The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Min Xi had always wanted to find an opportunity to ask Baron Fernando what the Marquis of Melo's position was, but he never had the chance. The Duke's birthday was approaching, and this year was his eightieth birthday, which was very rare in this era, so he made a big fuss about it.

The Duke was a distinguished man, he was eighty years old, had many children and grandchildren, and relatives and friends all over the country and even Europe. Long before, his family sent invitations to those relatives and friends, inviting them to come to Lisbon to attend the Duke's birthday party. Many relatives and friends from abroad and other places took the trouble to come to the banquet.

Baron Fernando has been busy these days entertaining distinguished guests from afar. Occasionally, he would send his servants to Min Xi to order egg tarts, but he himself did not show up and did not bring anyone to the Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Min Xi could probably guess his intention. He didn't want the guests to come to the Chinese restaurant first and develop picky tastes. Instead, he wanted the Chinese food to make a stunning appearance at the banquet, impress everyone at the birthday party, and leave the most profound impression on everyone.

The Baron also sent someone to pick up Min Xi and asked him to check the ingredients they had prepared. If there was anything missing, he should hurry up and purchase more.

Min Xi also hung a notice at the door of the store several days in advance, announcing that the store would be closed on Saturday and Sunday this week, and asked customers not to come for dinner on these two days.

More than half of the people who come here to eat are repeat customers, or new customers recommended by old customers. When they learned that the restaurant would be closed for two days, they were very curious. Some couldn't help but ask what was going on. Min Xi did not hide it and said that he was going to prepare a birthday party for a customer.

After hearing this, the guests would be very curious about the door-to-door service. Of course, some people would be tempted and ask about the price of door-to-door service. If it is suitable, they would also ask Min Xi to come to their house to cook. This would be very impressive. But after hearing the price, many people gave up the idea because the baron charged Min Xi 25 reais a day.

On the one hand, the hotel's daily turnover is at least more than ten reais. On the other hand, closing for two days will also affect the normal operation of the hotel, so the fees paid are higher than the daily turnover.

25 reais a day is almost the annual income of a middle-class person, and ordinary people naturally dare not even think about it. But there are always people who can afford it.

But Min Xi would not go to anyone who invited him, otherwise he would not be able to open his restaurant. Besides, their restaurant could host some small banquets, so they could just book a banquet at the restaurant.

Lord Mello came almost every day, eating at least one meal a day, and sometimes two meals. Not only did he eat himself, he also packed snacks or desserts to take away.

Yun Ji didn't avoid him on purpose. He collected money when he should and greeted him when he should. He thought that if Marquis Melo was really in charge of shipbuilding, they would still buy ships through him and his son in the future, so the relationship couldn't be too awkward. But he couldn't be too enthusiastic, so as not to give Lord Melo the wrong impression and make him feel overly sentimental.

Min Xi thought that Yun Ji would hate to flatter others, but in fact he was wrong. Yun Ji came from a big family and was trained to be the successor. He was very tactful and good at dealing with people. He was much more experienced than Min Xi, even though Min Xi was several years older than Yun Ji in terms of mental age.

And so, finally Saturday arrived, and the Baron's carriage came to pick people up early in the morning.

It is necessary to arrange two days because a lot of preparation work needs to be done in advance, such as making tomato sauce.

Most of the tomatoes were provided by Min Xi, and some were provided by the Baron. He had been growing wolfberries for several years, and now they were finally put to use.

Min Xi also has to help bake cookies and pastries, which are used to entertain guests in the next two days and as gifts to guests. These can be prepared in advance, otherwise it will be too late to do it tomorrow.

Min Xi took everyone in the store with him. The three employees were excited and nervous about going to the Duke's Mansion. This was something they had never thought about in their lives. One day they would be able to step into the Duke's Mansion. They heard that His Majesty the King would come to the banquet. Amanda was so nervous that she could hardly breathe. Following a boss like Min Xi was really a great honor. She could brag about it for the rest of her life.

The Duke's Palace is not as remote as the Baron's Palace. It is located in the north of the city, not far from the royal palace in the northern suburbs.

When Min Xi and Yun Ji were looking for a store, they walked around the city and naturally saw the palace from a distance. It was a castle located on the mountainside. It was a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles. It was majestic and majestic. It was said to have more than 200 rooms. However, compared with the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty, the scale of this palace was still not impressive enough.

The Duke's Palace is also a castle, in a completely Renaissance style, very large in scale, with an exaggeratedly huge manor. They sat in a carriage, and after entering the gate, they walked for another quarter of an hour before reaching the castle, which shows how rich the Duke is. According to Jordi, the Duke's income from land alone is as high as 50,000 reais per year.

