If those mages from Tianbei Palace were alive, they would probably be pissed to death.
The Buddha's Birthday, which was organized with great effort, is now gone. Even the elephants have been taken to the Qionglin Garden. It is hard not to say that the Ministry of Rites did not do it on purpose.
Moreover, the Qionglin Banquet is held on the sixth day of April, which is only two days away from the originally scheduled Buddha's Birthday.
If the Third Prince had not gotten rid of that group of wizards, the two sides would have continued to fight. Now the Ministry of Rites would be the only one left. Judging from the officials of the Ministry of Rites that Su Wan had recently come into contact with, they did not admire Xie Pei much, but they had a good impression of him at least.
This little bit of goodwill alone would be very useful to a prince fighting for power.
Su Wan touched the Sanskrit gold bead in her purse. She had not seen Xie Pei since the incident in Tianbei Palace, and she had never had the chance to return this thing.
I don’t know if he will come to the Qionglin Banquet this time.
I only heard that he was too busy and had no time to spare. Come to think of it, even a saint would not let him come in such an occasion.
After all, all the talented students in recent years are here. Would it be easier for him to recruit them by letting Xie Pei come over?
Su Wan just thought about it casually. They took a carriage and followed the kitchen staff from the fourth department and sixth bureau to Qionglin Garden. After all, this was not the imperial palace, so everything was more relaxed. As long as they packed their things, they could also take a walk in the royal garden.
Anyway, it's my first time here today, and everyone is busy preparing things everywhere.
But tomorrow I have to start preparing food and can’t move around freely.
It is worthy of being a royal garden, with pavilions, waterside terraces, rockery and rocks, and the flowers in the garden are also in beautiful bloom.
April now is a good time to enjoy the flowers.
The banquet was held in such a courtyard, starting from noon and lasting until late at night. There were not only delicious food but also court music and gifts from various government offices. It was not clear whether there were many gifts, but it sounded very respectable anyway.
Su Wan listened to the process and thought, no wonder everyone wanted to become a Jinshi and attend the Qionglin Banquet.
After more than ten years of hard study, one can have such a glorious life. Who wouldn’t be amazed?
When Su Wan said this, the Guanglu Temple official she was familiar with sighed: "We thought so when we were in high school, but this is their last glorious time."
After all, freshmen who have just "admitted to higher education" will receive preferential treatment. After the Qionglin Banquet, they will be selected, sent out, and granted official positions.
What ranks of officials are there?
The eighth or ninth rank is already good, and it is also the lowest official position in the court, even for the top three candidates in the imperial examination.
Su Wan found it funny, but this was also an important starting point in life.
All the banquets were carried out step by step and were not actually chaotic. The Guanglu Temple knew exactly what everyone was doing, and this clear assignment of responsibilities also kept Qionglin Garden and the neighboring Huiwu Garden in good order.
The person in charge of the case where Su Wan worked also started working under the shed where he was directed.
Because there were many palace servants sent, it was common to work under a temporary colorful tent, and it was more convenient for the people in the Guanglu Temple to manage.
The person in charge of the kitchen was also very kind and could easily handle such a large banquet.
He also expressed his gratitude to the palace servants who were temporarily transferred here.
There was Su Wan who worked in the kitchen, Li Rongrong who worked in the dining room, and a few maids from the dessert department.
Everyone has their own skills, so we should show some respect to the original chefs.
Especially Su Wan, who was obviously very familiar with several officials from the Guanglu Temple. Several officials from the Ministry of Rites asked her questions when they saw her, and even asked her what book she had read recently and what questions she had. They also said that even if she had a lot of things to do, she could not interrupt her reading.
Faced with the ancient version of the Exhortation to Study, Su Wan had no choice but to answer one by one.
How dare she!
She carried the books she brought from the Ministry of Rites with her into the inner palace. After all, she had discovered that if she had not listened to her superiors and read, she would not have discovered the contradiction between Confucianism and Buddhism so quickly, and would not have done what happened afterwards.
This made Su Wan herself feel that reading more books of this era would be of great help.
The adults were naturally happy that Su Wan was so studious and treated her as a junior.
