The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

The next morning, Min Xi and Yun Ji got off the boat again. The meal last night consumed a lot of food and fuel. In the evening, the two of them boiled water and took a bath. Today, before leaving, they hurried to make up for it. They bought a lot of fresh food and charcoal. Yun Ji also carried a few buckets of water on board.

The sailors who had spent the night on the island also returned to the ship one after another. At ten o'clock, the three sailboats hoisted their sails again on time and headed south.

After leaving the Madeira Islands, the navigator Gama invited old Hughes to the observation deck to lead the way.

Under normal sailing conditions, the crew is very busy and they have many things to do, such as cleaning the decks, maintaining the decks and rigging, maintaining metal parts, checking the cargo in the hold and so on.

Although there are many things to do, we don't do the same thing all day long. We take turns to do it. Only the navigator on the lookout tower needs to be on duty for a long time.

The lookout tower was very high, and old Zeus was old, so it was not easy for him to climb up and down. Every time he went up, Yunji carried him on his back.

Min Xi was terrified by what he saw, but Yun Ji himself did not find it that difficult. Old Xius was not tall and very thin, and his weight would not exceed 100 kilograms, which was not a burden for him.

Although old Zeus had been away from this sea area for more than 40 years and had not traveled this route many times, he was much more familiar with this route than everyone expected. God knows how many times he had studied the parchment scroll and had already deeply imprinted the situation along the way in his mind.

Whenever Yunji and Diego had free time, they would go to the lookout tower and learn how to navigate from the two navigators.

The navigator's work place is almost the highest in the whole ship, after all, the mastman will not always be there to lower the sail. So the navigator is actually the hardest worker, no matter it is windy or rainy, he has to stay there, even in September, it is cold enough to stand there and blow the sea breeze for more than ten hours.

Fortunately, after passing the Madeira Islands, we entered the subtropical region. The temperature gradually rose and the wind was a little stronger, but not too cold.

Min Xi still took out all the thick clothes for the three of them to wear to resist the biting sea breeze. After all, there was a lack of doctors and medicine on the ship, and if they got sick, they had to rely on themselves, and their life and death were almost at the mercy of fate, not to mention that old Zeus was old and in poor health.

But Xius himself didn't feel it was hard. This was the place where he spent most of his time when he was young. Now he had the opportunity to return here, and his mental state was very good.

Min Xi could only provide logistical support for them, making hot tea for them at least three times a day, filling it in a copper kettle, wrapping it tightly in cotton cloth, taking it to the observation deck, and stuffing it into their clothes so that they could drink hot water for at least one or two hours.

The pork jerky he made before leaving also came in handy. He brought it with them as snacks. With food and drink to replenish their energy, their resistance would be better.

Fortunately, the further south you go, the closer you get to the equator, and the higher the temperature. After crossing the equator, you reach the Southern Hemisphere, which is after October, and summer is coming soon in the Southern Hemisphere.

After leaving Madeira Island, they arrived in Cape Verde after four days of sailing. Because they had just resupplyed, their stay for resupply was very short this time. They did not spend the night on the island. They just asked the purchasing agent to go ashore to buy some fresh vegetables, fruits and meat, replenish some used fresh water, and then left quickly.

It takes at least half a month to travel from Cape Verde to St. Helena. The fresh meat they brought ran out two days after leaving Cape Verde, after all, rising temperatures are a big problem for food preservation. Fortunately, they also brought live sheep and chickens, which lasted for another three or four days after being killed. After about a week, the fresh meat was finally used up.

After the fresh meat was finished, the only thing left was pickled meat. Min Xi had to do every meal, cut the pickled meat or fish into pieces, and then fry it in a pan, and then cut two slices of black bread for each person, sandwiching the pickled meat or fish in the middle, and then distribute some vegetables and fruits to everyone. Sometimes it was an onion, sometimes a piece of pumpkin, or half a carrot, anyway, they were all raw.

This way, everyone can get enough starch, protein, vitamins and salt. But every other day, he still makes bread or noodles for everyone. After all, eating black bread all the time is too inhumane. Even if everyone can stand it, they themselves can't stand it.

Min Xi would still insist on cooking porridge or noodles for Xiusi every day. Xiusi was old and weak, and his stomach could not bear the dry bread and pickled meat he had to eat when he went out to sea with them.

The crew members were jealous, but they had no objections. After all, whether it was rice, flour, or even fuel, Min Xi bought them himself.

Min Xi also said that if there were patients on the ship, as a chef, he would prepare special meals for them.