Min Xi couldn't help but think of Darcy, the hero in "Pride and Prejudice". The wealth of the nobles was indeed beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

There were several foreigners sitting in the narrow carriage, so the smell was naturally not good. Min Xi kept sticking his head out of the window to look out. This was not his first time here, and he knew that there were a lot of flowers and plants in this manor. As he walked along, the manor was shaded by green trees, which was refreshing to the eyes. There were blooming roses and lilies everywhere, and the fragrance was overflowing and refreshing.

Min Xi asked: "Qiao Di, the Baron loves flowers and plants so much, is it because of the influence of the Duke?"

Jody said: "It's not that His Excellency the Duke loves flowers and plants, but that the Duchess likes roses and lilies. His Excellency the Duke collected different varieties of roses and lilies from all over Europe for her and planted them all over the Duke's estate. The Baron was born and raised here. Influenced by his grandmother, he also likes flowers and plants, so he built a glass greenhouse."

"The Duke and Duchess are such a loving couple." Min Xi sighed.

"That's right, and the Duchess is still alive. They have been a loving couple for more than 50 years," said Jody.

This surprised Min Xi. He didn't expect that they were such a long-lived couple. Even if the Duchess was several years younger than the Duke, she should be at least seventy years old. This was really rare in this era!

Jody brought them into the castle, but of course they did not enter through the main gate, but through the entrance at the back reserved for workers. After all, there were distinguished guests in front, and the workers could not easily bump into the distinguished guests.

Min Xi was taken to the kitchen, where the Duke's original chef was also busy.

Min Xi was just doing some preparatory work today, and then baking some snacks. His cooking utensils were completely different from those of Western chefs, and were prepared by the Baron, so there was no possibility of fighting.

Min Xi arranged for Yun Ji and Diego to knead the dough and prepare snacks and biscuits. He went to make tomato sauce, which was the ingredient for squirrel perch. Without vinegar, tomato sauce was indispensable.

The chefs at the Duke's Mansion were quite curious, because the Baron had been busy here for half a month, renovating the Duke's Mansion's kitchen into a mess, and even dug a pit and built a stove in the yard. Such a big deal, it is said that a Chinese chef was invited to cook, this is the Chinese chef's request. The Baron was not afraid of trouble, so serious, they were very curious about what kind of dishes he could make.

So when Min Xi and others arrived, they couldn't wait to come and find out what they were going to do.

Min Xi was not afraid of being seen. Although they were both chefs, they were not from the same school. If the other party could really learn something from his own cooking, it meant that he had some talent, and the Fulangji cuisine should be developed and expanded.

Min Xi blanchs and peels the tomatoes, cuts them into pieces, and boils them in a pot before making egg tarts. The egg tarts were made at the request of the Baron, and they were the desserts he would use to entertain the guests today. He had people come to the store to order them twice in the past two days, and they were very popular with the guests. At that time, Min Xi had limited time and did not make much. Today, he was here, so he naturally wanted to make the guests eat as much as they wanted.

When the first batch of egg tarts was baked, the dough was also kneaded and left to ferment. The old dough for kneading was naturally prepared by Min Xi in advance. The biscuits made after the dough was rested were crispy and delicious, and the taste was completely different from the unleavened biscuits made by Europeans themselves.

Yun Ji came over to help Min Xi make egg tarts. Amanda and the others beat the egg whites according to Min Xi's instructions and prepared to bake the cake.

Min Xi did not cook anything today except desserts and snacks. Even lunch and dinner were Western food prepared by the chef of the Duke's Mansion. The chef's level should be considered good among the chefs of Fulangji, but it was not as good as Min Xi's. These were Yun Ji's original complaints. He spoke Chinese and was not afraid of being understood.

The chef of the Duke's Mansion didn't see Min Xi cooking or using the knife, so he only baked some snacks and was quite disappointed.

However, when he ate the egg tarts and cookies baked by Min Xi, he stopped talking. For most of the next day, as long as he had time, he would stay by Min Xi's side to watch how he operated.

Min Xi let him watch, but the chef seemed quite arrogant and just watched without asking questions. Since he didn't ask, Min Xi naturally didn't bother to explain. How much he could learn was up to him.

In the evening, Min Xi and others were packing the baked snacks into boxes, which were souvenirs for the guests to take away tomorrow. These boxes were much more high-end and exquisite than those in Min Xi's shop. Although they were also wooden boxes, they were carved with exquisite patterns. After all, they were gifts from the Duke's Mansion, so they were naturally different from those in the hotel.

Baron Fernando came over, and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of baking cakes, which was extremely sweet and tempting. The baron opened his arms to Min Xi and gave him a warm hug: "Min, thank you for your hard work today!"

It was the first time that the baron greeted Min Xi in such a warm way. Min Xi did not mind, but Yun Ji beside him looked unhappy. Min Xi asked: "Are you satisfied with the snacks?"

The baron said, "Very satisfied! My grandmother likes the egg tarts you baked very much. This is the gold coin she gave you. She specifically asked me to hand it to you personally to express her gratitude to you!"