With all these things in mind, the people in the kitchen were curious whether she was the daughter of an official and came here to experience life.
No matter how you speculate, Su Wan is indeed much more relaxed.
She is a serious person and soon has a lot of people around her who she has good relationships with.
Among the people who were called, not only Li Rongrong and others were familiar, Su Wan found that Wei Jun was also among them, but his expression was not very good, and he just winked and said he would talk about it when they rested at night.
It was not until Wei Jun went to see Su Wan again in the evening that he found out what had happened.
I lost something again.
This time it has nothing to do with Wei Jun, but a young eunuch from another place. It was also an item that was collected last year, but it cannot be found this year. When it was checked a year ago, it was still not found.
But this young eunuch was not so lucky. He had no master to help him, so he could only pawn all his belongings to reduce his sentence.
At this moment, Wei Jun was in a gloomy mood in the accounting department.
It's not uncommon for things to be lost in the palace, but it's not common for so many things to be lost at once.
Although this had little to do with Wei Jun, he was still very angry, probably thinking about what happened to him in the past.
Wei Jun whispered, "After the last time something I was in charge of was stolen, I kept wondering why something got lost when I was reliable and never slacked off in checking things all year round. After a thorough investigation, my master told me that it's common for things to get lost in the palace. Aren't you near the Dong'anli Gate? After you pass the palace road, across from you is the Dafang Market, Nanxunfang?"
“There’s a black market in there!”
"All that's being resold are things from the palace!"
"Some were stolen by thieves in the palace, and some were taken by the unpopular nobles in the palace and resold by others. Most of the things I was in charge of were sold to those places!"
It is so.
The Nanxunfang is indeed very large and has many stores, but there is actually a black market there?
But think about it, as the saying goes, it's darkest under the lamp, and this kind of thing happens from time to time.
Moreover, there are so many things and people in the palace, and there are many times when things cannot be checked.
Not to mention that there are papermakers, porcelain makers, and pharmaceutical manufacturers in the outer palace. If they resell these, it will be easier than stealing and difficult to track down.
The palace was overcrowded and poorly managed, which naturally gave rise to the birth of darkness.
At that time, there were merchants near the West Outer Palace who colluded with the palace chief steward, so it was not so strange that there was a black market.
"But I heard that there is one most outrageous thing among the reselling." Wei Jun actually wanted to say it a long time ago, but never found the opportunity. "It's the pancake sandwich from the western kitchen! Or rather, the pasta from the western kitchen! It's the one you taught me, and it's selling really well over there."
"The southern kitchen sells the food. Some people also secretly sell it under the guise of imperial cuisine. The price varies depending on the item, but it's at least four or five times the original price."
Is this too exaggerated?
The more Su Wan listened, the more outrageous it seemed to her. How could anyone buy the pancakes she made?
But think about it, some people know that something is not worth the price, but they still want to buy it.
Like wild animals, many studies have shown that wild animals are not as delicious as farmed ones and have similar nutritional values.
But if some people don’t believe it, what can we do?
Just want to be different from others, just want to buy.
Wei Jun was just talking. The black market was not something he could track down. Since he could see it next to the palace, there must be someone behind it. He would not try to shake a big tree with an ant.
Su Wan had almost the same idea.
But in the future, you have to take good care of your own things, and check the things you manage from time to time. If there are any problems, you have to deal with them. Otherwise, you will be like Wei Jun, who found it after such a long time and didn’t know when it was lost.
It's obvious that he is an old hand at this kind of thing, so we must be careful and guard against him.
Wei Jun came here for the same purpose. One was to find someone to talk to, and the other was to tell Su Wan to be careful in the garden, not to lose anything, and not to bring too many things, otherwise there would definitely be problems.
Su Wan thanked Wei Jun and then went back to her residence. The place she stayed when on a business trip was definitely not as good as the one in the Shangshenjian, but the bedding was clean.
The incident of losing things was just a minor episode, and many people don’t even know that it has passed.
In the next few days, everyone was busy preparing for the banquet, and Su Wan had to make the second-to-last noodle soup.
There are four cooks in total who mainly make noodles, and they also make four kinds of noodle soups for the guests to choose from.
