Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1091: Swallow Wing Feast

"Don't worry, it won't be served all at once. The four fresh fruits and four dried fruits served to you now are snacks before Ao Zang comes back. After he finishes his work and the people he will bring with him are seated, the appetizers will be served - four candied fruits and four small condiments, as well as eight cold dishes of four meat and four vegetable dishes, served with Shaoxing wine.

"After the appetizers, it's the main course, which usually consists of nine dishes. The first two dishes must be shark's fin and bird's nest - so the bird's nest banquet comes from this. Shark's fin can be braised in yellow sauce, braised in yellow sauce, or cooked with three shreds, crab roe, or chicken mince, and there are dozens of ways to cook it. Bird's nest is usually served in clear soup or braised in white sauce, and there are also dozens of ways to cook it, but the taste will be different from the shark's fin, the first dish. Then the nine dishes are served in order, and the next one will be served after you have finished eating.

"The main dishes usually include abalone, mandarin fish and the like, and they are cooked in a variety of ways, such as grilling, roasting, stir-frying and frying. There is tea between each dish. The whole main course is usually served with Dunhuang wine."

"The last thing is dessert, usually a light dessert, with some sweet and savory snacks to finish, and some delicious nut tea. Then after you finish eating, it will be served again, from the dining table to a casual environment, with four fresh fruits, four dried fruits and various teas. This is usually not counted in the 49 main courses, but it is still included as usual."

"." Shangluo was stunned for a few seconds, "So, can we finish it?"

"Don't worry, the bird's nest and shark's fin banquet is very slow to eat - I don't like 81 dishes because it takes from afternoon to evening to eat once. Wow, I wasted a whole day sitting behind the table, and my legs are numb. If it's 49 dishes, it will take five or six hours to finish. Let me check the time: if I start eating later, I can finish it around or in the evening.

"You don't have to eat all the dim sum and cold dishes at once, because dim sum is just for show, and appetizers like cold dishes will not be removed. After that, the main dishes will be served one by one, and basically they will be served when everyone has almost finished eating. Serving them one by one gives you enough time to digest, so don't worry about not being able to finish. In fact, the portion is not that big, for example, bird's nest is only about the size of a bowl, you will definitely be able to finish it."

"I see." Shangluo nodded, "So this is what you wealthy families eat at banquets."

"Oh, you are wrong. The real 'rich and powerful' don't eat this."

"You mean my senior brother?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk." Zheng Shijie shook his head repeatedly. "What do you think the emperor can eat? It's nothing more than roast duck with pork elbows, and some barley tea and mung bean soup."

"So my senior brother has never eaten these?"

"He really has never eaten it. Because bird's-and-fin feast is an official dish, which official would dare to invite him to dinner? And he really is not interested in it. The Zhu family has no other hobbies but to eat meat. I can't say anything. Anyway, this bird's-and-fin feast has nothing to do with the Zhu family. When they invite guests to dinner, they usually eat barbecue, stew and the like. Ah, it's a good thing that he doesn't like to invite guests to dinner."

"That sounds pretty good. I really like their food."

"It's pretty good if you get used to it, but in fact, the selection of ingredients in their family is shockingly simple - as for meat, they only eat pork and mutton, and they don't eat much beef. As for poultry, they usually eat duck and goose, especially goose. They eat a huge amount of goose, from head to toe. They basically don't eat fish, and they don't touch other rare ingredients from the mountains and the sea. The only thing they have added in the past few hundred years is rabbit meat, and they eat some rabbit meat occasionally. As for game, they rarely even eat the most stable venison, and only eat a little bit in winter when they are nourishing their body."

"Ah, now that you mention it, it seems a little bit."

"More than a little. Then you think, these dishes are either roasted, grilled, or stewed, or roasted and then roasted, or roasted and then stewed, and they are all cooked in the same way over and over again, which makes people numb. The people in the Zhu family seem to never get tired of eating any of them - I advised them to at least understand the concept of eating first, at least eat more chicken. My goodness, I remember one time I had four geese for a meal, roasted goose, braised goose, cured goose, and goose soup. I ate so much that my throat was about to start to swell with white hair and green water, and the crude fiber made me unable to sleep well all night."

"Well, he hasn't treated me to such a meal before." "That's right, you are fine. You can just eat some daily meals at his house, and you don't have to have their family banquet. This place is also because they are afraid of being invited by their family, so they have a bird's nest and abalone banquet. In a bird's nest and abalone banquet, you can see all kinds of ingredients, except goose. I have always wondered, if no one eats it, who eats so many geese every day, most of them are eaten by the old Zhu family and their fellow villagers from Fengyang Prefecture, and the geese they eat are all from their hometown."

"Then he knows I'm having a bird's nest banquet here, that's not good, right?"

"That's right. You'd better not let him know, otherwise he will definitely treat you back. He did the same to me back then."

"So, if we're having a banquet, we have to have bird's nest and shark's fin banquet." Han Xingzhi nodded in response.

These words made Wen Yuan and even Lu Liang beside them nod their heads continuously.

Shangluo suddenly remembered something.
He remembered the first time he went to Lu Huaiyang's house, he had a meal at his house.

That meal was all braised meatballs, braised pork, braised fish and braised spareribs.
"You remembered it, didn't you?" Lu Liang covered his forehead. "The head of our family, the Jinyiwei, have been influenced by the taste of the palace for a long time. Sometimes they really can't finish the food, so they bring it back for us to eat. Then we also braise it, and eat it for a month or so. People are about to become the color of soy sauce."

"Oh, right." Zheng Shijie suddenly thought, "So Shang Tianjun, do you need to treat us?"

"I"

Zheng Shijie simply didn't ask him, and instead asked Wen Yuan and the others beside him: "What does he usually treat you to?"

"City Center." Wen Yuan gave the answer directly.

"There's only McDonald's." Han Xingzhi also nodded.

"Ah, Shangluo, do you need a chef who can prepare a bird's nest banquet? Because I think you may have banquet needs or something."

"What cuisine is this chef from?"

"Each cuisine's bird's-and-fin banquet is basically the same," Zheng Shijie replied. "The bird's-and-fin banquet has the same standard across the country and it won't change much. After all, people don't eat it that often, so it's enough to prepare it a few times a year. Adding more twists will only cause problems. So if you need it, Shangluo, you can set up a few kitchens at home to cook bird's-and-fin banquets."

"That's fine, but I'm actually preparing for what will happen after Xu Fu. Don't worry, I'll have a plan for the dinner when the time comes. It doesn't matter if it's a table at McDonald's or four dishes and a soup. Anyway, I'll definitely make sure it's done. This is my specialty."

(End of this chapter)