The unique restaurant makes everyone full of expectations for unknown food.
Soon, the first dish was served.
But looking at the food on the plate, everyone was a little confused.
The items on the plate were cut into filaments, but they were as crystal clear as jade and exuded a textured luster. It seemed as if they were not food, but a peerless treasure.
Minced garlic is sprinkled finely on top, and chili oil is poured over it. The three colors of red, green and white complement each other, making it extremely refreshing.
"Zhongheng, what is this?"
Zuo Mengeng did not answer immediately, but took the lead in taking a bite with his chopsticks.
"Everyone has a try."
When everyone saw him eating, they followed him one after another.
The thing went into the mouth and everyone chewed it carefully.
I just feel that this thing is quite tough and has a slightly astringent salty taste, but because the various seasonings are mixed just right, it has a particularly thorough and refreshing feeling.
It can be said that this first appetizing cold dish conquered everyone.
Only then did Zuo Mengeng reveal the answer to the mystery.
"This thing is called kelp, and it is everywhere on Sakhalin Island. It is eaten by local indigenous people. General Wu, Liang Fa and others saw some and sent some back. This thing can not only be eaten cold, but also can be made into soup.
Stir-fried vegetables. I have asked the Ministry of Agriculture to organize manpower to study breeding in offshore Shandong, hoping that it can benefit the public in the future."
Later generations have always had a misunderstanding that the wide cloth mentioned in ancient books is kelp.
Actually not.
The wide cloth mentioned in ancient books is actually macrophylla, but it is not an algae, but a plant.
Kelp is a eukaryotic organism of the class Phaeophyceae and the family Anisoflagellateae.
In other words, kelp is not actually a plant.
In this era, China's coastal areas do not produce kelp.
Some sporadic ones are imported from North Korea and are only eaten by the royal family and a few ministers. They are not popular among the people at all.
In modern times, domestic kelp was basically imported from Japan.
A large part of the main funding for Japan’s Meiji Restoration came from the accumulation of kelp smuggled into China by merchants.
It was not until 1927, when the Japanese scholar Yoshiro Otsuki began farming in Dalian that kelp gradually adapted to China's coastal environment and gradually spread, becoming a well-known table food.
In the late Ming Dynasty, kelp was undoubtedly a novel food.
"Don't underestimate this thing. It grows extremely fast, has a very impressive yield, and is very easy to harvest. If it can be cultivated along the coast, it will greatly make up for the food shortage. Moreover, this thing is rich in nutrients.
It has great benefits for the human body, especially for pregnant women after giving birth."
Everyone was amazed after hearing this, and looked forward to the next dishes even more.
The next dish was also something they had never seen before.
The plain rice was not served in a bowl, but was wrapped in seaweed, mixed with carrots, cucumbers, ham, floss, salmon, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and drizzled with sesame oil.
"This is Japanese sushi, and it is the daily food of Japanese people."
Everyone followed Zuo Mengeng and tasted it again.
"Well, this thing is light and quite suits my taste."
The bland taste of the sushi made everyone not very fond of it. Only the older ones such as Hou Xun and Li Banghua ate more.
Huang Zongxi is indeed a soldier.
"This sushi is easy to make and store, so it is very convenient to carry around. If you are working in the fields or traveling far away, you can take some with you to satisfy your hunger on the road."
Zuo Mengeng clapped his hands and laughed.
"You are really talking about it. Japanese children go to school to study and cannot go home at noon, so they eat this food."
Zuo Xianmei is compassionate and compassionate.
"The children in Japan are so pitiful. They only eat food like this. What's the use of just making it look good?"
"Japan is short of resources and the people are often hungry, so they can only pay attention to their food and do some superficial work."
Zuo Menggeng talked about some conditions in Japan and exposed the hypocrisy of Japanese people.
No matter how Japanese fans of later generations brag, as a country trapped on an island, it is inevitable that everything in Japan will look petty.
I ate two dishes of Oriental food in a row. Although it was novel, it obviously couldn't satisfy everyone's appetite.
Whether it is cold kelp shreds or sushi, they are too bland and do not fit well with Chinese people’s eating habits.
The next dish will be much more fragrant and bright.
This is a hot dish served on a shallow plate.
To the naked eye, you can see some boneless chicken pieces and some potatoes, but otherwise it is a rich vegetable soup.
The color of this soup is golden and brilliant, as if gilded and dazzling, which is particularly pleasing.
Zuo Menggeng introduced: "This dish is called curry chicken. The so-called curry is made by the Tianzhu people by mixing various spices together. They rely on this to season their daily meals. We trade with the Dutch
I got some when I was traveling, and I taught the cook to make this dish. You can try it, and you can even mix rice into it to give it a unique flavor."
Everyone didn't mix the rice, but took a few bites.
The strong spice flavor of curry is very strong, but the taste is very novel.
Older people don't like this dish very much, but young people such as Huang Zongxi, Zhang Haogu, Wang Siyi, Zuo Xianmei eat it with gusto.
After that, delicacies from various provinces in the Ming Dynasty began to be served one by one.
In this era of inconvenient transportation, even high-ranking people like Hou Xun and Li Banghua have never tasted such a complete range of Chinese food. Moreover, the cooking methods of some dishes were taught by Zuo Mengeng and are not visible to the outside world.
Sweet and sour carp, twice-cooked pork, braised pork with pickled vegetables, stewed crab meat and lion head, light-flavored conch slices, Longjing shrimp, Dong'an chicken, etc. It can be said that it is a collection of food heritage from all over the world.
Although there are no titles for the eight major cuisines in this era, just by relying on these representative dishes, everyone feels like they have traveled all over the world.
The final staple food is also a novelty food.
Seeing a thick and large round cake served, covered with onions, ham and other ingredients, baked golden brown, everyone was waiting for Zuo Mengeng to explain.
Zuo Mengeng picked up the knife and cut the round cake into equal parts, just one piece for each person.
"This thing is called pizza, and it was taught by Sister Cheslett, the daughter of Mr. Galileo. This delicacy is both a staple food and a side dish. It can be eaten alone and will not be boring."
Zuo Menggen didn't expect that Cheslett was actually an Italian gourmet expert.
After coming to Shandong, in addition to working in the church, Cheslett actually made a lot of delicious food in his free time.
Zuo Mengeng tasted it when he visited Galileo Galilei, so he asked the chef of the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion to learn from it, and also brought European delicacies into the Commander-in-Chief's Mansion.
The only regret was that when Zuo Menggeng tried to propose adding pineapple to the pizza condiments, Cheslett actually wanted to duel with him.