In fact, the last meal is the hardest to prepare.
The snacks, cold dishes, hot dishes, steamed dishes and soups that had been prepared had almost all been eaten. Only a few people ate some noodles to fill their stomachs and make them feel less uncomfortable, and to allow those who had been drinking to have a bite of food to make them feel more comfortable.
Soup noodles are instant food, and they will not taste good if left for a long time.
So at many banquets, the last bowl of noodle soup basically has only one destination: it ends up in the trash can.
But this noodle soup is very important. Noodles have always been important in the northern part of Tianxiang Kingdom. Some banquets will even only serve fresh and interesting noodles, and half of the banquet will be spent on it.
There was a prime minister at that time who specially held a cold noodle banquet, which many people probably wouldn’t have thought of.
No one eats much, but we have to make it well.
This is where the difficulty lies.
In this banquet mode, the luncheon will be hosted by the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, the old gentlemen sent by the Hanlin Academy, and some famous scholars.
They gave a speech and toasted one by one. After each speech, they drank a glass of wine, the alcohol content of which was almost the same as water. Otherwise, it would be bad to lose composure at the banquet.
There are three hundred newly-appointed Jinshi sitting below, and the leaders must be the top three.
After a speech and a glass of wine, the students stood up to express their gratitude, thanking the sage for the banquet and the great scholar for his teachings. Then a dish was served and a court music and dance performance was watched, and the round ended.
During this time, everyone can talk, but they are not allowed to move around freely.
During this period, the saints would bestow poems, books, robes, and other items. None of them were very expensive, but each one had its own story.
Poems are written by saints, and everyone should praise them. Although the saints are not here, these words will reach their ears.
The book is an exhortation not to be complacent just because you passed the imperial examination, as there is still a long way to go in future studies.
This continues until the twelfth course has been served, and the atmosphere becomes more relaxed as the course progresses. When all the great scholars have finished speaking, the newly-minted Jinshi with good literary talent can be invited to compose a respectful poem.
The top three candidates in the imperial examination must be asked to compose a poem.
Things will be more relaxed after that. In the afternoon, all the great scholars will leave, and the evening banquet will be for the new scholars to enjoy themselves. They are allowed to indulge themselves for a day.
Without the great scholars and other officials, everyone would be more relaxed.
All in all, only the lunch was difficult to endure, but the rest were okay.
There are two types of meals that Su Wan and her friends have to prepare. One is the formal banquet at noon, and the four kinds of noodle soups they have to prepare will be served here, with a small bowl for each person.
The evening meal is prepared and placed on the table for everyone to take at will, a bit like a buffet.
Moreover, these meals are almost the same as those at lunch, except that the portions are larger, just enough for everyone, and snacks and fruits are also essential.
However, according to the past experience of Guanglu Temple and the Kitchen Department, they all drank at night, and some brave Jinshi even dared to bring some strong liquor. The officials of Guanglu Temple also turned a blind eye and pretended not to know.
If anyone's embarrassing drunken behavior was recorded by the painters and recorders who were recording the entire process, it was none of their business; they were just happy to watch the fun.
We know the process and what needs to be done, so this kind of division of labor and cooperation doesn't make everyone tired.
It is worthy of being the four departments and six bureaus left by our ancestors, it is so powerful.
Although the official banquet is on April 6th, and today is April 2nd, Su Wan and her friends must prepare the four bowls of noodle soup in advance for the people from the Guanglu Temple to taste.
Most dishes have regulations, but the ones below can be adjusted flexibly.
Moreover, all dishes must be prepared and tasted in advance to see if there is anything unsuitable or tastes bad, and then replaced in time.
The purpose of coming early is the same, not only to prepare the dishes in advance, but also to try them.
Although everyone who comes here is the best in the industry, they still have to try, which is also part of the process.
On Su Wan's side, she was also thinking about what kind of noodle soup could help sober up and still be edible after a little delay, at least it wouldn't become unpalatable if left for a while.
There are a lot of ingredients available here, and many ingredients that are on the market early can also be supplied here. After all, the money is paid from the saint's private treasury, so we should be a little generous.
