Kaifeng Bistro

"Zhifeng, let's go to the backyard and see how about it?" Chen Qing smelled the fragrance and couldn't help asking curiously: "What did you prepare today?"

"Okay, although the backyard is not spacious, it is not a place where we usually entertain guests... But if you want to see it, come and have a look." After Tan Zhifeng finished speaking, everyone excitedly followed him through the back kitchen, towards them Walk in yards you've never set foot in.

The curtain was lifted, and there was a huge charcoal basin in the yard, with an iron grate on it, and the crackling sound of the charcoal fire, but there was no smoky smoke as everyone imagined, and the air was filled with There is a unique fragrance of wood.

"Hey, why do I feel the smell of burning wood? It reminds me of the pine cakes I ate these days!" A scholar standing behind Zhou Yanjing blurted out.

Everyone looked at Tan Zhifeng, and Tan Zhifeng explained: "Different meat needs to be roasted with different charcoal. Although this charcoal pot was borrowed from the 'Burning Pig Yard' for me by Brother Bai, let's not roast it today. Pig, I plan to roast some mutton for you first. The best charcoal for roasting mutton should come from fruit wood or pine wood. I also sprinkled some pine wood chips in this charcoal, just to use the natural aroma of pine wood to remove the smell of mutton. Everyone You'll know after a while."

"Oh, grilled mutton—that's the most delicious food in the world! Zhifeng, today you have not only us, but also Lord Zhan and Lord Bai, who are both civil and military, so you don't have to be as rigid as before. , I think your yard is not small at all, and it is well-kept. Why don't we sit around the stove tonight, eat while grilling meat, and drink the wine brought by Brother Zhou, and you don't need the shopkeeper? How about serving meat and vegetables in and out?" The other person looked at the blazing fire and suggested to Tan Zhifeng excitedly.

Now the weather is warmer than the previous few days, and besides, no one will feel cold with the fire.Tan Zhifeng looked at the small courtyard. The courtyard was not big, but a dozen people sat around the fire, and it didn't seem to need much space.Seeing everyone's expectant eyes, he nodded and said, "Okay, then please enter the room and wait for a while, we'll get ready."

"What else do you need to prepare? Let's just sit on the ground like this!" Lu Yang took off his robe with a smile: "Come on, since it's roasted meat, you must have a few more cups. Shopkeeper Tan, you just need to prepare the cups, We try to bake it by ourselves and drink it ourselves, and the burning girl only needs to add wine for us!"

Hearing this, Bai Yutang also became interested: "I didn't expect you scholars to be so forthright. Alright, let's sit here in the open air and taste the roasted meat and wine, and we won't go home until we're drunk!"

The scholars all recognized Zhan Zhao, although most of them had never met Bai Yutang, but Bai Yutang's outstanding demeanor and appearance attracted everyone's attention.Everyone had guessed his identity a long time ago and greeted him one after another. Bai Yutang also calmly sat down with everyone. Across the fire, everyone talked and laughed, and even forgot about the delicious food they were looking forward to just now.

When Tan Zhifeng returned to the back kitchen, Xu Gan was already with Shangshang, where he had put his marinated mutton on a plate and was ready to take it out.Tan Zhifeng inspected like a military parade: "Rib ribs—well, they are fat and thin, and they don't have much tendons, pepper, fennel, cinnamon...and pepper, which have been marinated and stewed; it's ready, you can take it out; small ribs— ——The texture is clear, and the cut pieces are quite suitable in size. This one has more meat than the ribs, and some sake is added to remove the smell. Zhuo Zhuo remember, this must not be grilled too much, just half cooked, That's how it tastes tender and juicy; the leg of lamb—"

"Such a big piece, can it be roasted?" Shangshang asked wonderingly: "Zhifeng, do you need to cut everything?"

"No, you didn't see it when I processed it this morning. The leg of lamb has been deboned. Put it on the stove later. After it's baked, cut it into pieces with a knife. It's sure to be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside." Nun, if you and Ling'er want to eat, I'll save some to roast for you later."

Xu Yan watched quietly, and after receiving Tan Zhifeng's consent, he took out the large plates first.Zhuo Zhuo followed behind him, ready to go out to barbecue for everyone.There was already a commotion outside, Xu Gan put down the plate, and with a burning smile, he first put the big pieces of lamb chops that had been stewed on the iron grate on the stove. After a while, the aroma of pine wood in the charcoal fire came to the nostrils, the tongue of fire rolled the ribs and sizzled, the surface of the meat quickly became burnt and shiny, and the excess fat dripped into the fire, and the flame burned higher, and after a while A whole large lamb chop was well done.

"Everyone wait a moment, I'll get a knife to cut it open for everyone..." Before Zhuo Zhuo finished his sentence, Bai Yutang said, "Why don't Miss Zhuo Zhuo cut it for us, just bring my knife."

Zhuo Zhuo quickly responded and ran to the door, holding Bai Yutang's sharp knife over.Bai Yutang held the knife in his hand, lightly picked up the large piece of rib on the fire, and threw it into the air.All the people in the yard except Zhan Zhao exclaimed, but just as they opened their mouths, a few white lights flashed in front of their eyes. In the beating of the flames, the ribs were all cut open along the ribs, neatly After falling around the iron grate, Bai Yutang handed the knife to Zhuo Zhuo without changing his face, and said to everyone with a faint smile: "Please use it." eat up.

