The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi called Gail and together they moved the dishes and tableware for the three guests to the private room upstairs. He also told the Fernando brothers the names of several dishes he was going to prepare for the banquet.

Min Xi briefly introduced the ingredients and cooking methods of each dish, and then said: "Some dishes need to be prepared in advance. Let's make two today, roast duck and salt and pepper shrimp."

The baron questioned: "Only five dishes? Isn't that a bit too little?"

Min Xi said: "It's not too little. If the Western chef doesn't prepare soup, I will add another soup, plus the staple food and dessert, there will be seven or eight dishes."

Lord Fernando said, "I think that's enough. Let another chef prepare four or five more dishes. A total of more than ten dishes is already a lot."

Min Xi said: "I think it's enough." They were all aristocrats and they usually ate delicacies from land and sea. They were not short of food. They just wanted to try something new.

"Okay, let's try the food first," said the Baron.

After Min Xi left, the baron looked at the four dishes on the table and said to Lord Melo, "Ximang, how do the dishes here taste?"

Lord Mello nodded: "I think it's pretty good, this is my favorite." He pointed to the sweet and sour pork.

The baron picked up a piece with a fork and took a bite: "Hmm, it's really good, but why doesn't it taste like mutton? What is it made of?" In this era, cattle were still the main agricultural productive force, and the Fulanji people rarely ate beef.

Lord Fernando also tasted it and said, "It's not mutton, nor chicken, but a bit like pork."

Lord Mello's face looked a little unhappy: "Is it made of pork?" He never eats pork.

The baron smiled and said, "We'll know after asking, but it's quite delicious. I haven't tried this dish either. It should be fish, right? I've eaten his fish soup before, which is a bit similar to this, but the color is different. Let's try it and see what it tastes like."

The Baron scooped up a piece of fish with a spoon, took a bite, then closed his mouth and said nothing. It took him a long time to finish eating the fish.

Lord Mello looked at him: "Pedro, how is it, is it delicious?"

The baron let out a long sigh and took a sip of tea: "The taste is very special, you will know when you try it." As he spoke, he picked up another piece. This time he ate it more carefully. He no longer swallowed it in one bite, but savored it slowly.

Lord Melo saw him take a second bite and guessed that it should be delicious. After all, the baron was a well-known eater in the circle. He also picked up a piece of fish, took a careful bite, and then showed a strange expression: "What does it taste like?"

The baron suppressed a laugh and said, "You've never tasted this flavor before? I guess it's spicy, made with the spices from the New World I gave him. It's irritating, but it's really good. The fish is very tender. Big brother, you should try it too."

Lord Fernando was also very curious. He picked up a piece and took a bite. His eyebrows raised: "The taste is indeed very special."

The baron smiled and said, "I didn't lie to you."

The Baron looked at the four dishes on the table, two of which were served with garlic, one with pork, and one with chili peppers. Although these dishes all tasted good, none of them looked very friendly to Simão Merlo.

The baron asked: "Simon, did you order all these dishes yourself?"

Lord Mello said, "No, I asked them to cook it for me. I ordered some of the most expensive dishes."

The baron showed a meaningful smile on his face, which really confirmed his idea that Min was really a wonderful person.

Gail knocked on the door, pushed it open and came in, bringing a plate of spring rolls, saying, "This is also a new dish introduced today, called spring rolls. Mr. Min asked me to bring it to you to try."

The spring rolls are fried golden brown, look beautiful and appetizing.

Lord Mello looked at the plate of spring rolls and said hesitantly, "Why don't you try some first?"

The baron said, "Okay, I'll try it." He picked one up with his fork, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and nodded, "Not bad, very delicious."

Lord Fernando also tasted one after hearing this: "It's good, very fragrant."

"Is it really delicious?" Lord Mello confirmed. After getting a positive answer, he plucked up the courage to eat the spring rolls and found that they tasted indeed good.

He was not stupid. In fact, he could see Min Xi's intention. He was teasing him a little bit, but he couldn't say anything. These dishes were indeed delicious, but they were not what he usually ate. Today he made an exception.

The baron ate another piece of white-cut chicken and said, "Although today's dish is not what we usually eat, I have to say it is still very delicious."

His eldest brother also nodded: "Yes, normally I would never try it, but here it is easy to make an exception. I think today's dishes are all good, the best ones are this chicken and these spring rolls."

The Baron said, "I like this fish and this sweet and sour pork. The spring rolls are also good. What about you, Simon?"