This means that the money being spent is not from the national treasury, and the Ministry of Revenue cannot do so much.
Why did it come from the saint's private treasury? This is somewhat particular. There were no four banquets after the original imperial examination.
However, those who passed the imperial examination would invite each other to parties, and get to know other Jinshi who passed the imperial examination together. It was both a celebration and a social occasion.
We all pooled our money together to hold the banquet, and it was quite lively.
The same is true of the Lu Ming Banquet in each province, which is also the banquet for the candidates.
It’s actually quite nice to have, and even now many people will find a friend to have a good meal with after finishing a major exam.
Gradually, provincial education commissioners began to organize banquets, with the money paid by local officials or provincial education commissioners, so that some candidates with limited financial resources could also participate.
The new scholars in the capital were given banquets funded by the emperor, and the venues were all royal gardens.
Therefore, Guanglu Temple was absolutely clear about spending this money.
The sage did not say much, since these three hundred Jinshi would all be his subjects in the future.
So when Su Wan saw the newly harvested tomatoes, she was particularly surprised. Although the tomatoes were green and red, they were indeed tomatoes.
What kind of noodles is best to eat after drinking?
There may be different opinions on that, but if we talk about the evergreen among noodle soups and the classic combination of all ingredients, we have to mention scrambled eggs with tomatoes!
The noodle soup is tomato and egg noodles!
In fact, when she was in the west kitchen, Su Wan had thought about making scrambled eggs with tomatoes, mainly because this dish would be loved by everyone, young or old, male or female.
Even a kitchen novice can make it.
But whether it is tomatoes or eggs, they cannot be used in large quantities in the western kitchen.
Especially tomatoes. According to Su Wan, this ingredient has only been cultivated in Tianxiang Country for less than ten years.
There is no need to think that ten years is not a short time. Ten years is not a short time for promoting new food ingredients in ancient times.
Take a good thing like cotton for example. It took until the end of the Song Dynasty, the entire Yuan Dynasty, and then the early and middle Ming Dynasty before it was widely promoted.
So it is normal that when food first appeared, people didn’t know how to eat it and not much was planted.
Of course, that also has something to do with the saint of the time.
Su Wan calculated the time and thought that these tomatoes should have been found when the previous emperor was in power, by sending ships out to sea. Unfortunately, the previous emperor passed away within a few years, and the current emperor ascended the throne and did not pay much attention to these things.
This is what caused the pearl to be covered in dust.
It’s not an exaggeration to describe sour and sweet tomatoes as pearls!
This thing tastes delicious no matter how you cut it and sprinkle some sugar on it!
Unfortunately, it is still early and the tomatoes are not fully ripe, but we will pick out the ones that can be used and put them in wooden boxes with high temperature to ripen them. They will be ready to use when the time comes.
You don’t need to try too many dishes now, just pick those with more red colors.
Su Wan once made tomato beef brisket, which many people still remember.
Although the tomato beef brisket is delicious, it is still a little bit inferior to the national delicacy of scrambled eggs with tomatoes?
But tomatoes alone are not enough, it’s better to add some ketchup.
This was a simple matter, as she had made ketchup before and had given the dessert department tips on how to make the sauce delicious.
So I just need to go to the ladies in the dessert department to get some.
All these places are in the tent, and it is easy to find the dessert department.
Su Wan didn't need to say much, so the nanny said, "Just take whatever you want. Do you still need to be polite?"
Su Wan couldn't help laughing and thanked them again and again before taking a small can of the flavored ketchup. She felt relieved after making sure they still had some.
Ketchup.
When her fried stinky tofu shop expands and sells more fried foods, she will definitely bring out ketchup!
However, although we have tomatoes and corn, Tianxiang Kingdom still has no potatoes, which is really a pity.
I don’t know when it will appear.
Su Wan was thinking about the delicious food without stopping her hands.
There are actually many ways to cook tomato and egg noodles. You can fry the eggs and tomato sauce, then boil the noodles and rinse them with cold water, and finally mix them with the sauce to make mixed noodles.
Or you can stir-fry eggs and tomatoes, add water and bring to a boil, and this will make a slightly thinner noodle soup.
