requires you to go back?" The Earl was reluctant to let them go back. Min Xi had been cooking more diligently recently, and their family's taste buds had become picky. They felt that the food cooked by the cook was just average.

Min Xi said, "It's like this. In order to enrich the dishes on the table, we asked Professor Castro for some vegetable seeds. The sowing season for those vegetable seeds is coming soon. If we miss the season, I'm afraid we won't be able to grow them."

The Earl found that Min Xi was still concerned about the things at the table. No wonder he wanted to go back early. He thought it was reasonable and it was difficult to persuade him to stay: "If that's the case, then we won't keep him."

Min Xi said: "If you come to Lisbon in the future, you are welcome to eat at our hotel. I will prepare delicious food for you."

"Okay! If you come to Madrid next time, just come directly to my house." said the count.

"Sure!" He was really not sure whether he would come to Spain again. If potatoes could be grown, he would not have to come again.

Min Xi and Yun Ji decided on a date to return and went to say goodbye to Professor Castro and Professor Silva. The two professors were surprised and reluctant to learn that they were leaving, but they could not continue to try to keep them, after all, they came here to have fun.

Everyone also gave them gifts.

And so, in early February, Min Xi and Yun Ji set out on their journey back to Lisbon.

Before leaving, they bought a 50-kilogram bag of rice in Valencia and managed to buy more than ten kilograms of rice seeds, intending to take them back to Lisbon to plant.

The Count and his family wanted to stay in Valencia for a few days and did not go with them.

There was no rain or snow this time, and the two subconsciously sped up, so the return journey was much faster than the coming journey. On the afternoon of the third day, they returned to Madrid from Valencia.

After arriving in Madrid, they stayed overnight at the count's manor as requested by the count. They took the rice, sweet potatoes and corn they had bought earlier, and even bought some more sweet potatoes and corn. This was considered a full return.

They did not go back to see Mrs. Arwaka because there was no time to waste.

The return carriage weighed at least 100 pounds more than the one on the way here, which was a big burden for the horses. So they didn't dare to go too fast, for fear that the horses would be too tired. They didn't camp all the time on the road. They stayed in hotels when they could, and set up tents when they couldn't. After all, setting up a tent does take more time than staying in a hotel.

On the return trip they didn’t even go through Coimbra, but took a more direct route, which shortened the journey considerably, traveling all the way from Madrid to Lisbon, and the entire journey took a total of seven days.

When we returned to Lisbon, it was still mid-February. This trip to Spain, including the time spent on the road and in Spain, took less than a month and a half in total, which was more than half a month earlier than expected.

The person who was most happy to see them come back was Diego. The boss came back earlier than expected and they finally kept their promise.

Min Xi smiled and rubbed Diego's head: "I didn't lie to you, as long as there is no delay, we will definitely come back on time. This time we came back early."

Diego had a smile on his face: "Will you leave next?"

Min Xi said: "It depends on the situation. If there is nothing else, we won't leave. We still have a lot of things to do this year."

After they returned to Lisbon, the first thing they needed to consider was renting a house. They planned to rent a house with a yard in the suburbs so that they could grow vegetables with peace of mind. After they finished sowing, they would open a private restaurant. With the foundation laid by the Chinese restaurant, good wine will be popular, not to mention the Baron, an experienced gourmet, to help promote it.

Min Xi and Yun Ji discussed: "Should we rent a farmhouse or a rich man's country villa like Bright Manor?"

Yun Ji said: "If you want to open a private restaurant, the conditions should be slightly better. But if you are farming, a farmyard is more appropriate."

"I wonder if there is a country villa with a yard where you can grow vegetables." Min Xi wanted to have the best of both worlds.

"Then let's go out and look around these two days to see if there is a suitable yard."

"Yeah." In fact, rich people's country villas are easier to rent. After all, they are idle houses and the probability of being rented out is much higher. Farmers' yards are all occupied by themselves, so the possibility of them being willing to rent out is very small.

"Let's invite the Baron and others to have dinner tomorrow. It's thanks to him that we have been taking care of the store during this period." Min Xi yawned.

"Okay, I'll invite him tomorrow. Go to sleep." Yun Ji was also feeling tired and his voice lowered.

"Yeah." Min Xi responded and his consciousness became blurred.

The next morning, Min Xi did not sleep in and got up early. He told the store employees last night that he would prepare a Spanish specialty meal for everyone this morning.

Yunji drove the carriage to take everyone to buy vegetables early in the morning, and Minxi also went. He rarely buys vegetables now. When he was in the UK, Yunji bought them. After returning, Gail and Jasper bought them. Only when he was in Spain did he and Yunji buy vegetables together.

The seafood market is particularly lively in the morning. The seafood is all freshly caught from the sea. It has the wet and salty smell of sea water and is extremely fresh. You will want to buy everything you see.

Min Xi bought a lot of seafood and said to Yun Ji, "You should invite the Baron and Lord Merlot early in the morning and ask them to come for lunch. The seafood rice should be eaten while it is fresh. It will not be fresh enough by the evening and the taste will be compromised."

"Okay. I'll send you back first and then go invite them." Yun Ji agreed readily.

After buying the seafood, they came back directly. Gail and Jasper got off the car on the way and went to the vegetable market to buy other vegetables, while Min Xi went back to make breakfast first.

Yun Ji sent Min Xi back to the store, and then rode to invite the baron and lord to his house for lunch. The nobles like to sleep in, so they should not have woken up or gone out yet, otherwise they might not meet them later.