Lord Mello looked at the five dishes on the table and said, "I like this spring roll, too." In fact, his favorite is sweet and sour pork, but sweet and sour pork is made of pork. How could such a noble and elegant man like to eat pork? So he chose spring rolls, but he didn't expect that there was actually pork in the spring rolls.

It takes a long time to prepare roast duck. They arrived a little after ten o'clock, and by the time we could eat it, it was almost 12 o'clock.

At that time, many guests had come to the restaurant. Min Xi was busy cooking, and the roast duck was roasting in the naan pit, using the stewing oven method.

Heat the oven, hang the duck in it, seal the oven, and open the oven to see the result. There is no open flame, the duck is cooked entirely by the heat in the oven. This kind of roast duck is a one-time success, the oven is not opened in the middle, and it all depends on the chef's experience.

Min Xi had never made roast duck before, so he opened the fire to check the heat halfway through the process to avoid burning the duck.

The one watching the fire was naturally Yunji. He had never roasted a duck before, but he had experience in roasting buns. It was his first time roasting a duck, and he roasted it quite well. It was not burnt, but had a bright golden color. The duck skin was crispy, the duck meat was soft and tender, and the taste was rich, fat but not greasy.

Min Xi used the dagger given by Colonel Ed to slice the duck meat, and served the lotus leaf pancakes that Amanda had made, as well as cucumber strips and green onion shreds. There was no sweet noodle sauce, so he made some ketchup for them. He told them to eat it for now and then go make sweet noodle sauce. It was quite inconvenient not to have soy sauce, so he would see if he could find a substitute for soybeans and make some homemade soy sauce.

I made a soup with duck bones and sent it to them.

When the roast duck was served, the three of them had actually finished their meal, and had also finished the salt and pepper shrimps long ago, so they were just waiting for the roast duck.

Although they were full, they were still impressed by the roast duck. They had no idea that duck could be so delicious. It was much more delicious than the roast goose they had at Christmas. The three of them didn't even dip the duck in the sauce. They just ate the whole roast duck and drank two bowls of soup. They were very satisfied.

Lord Melo asked, "Is this the dish he is going to prepare for His Excellency the Duke's birthday banquet?"

"Yes. And the salt and pepper shrimp too. My brother and I are here to taste test the food today." The baron said, "I think this dish is amazing enough. Grandfather will definitely like it. Don't you think so, brother?"

Lord Fernando nodded: "Yes, Grandfather will like it."

Lord Melo said, "Just for this roast duck, I will definitely go to your grandfather's birthday party."

The baron looked at him with a smile: "Don't you always dislike this kind of occasion? Aren't you afraid of being scolded by the Marquis?"

Lord Mello gritted his teeth and said, "For the sake of roast duck, it's worth it. There will be many people there, and maybe he won't be able to take care of me."

They did not leave after dinner. They waited until Min Xi finished his work before they went to give Min Xi their feedback.

Naturally I am satisfied and there is no reason to complain.

Min Xi said, "Since you are satisfied, then it's easy to talk about. You can have someone come over and make a large oven similar to the one at home. Then go pick a batch of ducks to raise. The ducks should be about 6 pounds, and ducks about half a year old are best, not too old, and not too young. There will be about one duck for four people. It's up to you to decide how many ducks you need."

The Baron wrote down the request. This was easy to do. There were people in his family who raised poultry and livestock for use. He just needed to ask them to prepare them.

Min Xi said, "These two dishes are settled. Come back tomorrow at noon and I will make two more dishes for you."

Lord Mello wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing. He didn't need to say hello in advance if he wanted to eat, he just had to come here and wait. He hadn't seen the beauty today, so he would come again in the evening or tomorrow.

After Min Xi finished instructing the baron, he turned his gaze to Lord Melo: "Your Excellency, do you like today's dishes?"

Lord Mello nodded: "It suits my taste. It's delicious."

Min Xi smiled and said, "Then please settle the bill, Your Excellency. You ordered four dishes, one main course, and one dessert, for a total of 408 Swiss francs. The spring rolls are free, so I won't charge you for them."

Lord Mello asked, "What about the following dishes?"

Min Xi said, "That was ordered by His Excellency the Baron. I don't think I should charge you for it."

"It doesn't matter. I'll go out together." Lord Mello waved his hand.

The baron smiled and said, "Simon, you are too polite." But he did not insist on paying.

Min Xi said: "The total is 720 Swiss francs, thank you for your patronage!" He did not give the baron a discount for his sake, as this man was definitely not short of money.

Lord Melo took out a 1-real silver coin and handed it to Min Xi: "No need to change."

Min Xi took it with a smile: "This is not good, sir, please wait a moment, I will bring you the change in a moment."