The kind that Su Wan wants to make is more like ketchup noodles.
The key point is that this is soup noodles. Even if it is left for a while, even if it is cold, the hand-rolled noodles inside will indeed become softer, but when paired with the sweet and sour ketchup egg, the taste is still excellent.
Unlike the usual soup noodles, the noodles will not clump together, and the soup inside will appear clear and watery.
The tomato noodles also look beautiful and are perfect for eating at the end of the party.
You don’t even need chopsticks. You can just scoop out the cold tomato noodles with a spoon and you’ll still feel how delicious they are.
When Su Wan started kneading the dough, many people around were actually watching.
Their account is the big white account in the kitchen, which means that all the cooks here can make pasta.
Whether the pasta is cooked well or not depends on the strength, direction, feel of the kneading, and the ratio of flour to water.
If you knead the dough more, it will seem like practice makes perfect and you will develop your own rhythm. So you can basically tell a person's level by how much flour and water they add.
We have all been cooking pastries in the kitchen for many years, so we have some good eyesight.
As soon as Su Wan started kneading the dough, everyone could see the difference.
There is indeed some skill in kneading dough. She is only a few years old. Could it be that she has been dealing with noodles since birth?
When everyone heard that her family came from the white-casserole business, they understood what was going on. The dough she kneaded was so white and smooth, which was truly rare and precious. If any family had such a young person, there would definitely be someone to carry on the family business in the future.
Set the kneaded dough aside to wake up. It only takes ten minutes to make with a cup of tea.
While the dough was resting, Su Wan was not idle either. She started to peel the tomatoes and cut them into dices, so that it would be easier to stir-fry them to bring out the aroma and make the tomato sauce.
He heated up the pot next to him and poured in oil. Before the oil temperature rose, he told the servant to turn down the heat.
There is a dedicated person to watch the fire beside each stove, which is also a reflection of everyone's responsibilities.
When the oil is still hot, pour in the chopped tomato, stir-fry a few times to make sure all the tomato cubes are coated with oil, then start to simmer slowly, and it will be easy to make tomato juice.
The tomatoes in the pot are already a beautiful red color, which looks very appetizing. If they are ripe and have a strong tomato flavor, you don't need to add tomato sauce, but you need to add some at this moment. Pour the scooped tomato sauce into a small bowl, add boiling water and stir evenly, then slowly pour it into the pot. At this time, you can taste the sourness and sweetness. If the sourness is strong, add sugar to balance the taste.
Next, add boiling water in small amounts several times and watch the diced tomatoes slowly melt into real tomato sauce.
This bowl of fragrant tomato soup is the perfect accompaniment to many meals.
When Su Wan was making noodles just now, she had already attracted a lot of people's attention, and now the tomato sauce was boiling, it also made people's eyes light up.
Just imagine, after eating more than a dozen dishes and drinking a lot of wine, eating a bowl of soft noodle soup cooked with tomato sauce like this can soothe any upset stomach. The sweet and sour noodle soup is refreshing and can help sober you up.
The tomato sauce is now ready and can be put aside.
The noodles were already risen, and Su Wan had taken them out at the right time while the tomato juice was boiling.
Now you can make hand-rolled noodles.
Su Wan has made hand-rolled noodles many times. This time the noodles are as wide as an index finger and a little harder so they can last longer. They are also not too thin, otherwise they would become rotten if soaked.
This is how noodles are eaten. There are countless pasta dishes, and there are countless ways to cook noodles and rice noodles.
When is it wide and when is it thin, when is it thick and when is it thin, why do we use round ones while some use flat ones.
Only those who are well versed in food can tell you something about it.
This is probably the benefit of the long-standing food culture. All food can be reduced to a subject, allowing people in later generations to study it in depth.
Now the tomato sauce and noodles are ready, the last step is to fry the eggs. The beaten eggs should also be fried separately. Add a little more oil and heat the pan a little bit. This way, the eggs can be fried in the pan a few times and come out.
Eggs should not be fried for too long, otherwise the original flavor of the eggs will be destroyed, which is commonly known as overcooking.
Now that all the ingredients are prepared, there are also two methods.