Min Xi and Yun Ji were slightly better off than the other crew members in that they could eat an extra boiled egg every day, and they could also eat chicken sauce, pork sauce or mushroom sauce with their rice. However, the tomatoes, cucumbers and grapes they brought from home had been eaten long ago, and they could only eat onions bought from Cape Verde.

Captain Almeida and navigator Gama were familiar with them, so when they were eating, they would come over to eat.

With Min Xi’s various sauces, eating is no longer a task but a pleasure.

It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. To be honest, Min Xi and Yun Ji, both of whom have Chinese stomachs, are not very adaptable to this kind of life with black bread and pickled meat. They both look forward to reaching St. Helena Island for supplies as soon as possible, so that they can at least have hot meals for a few days.

A few days passed like this, and even Min Si, who had his own small warehouse, could no longer sustain himself with the rice and flour he brought. He could no longer cook for old Hughes, and he had to eat only bacon and black bread with everyone else.

When they were about to reach St. Helena, they encountered a storm. Fortunately, Hughes was experienced and had discovered the signs of the storm long ago. He lowered all the sails in advance and secured everything on the ship as much as possible.

In front of the roaring nature, the sailboat was like a tiny leaf. The huge waves and strong winds repeatedly beat and ravaged the sailboat, and it almost capsized several times, but fortunately it was safe every time. Everyone fixed themselves on the boat, swaying with the wind and waves in the storm and raging waves, being beaten and dazed, waiting for the wind and waves to dissipate.

Finally, after raging for a whole night, the storm finally subsided.

The captain counted the number of people and fortunately, everyone was there, but one sailor was injured and his arm was broken by a barrel flying from nowhere.

There was no doctor on board, so Yun Ji stepped forward, pulled the man's arm and pulled hard to restore the bone, then tied him up with a plank and rope: "Don't move, this arm can't be stressed anymore, it will be fine."

The sailor was skeptical, but Min Xi said, "Believe him. He broke his arm before, and he put it back together himself. It's fine now."

The sailor nodded with relief: "Thank you!"

Another big problem with this storm was that almost everything was wet. Nothing was spared. Everyone had to move the cargo, bedding, and clothes to the deck to dry them, and also take off their clothes to dry them.

Those who are more particular will still leave their underwear on, while those who are not will just take off all their clothes and walk around the boat naked.

Normally, since they were all men, it would be no problem to take off their clothes in such an extreme situation. The key point was that there were some wretched people among these people, so Min Xi, Yun Ji and Diego all wore wet shorts and would change into dry ones after the other clothes and pants were dried.

Min Xi was most worried about two things. One was that old Zeus was old and would be prone to illness after a night of bumpy ride, dampness and cold. The other was that all the ingredients were wet and if they were not dried thoroughly, they would become moldy and spoil, which was more terrible than spoiling for too long. Eating moldy food could easily lead to aflatoxin poisoning.

The firewood was all wet, and the tinder for starting the fire was all wet. Now it was impossible to start a fire to boil hot water for everyone. All this could only be done after it was dried in the sun.

On this day, everyone was constantly moving things, drying things, turning things over, and also had to be on guard against the occasional rain.

The storm took them off course, and the journey that was supposed to take one or two days turned into three or four days. They and the other two ships were also separated, and Captain Almeida adjusted the route: "Don't look for them anymore, keep going, and reunite at St. Helena."

When Min Xi counted the fruits and vegetables, he found that there were only 20 apples left, and only about 10 onions. This was different from the number he counted before the storm. They must have been lost in the storm. Counting the days, it would take at least three days to reach St. Helena. It seemed that everyone was going to be short of fresh fruits and vegetables.

He had to cut the apple in half and each person ate half, but this still couldn't make up the portion for 44 people. As a last resort, Min Xi and his three companions had to give up eating. After the meal, he took out a few small sweet potatoes from his own and asked Yun Ji to fetch sea water from the sea to wash off the mud and dust on them, and then peel off a thin layer of skin to use as a substitute for fruit.

Min Xi left the sweet potatoes for them to eat themselves and did not dare let the crew know that the sweet potatoes he brought could be eaten raw.

This thing cannot be taken out unless it is absolutely necessary. Although he can take out some of it for the crew to eat, if they know that he brought sweet potatoes, they will naturally think that when there are no fresh fruits and vegetables, these should be taken out for everyone to eat. They will not care whether you have worked hard to get them to take back for planting. It would be strange if they don't eat them all.