A Terrible Lunch and Night (Part 2)

In the house.

After coming out of the kitchen, Mrs. William placed the cauldron on the table, wiped her hands on her apron, and turned to Lisa Esker:

"Lisa, please divide the bread."

Lisa quickly stopped her blinking eyes, stood up, and replied:

"No problem, Mom."

Then she walked with the Ailula Sisters to the dining table and soon took out a small basket covered with a white cloth from under the table.

She then lifted the white cloth and began to distribute the bread.

Mrs. William returned to the kitchen, and after a moment, came out again with a smaller cooking pot.

The arrangement of the dining table was simple, but it felt very joyful—because there was a guest, Mrs. William had specially prepared an extra meat dish.

The chattering of the little girls, accompanied by the warmth spreading from the fireplace, gradually warmed Xu Yun's heart.

In 17th-century England, apart from the wealthy class who hired servants, the cooking responsibilities in commoner families were basically held by women. Sometimes they would even drive away male family members who wanted to help.

Therefore, while Mrs. William and Lisa were preparing the meal, William sat leisurely by the fireplace, telling stories about the blue sky of Manchester.

When everything was ready, he then brought Xu Yun and Little Ox to the dining table and invited him to sit:

"Please sit here, Mr. Fat Fish."

Upon hearing this, Andrea, one of the twin sisters, consciously moved behind Xu Yun and pulled out the chair for him.

Xu Yun politely thanked her and, as he sat down, glanced at his first lunch in the 17th century:

The dining table was located to the right of the living room. It was a rectangle about two meters long and 1.2 meters wide, made of wood. One of its supporting legs was slightly damaged, and a wad of cotton cloth was pressed at the bottom.

Mrs. William and William each sat at the narrow ends, while the rest of the people were seated in a 3-on-3 arrangement:

The Ailula Sisters and Lisa sat on one side, while Xu Yun, Little Ox, and Lilani sat on the other.

Each person had a piece of bread in front of them. The bread was somewhat unsightly, like handmade bread not made with a mold, but it looked very thick.

Xu Yun's plate was made while he was chopping wood earlier. It had not been polished or ground, but Xu Yun had washed it repeatedly in a small stream, making it barely usable for holding food.

In front of the plate was a jar of butter, with about 30% of its capacity remaining. Whether it was intentional or unintentional by Mrs. William, the bottle was placed closest to Xu Yun's seat.

Moving the gaze further inward, one reached the center of the dining table, where two cotton and linen coasters held two iron pots, one large and one small.

Both pots contained stews, which was a favorite cooking method of the English. Just as everything in their homeland could be paired with Sichuan peppercorns, in England, everything could be stewed.

Famous examples include Lancashire hotpot and Liverpool stew. The base of the stew didn't matter; as long as there were onions and potatoes, you could throw in an old shoe sole and stew it.

Legend has it that when Li Hongzhang first visited England, he saw an English woman put eight dishes into a pot to stew, hence the name "Hu Ji Ba Dun" (胡姬八炖) for British stew. Cough, cough...

In the small iron pot in front of Xu Yun, it seemed to be a vegetable medley. At a glance, he could see beans, cauliflower, wild vegetables, and Bramley apples, among other things.

Perhaps due to the chlorophyll, the entire broth looked grayish-green and was constantly bubbling.

The dish in the large pot was simpler, a basic stewed eel.

As an island nation, England's fishing industry has always been well-developed. Even in the 17th century, the price of fish was very cheap.

Therefore, when many books or videos mention the scarcity of meat resources in 17th-century England, they are actually referring to land-based red and white meat. Fish was still easy to come by if one wanted to eat it.

For example, the William family now probably couldn't afford even one guinea, yet they could still eat fish regularly. This could be considered one of the advantages of an island nation.

After everyone was seated.

William clasped his hands together and led everyone in a simple prayer of thanks.

Xu Yun was not a believer, but out of respect for the era, the culture, and the William family, he closed his eyes and went through the motions.

Three minutes later, the prayer was over.

When he opened his eyes, William stood up, scooped a small bowl of fish and fish soup from the large pot with a spoon, and handed it to Xu Yun:

"Mr. Fat Fish, this is your fish soup. Be careful, it's a bit hot."

Xu Yun politely accepted, then watched as William served everyone.

The eel meat had been skinned by Mrs. William before being put into the pot. The large pieces of fish were easy to swallow, but the appearance was another matter.

Xu Yun glanced at the somewhat murky fish soup in his bowl, his gaze lingering on the bowl's rim for a few seconds.

Finally, he mustered his courage and took a small sip.

Five seconds later.

Xu Yun calmly put down the small bowl, his stomach churning violently. He gritted his molars tightly, forcing himself not to lose composure.

Hmm, how to put it...

It was similar to Laoshan Snake Grass Water.

As mentioned before.

Xu Yun developed his cooking skills while he was an exchange student in England, so he was quite familiar with English sea fish.

Therefore, the moment he tasted the fish soup, he identified Mrs. William's problem:

First, the fish had not been marinated with scallions, ginger, garlic, cooking wine, and salt, resulting in the fish being tough and fishy.

Next, the black membrane, gills, and throat bones of the fish weren't cleaned thoroughly either. The fish tendon is the source of the fishy smell. When preparing a fish, you only need to make a cut below the gills to remove the tendon. Then, with one hand patting the fish body and the other pulling this string, you can easily pull out the tendon.

This will reduce the fishy smell.

After putting down his bowl, Xu Yun sighed silently:

Well, looks like this fish soup is undrinkable.

Then, he turned his gaze back to the people at the dining table.

William had already served the fish soup to his family and was rapidly stirring the vegetable medley with his spoon, so he didn't have time to talk to Xu Yun yet.

Little Ox and Lisa were still chattering away on their team voice chat. The usually foul-mouthed gamer was as quiet as a tombstone—cough, cough, as quiet as a portrait.

Sister Elula was saying something to Mrs. William, even waving her little hands excitedly at times.

Lilani remained silent.

Meanwhile.

Xu Yun also noticed something else:

Besides a spoon and a dinner knife, there wasn't a single fork to be seen on the dining table.