One is that there is enough tomato juice. You can add some water and pour in the fried eggs, then cook the noodles directly when the water boils, and add the vegetables when they are almost cooked. The noodles cooked in this way will have a richer tomato and egg flavor. The disadvantage is that you have to eat it immediately, otherwise the noodles will become softer and, if left for too long, the noodles will become sourer and not as good as when they were just cooked.
The second method is to cook the noodles separately, heat the tomato sauce on the other side, add the fried eggs while heating, let the eggs be soaked with eggplant, and then take the noodles out after they are cooked, pour the eggplant and egg on them. This is still soup noodles. But you can leave it for a little longer to let the tomato sauce slowly penetrate into the noodles. If you leave it for a while, the sweet and sour taste of the eggplant noodles will be just right.
Of course, the eggplant here should be seasoned, but it would be better to just add salt, so that you can better feel the unique sweet and sour taste of tomato sauce.
Because whether the people from Guanglu Temple come over to taste the food or the guests at the banquet eat the food, Su Wan will definitely choose the second method this time.
When cooking the noodles, Su Wan deliberately dipped the noodles in some extra flour, so there was no need to thicken the noodles and the soup looked very thick.
This is an absolutely delicious, yet refreshing bite.
Because these are tomatoes, food made from tomatoes has this kind of charm.
Once the ketchup noodles are ready, with the addition of eggs as a backdrop, the aroma will make people start to drool unconsciously.
This is a kitchen. There are kitchen tents all around here. Even the aroma of cooking over there cannot outweigh the aroma of ketchup noodles over here.
Because people who try the food must try it, it is served in small bowls.
Bright red soup base, golden eggs, white and tender noodles, and green vegetables garnished on top.
Red, yellow, white and green, what beautiful and bright colors, as beautiful as a painting.
When Guanglu Temple Minister and others walked in, their eyes were unconsciously attracted to the bowl of ketchup noodles.
It’s really beautiful.
They had tasted various dishes and a lot of fine wine. In fact, they were a little full, but when they smelled such a sweet and sour taste, they couldn't help but want to eat.
But after all, they were officials, so they still tasted the other three noodle soups as usual. After all, there is an order for tasting dishes, and they have to go by seniority and give face to those in front.
Su Wan was the youngest, so naturally she was the last one in line for the four bowls of noodle soup. Everyone looked at the ketchup noodles with seeming reserve, but everyone actually knew what they were thinking.
Try it now, try it now!
Is it as delicious as it looks?
The smooth soup enters your mouth along with the noodles. It is rare that soup noodles melt in your mouth, but they are not disgusting.
It is so soft, smooth, fresh and refreshing, only two words can describe it.
tasty!
After eating the hot noodle soup, I felt comfortable all over. The food was bright in color, simple and elegant, and tasted light and refreshing.
A noodle soup that sounds contradictory, but the taste can be described with many words.
Let’s not talk about the soup or the noodles, let’s just talk about the eggs inside.
We have all eaten scrambled eggs, but can scrambled eggs be this delicious?! It is a perfect match with the juice in it.
"Did you make this? What's it called?" The Minister of the Ministry of Rites had never eaten such noodle soup before, so he asked immediately.
Su Wan said: "Tomato sauce noodles are made with this ingredient called tomato."
Su Wan knew that someone would ask, and said that some people didn’t know what a tomato was, so she had already taken a slightly red fruit and placed it next to it.
Everyone looked at this tomato as if it were a treasure.
Su Wan added: "If the fruit is more ripe, you can mix it with sugar and eat it. In the summer, put it in a deep well and soak it. When you want to eat it, take it out, cut it open and mix it with sugar. It's especially delicious."
Stop talking, stop talking, I want to eat it now!
I'll buy some to try later!
These four noodle soups are all of course acceptable, but when making them, I probably need to ask Su Wan to make more.
After Su Wan's ketchup noodles were ready, the other people in the kitchen already had an idea of what was going on and their moods were adjusted.
Cooking is like this, and I won’t complain about the arrangement of things. Everyone is doing something, and just complete your job.
