After walking out of the kitchen, Mrs. William first put the crucible on the table, wiped her hands on her apron a few times, turned to Lisa Escud and said:
"Lisa, please share the bread."
Lisa quickly stopped clicking her eyes, stood up and responded:
"No problem, Mom."
Then she led Sister Elula to the dining table and quickly took out a small basket covered with white cloth from under the table.
Then he lifted up the white cloth and began to distribute the bread.
Mrs. William returned to the kitchen, and after a while, she brought out a smaller cooking pot again.
The setting of the table was actually very simple, but it seemed very joyful - because there were guests present this time, Mrs. William specially prepared an extra meat dish.
The chirping sounds of several little girls accompanied by the warmth of the fireplace gradually warmed Xu Yun's mind a lot.
In seventeenth-century Britain, except for the aristocratic class who employed servants, the cooking rights in civilian households were basically in the hands of women, and they would sometimes even drive away the men in the family who wanted to help.
So when Mrs. William, Lisa and others were setting up the meal, William was still sitting by the fireplace with his old spirit, telling the story about the blue sky in Manchester.
When everything was ready, he brought Xu Yun and Xiao Niu to the dining table and asked him to sit down:
"Sit here, Mr. Fat Fish."
Hearing this, Andrea, one of the twin sisters, consciously walked around behind Xu Yun and pulled out a chair for him.
Xu Yun thanked him politely, and while sitting down, he looked at his first lunch in the seventeenth century with his peripheral vision:
The dining table is located on the right side of the living room. It is a rectangle with a length of two meters and a width of about 1.2 meters. It is made of wood. One of the supporting legs is somewhat incomplete, and there is a ball of cotton pressed at the bottom.
Mrs. William sat alone on the narrow side, and the rest of the people took their seats in a 3 to 3 manner:
Sisters Elula and Lisa sat on one side, Xu Yun, Mavericks and Lilani sat on the other side.
There was a piece of bread placed in front of everyone's seat. The appearance was a bit bad, like the kind of handmade bread that was not made in a mold, but it looked very thick.
Xu Yun's dinner plate was made while cutting firewood. It had not been polished and polished, but Xu Yun had washed it several times in a stream, and it was barely enough to hold things.
In front of the dinner plate is a jar of butter, the remaining amount of which is about 30% of the bottle. Whether Mrs. William intentionally or unintentionally, the position of the jar is closest to Xu Yun's seat.
Moving his eyes further inward, he reached the center of the dining table, where two iron pots, one large and one small, were placed on two cotton and linen heat-insulating mats.
Both pots are filled with stews, which is also a favorite cooking method of the British - just as everything can be served with Sichuan peppercorns in the native country, everything can be stewed in the UK.
The more famous ones are Lancashire hot pot and Liverpool stew. It doesn't matter the bottom of the pot, as long as there are onions and potatoes, you can throw in the rest and stew it.
It is said that when Li Hongzhang visited England for the first time, he saw a British woman stewing eight kinds of vegetables in a pot, so the British stew is also called Orchid stew, ahem...
The small iron pot in front of Xu Yun seemed to be stewing a vegetable stew. At a glance, he could see lentils, broccoli flowers, wild vegetables, Bramley apples, etc.
Perhaps because it is soaked in chlorophyll, the entire soup looks gray-green, and bubbles are constantly popping.
The dish in the big pot is relatively simple, a simple stewed Manyu.
As an island country, Britain has always developed fisheries and fishing. Even in the seventeenth century, the price of fish was very cheap.
Therefore, many books or videos say that Britain’s domestic meat resources were relatively scarce in the 17th century. In fact, they refer to red and white meat on land. It is easy to eat fish if you want to.
For example, the current William family may not even be able to afford a guinea, but they can still eat fish regularly. This can be regarded as one of the comparative advantages of island countries.
After everyone is in their places.
William put his hands together and led everyone in a simple prayer of thanksgiving.
Xu Yun was not a believer, but out of respect for the culture of the times and the William family, he still closed his eyes and made a gesture.
After three minutes, the prayer was completed.
After opening his eyes, William stood up, filled a small bowl of fish meat and fish soup from the big pot with a spoon, and handed it to Xu Yun:
"Mr. Fatty Fish, this is your fish soup. It's a little smaller and a little hot."
Xu Yun took it politely, and then watched William serving bowls to everyone in turn.
The skin of the eel meat has been removed by Mrs. William before being put into the pot. The large pieces of fish meat are very convenient from the perspective of swallowing, but the appearance...
Xu Yun glanced at the somewhat turbid fish soup in the bowl, and his eyes stayed on the wall of the bowl for a few seconds.
Finally, I mustered up the courage and took a sip.
Five seconds later.
Xu Yun put down the small bowl calmly, his stomach churning wildly, and he clenched his back teeth tightly, forcing himself not to lose his composure.
Well, how should I put it...
It’s similar to Laoshan Snake Grass Water.
Mentioned before.
Xu Yun developed his culinary skills while working as an exchange student in the UK, so he has a relatively good understanding of British marine fish.
So the first time he tasted the fish soup, he judged Mrs. William's problem:
First of all, the fish was not marinated with onions, ginger, garlic, cooking wine and salt, which resulted in the fish being not smooth and tender but fishy.
Secondly, the black membrane, gills and throat bones of the fish are not clean - the fish tendons are the source of the fishy smell. When handling the fish, you only need to make an incision under the gills to remove the fish tendons, and then use
Pat the fish body lightly with one hand and pull the thread outward with the other hand to easily pick out the tendon.
In this way, the fishy smell of fish will be reduced.
After putting down the bowl, Xu Yun sighed silently:
Okay, this fish soup seems to be undrinkable.
Then he turned his attention to the people at the dinner table again.
At this time, William had already distributed the fish soup to his family and was quickly stirring the vegetable chowder with a spoon, so he had no time to talk to him.
Mavericks and Lisa were still chattering away in the team voiceover, but this grumpy and abusive old man was as quiet as a portrait... ahem, as quiet as a portrait.
Sister Elura was talking to Mrs. William, and she would wave her little hands a few times when she was excited.
Leilani remained silent...
at the same time.
Xu Yun also noticed another thing:
Apart from a spoon and a knife, there was no fork at all on the dining table.