As everyone knows,
The light of civilization in the East is Huaxia, while the West also has one, which is Italy.
Italy is called the light of Western civilization firstly because of the Roman Empire, and secondly because it was the birthplace of the Renaissance.
One aspect of the latter is its influence on European culinary culture.
A typical example is the fork.
The fork first appeared in Italy and was introduced to France by Catherine de Medici in the 16th century. It wasn't until the 18th century that forks became popular in England; before that, there were mainly two kinds of tableware:
Spoons for soup and knives for cutting food.
Apart from that, the British used....
their hands to eat.
Yes, hands—this can be seen in many early British paintings, such as "The Peasant Wedding Feast" preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.
This habit hadn't changed in some regions even later on, as witnessed by a certain failing writer called Novice Fisherman, who once saw a British person put instant noodles directly into a bowl, zap it in the microwave, and then eat it with their hands...
Well, it's not exactly meant to belittle them; John Bull over there really doesn't care much about the intricacies of eating.
Of course, there is also a theory that knives and forks were introduced to Europe by the Huaxia people.
But this theory doesn't have any particularly strong evidence; just know about it.
Let's return our gaze to the dining table.
Some classmates might have a misconception about the fishy taste of eel, believing that only river fish require a de-fishy process, while eel does not.
There are actually two errors in this statement:
First, British eels are actually river fish; they live in the Thames River—which in the year 19 had eels 'revolting' due to high levels of benzoyl, caffeine, and cocaine in the river water.
Second, the fishiness of British eels is certainly not any less than that of river fish like carp. Those interested can search for or try jellied eels, the king of British dark cuisine, rivaling Stargazy Pie.
In summary,
to someone like Xu Yun from modern times, untreated eel soup is undoubtedly hard to swallow. Yet, in a 17th-century British commoner's household, it could be considered one of the top delicacies.
"Phew-ha—"
With a gulp of hot fish soup, a hint of enjoyment appeared on William's face.
Putting down the bowl, he picked up a piece of bread with his left hand and directly grabbed a piece of cauliflower from the serving plate with his right, rubbing it with the gray-green soup on the bread before stuffing the entire bread into his mouth, letting the juice drip onto the table.
No maid servants, no wine, no candlelight—primitive to only slightly better than eating raw (because they were too poor to season the food with salt), this was Xu Yun's first meal in the seventeenth century.
Though unable to drink the eel soup, Xu Yun felt compelled to give the host family some face, so after hesitating for a few seconds, he finally picked up the bread in front of him and simply spread some butter on it.
The bread made by Mrs. Williams was somewhat like the local steamed bread made with strong flour, dense and hard with a grainy texture, dry yet immensely filling.
Xu Yun had spent some time in Wendeng, Ludong Province, eating strong-flour steamed bread and cornmeal buns for several months, so he was quite accustomed to this kind of bread.
Unlike the local tradition of "not talking during meals and not speaking during rest," John Bull loved chatting at the table, with the only requirement being an empty mouth.
So, after a couple of sips of fish soup, William took the initiative to speak:
"Mr. Feiyu, how long do you plan to stay in Woolsop this time?"
Thinking for a moment, Xu Yun replied according to his task requirements,
"Probably one to two months. Now with the plague rampant, the passages between Britain and the Netherlands are blocked, and I fear it may take some time to send a letter to contact my grandfather, Sir Zhang San."
Hearing the word plague, a trace of worry appeared on William's face as well:
"The plague...hopefully those in authority come up with a solution soon. Though it's God's will, if it continues like this, there might really be trouble..."
Watching William make the sign of the cross on his chest, Xu Yun shook his head slightly.
Be it the plague or cholera, the real discovery of the source of transmission of these diseases took place only in the recent one to two hundred years.
For instance, the culprit of the plague, Yersinia pestis, wasn't formally isolated until 1894 by Alexander Yersin.
And in the 17th century, while Europeans were aware that quarantine could slow the spread of the plague, they had no understanding of its underlying pathology—after all, the concept of cells was discovered by Hook.
Thus, most people's understanding of the plague was...
Divine Punishment.
Some astrologers even attributed bubonic plague to a malicious alignment of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, a theory with considerable traction.
Similar things occurred locally as well; for example, the infamous Five斗米 Sect rose to power by exploiting the panic caused by the plague among the people.
Oh, speaking of the Five斗米 Sect, here's an interesting fact to enlighten you:
Tao Yuanming has a famous saying, "I cannot bend my back for five斗米, to lick the boots of petty village officials," which many believe indicates Tao Yuanming's unwillingness to bow for a meager salary, and some online encyclopedias also record it this way.
However, this interpretation has a glaring flaw—The monthly salary of a Ming Dynasty County Magistrate was seven石 and five斗 and was considered meager, yet a Jin Dynasty County Magistrate had only five斗?
That's clearly impossible.
In fact, the term five斗米 here refers to the Five斗米 Sect, the earliest sect of Taoism, with which officials had to maintain good relations.
When Tao Yuanming served as the Jiangzhou Sacrificial Officer, there was conflict with his superior who believed in the Five斗米 Sect, Wang Ningzhi, and even the inspector visiting was a person of the Five斗米 Sect. So rather than compromise, he chose to resign.
Though both interpretations aim to express Tao Yuanming's integrity, the phrase itself satirizes quite different incidents.
Alright, back to the main topic.
Upon hearing Xu Yun planned to stay in Woolsop for two months, William Asku showed little reaction, but Mrs. Williams raised an eyebrow:
If he were to stay here for two months, wouldn't it mean he'd be freeloading meals with Little Niu every day?
If Xu Yun were named Xu Yun this could be manageable, as a girl wouldn't eat that much, roughly comparable to Lisa.
However, Xu Yun is currently a young boy in the prime of his life, and as the saying goes, a growing boy can eat you out of house and home—this poses a major challenge to the Williams family's food stockpile.
Presently, William was heavily in debt, with barely any money left under the pillow for emergencies. While the family still had some wheat flour and potatoes, it was only enough to barely sustain them till January of the following year.
Assuming Xu Yun's appetite matched that of the combined Ailula sisters and Lisa, then the household's grain might only last until early December. If by then the plague was still uncontrolled...
At this thought, Mrs. Williams's expression subtly changed.
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