Su Wan looked at them and felt that all the people in the four departments and six bureaus were respectable professionals!
It’s so nice to be with you all like this.
This suddenly made Su Wan think of someone, Xiaoyue.
I didn't see her the last time I went to Zhongcui Palace, and I don't know if her current life is what she wants.
After the people who came to taste the food from Guanglu Temple left, Su Wan put away the clean bowls. If she ate more cleanly, the kitchen staff wouldn't have to wash the dishes!
This also proves how much everyone likes this bowl of ketchup noodles.
There were even other people from the Guanglu Temple who came over in the name of food and drink, and they all seemed to be acquaintances.
Su Wan was helpless, but she used up all the remaining tomato sauce and made a full pot. The chef in their tent also ate this for lunch.
After eating it, I was even more convinced.
This little girl is really amazing.
It is so delicious that other noodle soups pale in comparison.
No other meat noodle soup tastes as fresh as this one.
The Qionglin Banquet and the Huiwu Banquet were carried out simultaneously in an orderly manner. The Guanglu Temple was running between the two. In fact, these tents were in the courtyard between the two, so it would be convenient to serve the dishes over when the time came.
While they were preparing, the entire Kyoto was also discussing the matter of the new Jinshi.
The whole Kyoto was filled with joy, except for the saint who sent people out every day to inquire about the news to see if there were any rumors about him outside. If there were, he would eliminate the source and make people shut up.
Fortunately, not many people talked about it, so after a little warning, no one dared to comment on it.
But the saint still felt that many people were laughing at him, just like when he first ascended the throne. Many people talked about him behind his back, saying that he had used conspiracy to marry the daughter of the Ding family and thus had the throne.
The once powerful Prince Yu even accused him of being a gigolo and relying on women.
These claims had obviously disappeared long ago, and he had covered them up with various means, but whenever he thought about the matter of Tianbei Palace, he always felt that someone would bring up the past again.
He would spread some rumors and talk about what happened in the past, but he would also say that the Ding family was arrogant and domineering and that he was innocent, in order to achieve some goals.
But if he really told everything that happened back then, he would not be willing to do so.
The two eunuchs beside the saint closed the palace door and shook their heads slightly.
"Saint or?"
"I have nightmares every day. It's all because of those people in Tianbei Palace."
"Then didn't the high monks of Magadha help to perform a ritual to keep the saint away from these disasters?"
"You don't know yet? The saint can't stand monks now and has asked them to leave Kyoto."
"ah?"
"In fact, they were very happy. They had long wanted to stay in the palace. When they heard that they could leave, they immediately packed up and left."
Su Wan naturally didn't know about this news, but there is no wall that is impenetrable. There were well-informed people in the harem and the front court who knew that the saint was in poor health, and they all had plans in mind.
After several days of hard work, the Qionglin Banquet and the Huiwu Banquet finally made their debut.
Su Wan also saw that the elephant had been led over. This was probably the bad taste of the people from the Ministry of Rites.
However, the people in the Xiangfang were trembling with fear. They had always served the Tianbei Palace, but they did not expect to work for the Ministry of Rites now. But no matter what, the only thing they could do was to avoid implicating them.
It is now the sixth day of April, and the banquet will officially begin at noon!
The tomatoes that Su Wan needed have arrived. Originally, everyone called this thing red fruit, and Su Wan also called it that when she made it before.
But since she called it tomato, everyone can see that this thing really looks a bit like eggplant, both have pulp inside and dense seeds.
As for the word "Fan", it is easier to understand, referring to foreign countries or foreign races.
Eggplants from foreign countries are called tomatoes. This name is simple and easy to understand! As for tomatoes, this name is also OK. It is indeed brought from overseas by ships sent by the late emperor. The red persimmons in the west are easy to understand.
Su Wan didn't expect that everyone would follow her and recite her name again. It was no longer the same Hong Guo as before.
No matter what, the red tomatoes are already in my hands.
She kept some for herself, and the Guanglu Temple also bought a lot for her, so the quality was better this time.
Because the people in Guanglu Temple also want to eat this tomato sauce noodles! So the raw materials must be good.
The main thing is that the taste of this noodle is really good.