Everyone was stunned, even Xu Gan who was standing by the door couldn't help but yelled "Hello" in a low voice.Zhou Yanjing, who was sitting not far from him, turned around and looked at him with a smile, moved to the side, and waved to him: "Mr. sit?"

Xu Gan said briefly: "Zhifeng is still busy, I want to help him."

Tan Zhifeng had already seen all this in his eyes, he poked his head out, and said to Xu Gan: "I have already prepared everything here, only the last thing is left, and I will take it out later, you first talk to Brother Zhou and Zhan Brother, let's eat together."

"And Shopkeeper Tan..." Zhou Yanjing said again: "We are not here for eating and drinking today, but for getting acquainted with Mr. Zhan and Mrs. Bai, two heroes. You don't need to bother preparing anything. Come and eat together."

Tan Zhifeng had no choice but to wipe his hands, walked over and sat down with Xu Gan, only to hear Zhou Yanjing put the big rib in his hand back to the fire, and continued to say to Xu Gan: "Mr. I heard that you have been living in Kaifeng, so I think you may not know the origin of this mutton..." He just said this, and Lu Yang next to him asked curiously: "Mutton? What is the origin of mutton? Isn't it all Did it come from the prairie?"

"Brother Lu Xian is right. We in the Central Plains, since we lost the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun, the pastures all over the mountains, and the thousands of miles of grasslands have been handed over to the Khitan people, mutton has become more and more rare. But in our Central Plains Whether you go to the official family or the common people, they all love to eat this mutton. Brother Lu Xian, your family is an official in the court, so you might as well inquire about it. Is it that the palace eats tens of thousands of sheep a year? "

"More than tens of thousands?" Lu Yang laughed and said, "Come on, why don't you all guess how many sheep are slaughtered in the palace every day?"

Everyone speculated, and finally Lu Yang waved the lamb ribs in his hand and said, "Oh, I just heard, I heard... I heard that Emperor Zhenzong slaughtered more than 300 lambs every day. Now we Officials do not want to work in the internal kitchen, but they can barely meet the supplies everywhere, and they have to slaughter 280 sheep a day. Even so, it is said that he was unable to sleep at night because of "thinking about food and roasting sheep"!"

Everyone couldn't help exclaiming: "280 head a day, so isn't it more than [-] head a year?"

"That's right." Lu Yang nodded and said, "So the peace of Song and Liao is very important, otherwise you people would not be able to eat such delicious mutton today!"

"Brother Lu Xian is right." Zhou Yanjing smiled and raised his wine glass, lightly touched the wine glass in Xu Gan's hand next to him, and continued to ask him: "Mr. Xu, have you ever wanted to go to Mobei to see this sheep herder Valleys and rivers?"

"If I have a chance, I would also like to travel around..." Xu Gan raised his glass and drank the wine: "However, Zhifeng is my only relative now, no matter where I go, I will definitely take him with me .”

"Oh? That's good, but with your talents, you must be in high school next year, and you will be an official in the future. I'm afraid you won't be so free wherever you go." Zhou Yanjing filled up the wine for the two of them again, and said to him with a smile .

"Brother Zhou, you are all very talented. When will it be my turn to go to high school?" Xu Yan said a rare humble word. His expression remained the same, and he took the wine glass in his hand: "Just eat something, let me drink the wine for you."

Zhou Yanjing looked at the two of them, with a smile on his face, turned around again, and chatted with Lu Yang who was sitting on the other side about the Taixue Hall exam in a few days.

The evening breeze was gentle, and the people passing through Wheatstraw Alley and the next alley could not help but stop and search for the source of the smell when they smelled this tempting fragrance.At the entrance of the alley, a young man wandered back and forth frowning.Seeing the moon shadow gradually move into the air, he stopped and leaned against the wall at the entrance of the alley, raised his hand and touched his cheek: "Brother Xuan, I... what happened today? Who is that person? I will Won't turn into a monster? Why won't you come out and meet me?"

He was muttering to himself when he saw footsteps in the alley. A few scholars walked out supporting each other in twos and threes, chatting and laughing as they walked: "Today's shopkeeper Tan's roasted mutton is really a masterpiece in Kaifeng. I like it the most." The roasted leg of lamb at the end, I really didn't expect that the leg of lamb can be roasted so delicious..."

"I still like to eat that quick short rib, it's crispy and tender, it's really memorable..."

A Yuan stared blankly at them passing by with his eyes wide open. His gaze kept searching, but he couldn't find the figure he was familiar with.

"Hey, isn't this A Yuan from the south of the city? Why are you here? I was going to find you." Suddenly, a familiar voice came.A Yuan was about to answer, but saw the man gesturing to him: "Come on, let's go to the opposite side to talk."

The opposite is Killing Pig Alley, which is mostly closed at this time.A Yuan followed him to a building, and before he could stand still, he asked anxiously, "Why didn't you come today, and Xuan..."

Before he finished speaking, a sharp pain suddenly came from his abdomen. He lowered his head in disbelief and saw that a steel knife was stuck in his abdomen.He raised his head and met the serious and even sincere eyes of the other party: "I'm sorry, Mr. Zhao, your brother Xuan can only come back after you die. Do you understand?"

"No..." Before A Yuan could finish a word, his eyes darkened, and he fell down on the cold bluish-white stone bricks in Killing Pig Alley, watching helplessly. Clapped his hands, turned and left.