Chapter 106 Acquaintance
Jiangyou didn't talk to Heidi for too long.
At such a banquet, it was normal for nobles to come and talk to the people brought by Andre, but if they talked for too long, it would attract special attention and even arouse unnecessary suspicion.
Jiangyou didn't intend to reveal her cooperation with Heidi too early, so she not only chatted with "her own people" such as Heidi and Vivian, but also chatted with several other "acquaintances".
Just as Andrei and Annina had expected, most of the nobles were extremely suspicious of His Majesty's decision to take back the territory of a noble whose heirs were still alive and redistribute it. No matter how far away they were, they would send people or come in person to inquire about the news.
So, Takumi once again met Countess Durand de Canberra and Baroness Eleanor van Chand, whom he had met before in the Rose Manor incident.
Countess Duran escaped the Rose Manor incident unscathed and retrieved the family treasure, the sapphire brooch, the Heart of Tiara, which she had presented to Queen Isabella. Later, at the end of the incident, she was interrogated by General Alexander, but was ultimately deemed a lucky survivor.
She even remembered Takumi Yuu and the promise to introduce him to an "old friend who is well-versed in lich magic."
"My friend is in the capital right now. I'll contact you once I've made an appointment with him." Countess Duran said after a round of pleasantries, "I never expected Viscount Andrei to achieve such great success in such a short time."
The Countess was clearly trying to get close to him, but Jianyou didn't refuse. After discovering that the so-called "Great Magic Book" in her hand was actually a knock-off left by the enemy, Jianyou realized that she really needed to learn some correct knowledge about liches.
However, Jiang You did not really trust the Countess. He just said that in this situation, knowing a big shot is a big shot, and maybe he could come in handy?
Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened. Different people's opinions will corroborate each other and you will always get the correct answer.
As for Ellenor, the widow of Baron Chand, she was still in mourning, still dressed in black with a black veil on her head. She looked very good, as if she had gradually gotten over the grief of losing her lover. Jiang You did not smell the scent of sadness from her... or rather, Jiang You did not smell the scent of any emotion.
...This doesn't seem to be a very important matter, and she can't smell people's emotions all the time... This thought just flashed through Jiangyou's mind suddenly, and then it sank into thousands of thoughts and disappeared.
"Your cooking is truly delicious," Elenor said. "I still can't forget that bowl of thick soup. How long will you be staying in the capital? Are you planning on taking a job as a private chef there?"
"I haven't decided yet." Jiangyou and Heidi hadn't finished discussing their collaboration yet, so she couldn't announce the details right away. She just said vaguely, "Maybe. Maybe we can do some other collaborations."
Elenor smiled and said, "I'm a little looking forward to it..." She seemed to want to say something else, but her eyes drifted to Annina walking towards Jiangyou, and she quickly changed the subject, "I saw an acquaintance and had to go say hello. Sorry."
She picked up her skirt, turned around and left in a hurry, and in the blink of an eye she was in the crowd.
Annina happened to walk next to Jiang You. She looked in the direction of Jiang You's gaze curiously and asked, "An acquaintance?"
"Yes, the Baroness I met in the Rose Villa case before." Jiang You scratched his cheekbone. She always felt that the Baroness seemed to be avoiding Annina. Was it her illusion?
"Andrei went to talk to the great magician Mebucha." Annina winked at Jiangyou. "Now that the protagonist has left, there's no need for us to stay any longer. I had some food packed up, so let's just get going~"
Her words were so cute that Jiang You couldn't help but burst out laughing. He immediately took Annina's arm, and the two of them sneaked out of the auditorium and got on the carriage, even eating and taking away a bunch of spoils.
"The royal chef who prepares meals for His Majesty the King is truly exceptional!" Annina sat in the carriage, holding a large bag of packed meals. "They're even better than what our chef cooks..."
She thought for a moment and added, "But it might not be as delicious as what you cook, Xiaoyou."
Annina opened the box and pushed the meal in front of Jiang You: "You must have been very busy talking just now, so hurry up and eat something to fill your stomach."
Jiangyou took a look at the food in the box and found that they were all kinds of pastries. She used the spiritual wood as a medium to sniff and found that these pastries included not only the common cakes, fruit tarts and egg tarts, but also the less common salty fish cakes and meat jelly.
"This chef seems to be better at making pastries." Jiang You took a few balls of pastry soul fire and tasted them, and his pupils immediately lit up. "The sweet cake is delicious, and the salty fish cake is delicious too!"
This fish cake is made by pounding pure white fish into a paste, mixing it with some kind of starch, and then squeezing it into a square mold lined with a biscuit base. It's then placed in the oven, half steamed and half baked. From the taste and texture, Jiangyou determined that the starch was probably mashed potatoes or yam. The exact ratio of starch to fish was unclear, but the result wasn't as chewy as fish balls, fish paste, or fish tofu. Instead, it resembled some kind of rice and flour product, retaining the brittle texture of fish, reminiscent of a freshly baked scone with a soft, fragrant interior.
- certainly not the dark scone that hardens like stone after cooling.
The celery sea salt and plenty of garlic powder used for seasoning effectively remove the fishy smell of the fish. After half-steaming and half-baking in the oven at a low temperature, it retains the soft and tender texture of the fish paste while adding a layer of roasted aroma on the surface.
In his past life, Jiangyou had eaten all sorts of fish cakes and fish tofu, but this was the first time he'd tried it this way. He didn't know if it was the ingredients or the combination of ingredients, but the texture of this fish cake was unique, like some kind of real pastry, fragrant and soft with a slight springiness, topped with a crunchy saltine cracker on the bottom. The first bite felt unfamiliar, but the second was addictive, and the more he ate, the more he loved it, and he couldn't stop.
"He's truly worthy of being called the Imperial Chef!" Jiang You couldn't help but sigh. "If nothing else, when it comes to pastry baking, he's definitely miles ahead of me."
Jiangyou does love baking, but she is an amateur who has taught herself through various teaching videos. The reason why she can make delicious baked bread in this era is due to the meticulous research of later generations on flour, fermentation and oven temperature, as well as the high-quality ingredients that can be regarded as the best even in this era.
But if she really compares herself with the master who has studied baking all his life and has the king supplying ingredients... she still has some self-awareness.
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