Su Wan started to make tomato sauce early, and someone helped her knead the dough. Guests came one after another in the morning, including many high-ranking officials. They officially started to prepare the dishes for the lunch banquet.
The Tea and Wine Department of the Fourth Department and Sixth Bureau was already outside welcoming the guests. They were responsible for welcoming and seeing off guests, serving tea and wine, and that kind of work.
They are also the ones who coordinate when to serve the food and when to sing and dance.
Chef Su Wan just needs to wait here and call over there.
In fact, the closer it gets to the banquet, the less busy everyone becomes. Since everything was well prepared beforehand, there's naturally no rush now.
Apart from the fact that many people come to Su Wan's place to eat, everything else is good?
She just boiled the tomato sauce in advance so that she would have enough time to cook the noodles when the noodle soup was almost ready, and she had already calculated the time.
And there are four kinds of noodle soup, but we don’t know yet which one the guests will choose.
Soup noodles are more complicated, so you have to prepare a few bowls of noodles in advance, all in small palm-sized bowls, with four kinds of noodle soups making ten bowls each. The people from the Tea and Wine Department will hold the four different kinds of noodles on plates for the guests to see. They can just point to what they want to eat. The people from the Tea and Wine Department have all been specially trained and have very good memory, so they know which guest wants to eat what and can serve him that kind of noodles right away.
The people from the Tea and Wine Department will make the statistics and report it to the Kitchen Department. Those who make plain pasta can then order the food according to the quantity. This way there will be no waste and no wasted work.
The people from the Tea and Wine Department would ask this question whenever there was a choice of food. It was not difficult for them; they could just send ten people around with the plates.
Therefore, Case Bai doesn't need to take any action for the time being and waits for them to report the quantity in advance.
But someone in the tent said, "The ketchup noodles are definitely the most popular."
"It's hard to say. There's also shredded pork noodles. Many people would choose shredded pork noodles with their eyes closed."
That's true, after all, it's meat.
No matter who chooses more, everyone will just help each other out. If the banquet goes well, everyone will look good. If it doesn't, everyone will look embarrassed.
Su Wan looked at the sun outside. The weather had become hot. Now the sun was shining brightly. She guessed that the guests had already taken their seats.
The banquets on both sides have indeed been taken.
Although it was rare for civil and military banquets to be held together, the songs, dances, wine and food on both sides were exactly the same, so there was no problem at all.
Officials from both sides gave speeches and dishes were served one by one. From the people who came and went from the Tea and Wine Department, we learned that everyone at the banquet praised the deliciousness of the dishes.
The other dishes are occasionally novel, but most of them are just okay.
When choosing noodles, the color of the ketchup noodles immediately attracted many people. They originally thought it was a spicy meal, but after smelling it, they found it was sweet and sour.
I ate so much and drank so much wine before, so smelling this really whets my appetite.
Some people who didn't know the rules almost took the noodles directly, but the people around them quickly persuaded them: "This is called a viewing plate, you can only look at it, you can't eat it, just pick whichever one you want to eat."
This kind of things like looking at plates and fruits are not only found at banquets, but also in many large restaurants. They are not put out for you to eat, but for you to look at. Most students from poor families have never seen them, and they pointed at the ketchup noodles embarrassedly.
But it was not only the poor people who were choosing the ketchup noodles. The great scholars sitting at the top were also seeing such a clear, elegant soup of noodles for the first time.
For Su Wan, the classic contrast of red and yellow with green vegetables must look good.
Many people casually ordered noodles with ketchup. In fact, most people were already full at this time. After just one more bite of noodles, these great scholars would leave.
It’s the second to last dish.
It is already very valuable that great scholars can take the time to come here.
Looking at the students, I felt deeply moved. So many young people will become the pillars of Tianxiang Country in the future.
Until now, everyone’s focus is still on socializing at banquets, and when they occasionally praise the banquet, it is mostly out of politeness, saying that the banquet is still of the same level and so on.
The students enjoyed the meal, after all, not many families could have such a formal banquet at any time.
The lunch was almost over, and the remaining scholars who were speaking were much more relaxed, waiting to eat noodles.
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