In a somewhat larger room of the General's Mansion, Lü Bu and his group sat properly on their knees, watching dish after dish being set on the table. Stewed chicken, pan-fried fish, roasted mutton, all manner of delicate stir-fries, and cold dishes. The fragrance of food lingered in every breath, whetting their appetites.
Lü Bu poured himself some wine. Looking at the novel dishes, he could not help but salivate. Food was scarce in these times. Even though he held a high position and never lacked food or drink, eating meat at every meal, the cooking methods of the era were still far too monotonous. There were some decent flavors, but nothing nearly this fragrant.
In truth, after so many years, Liaodong's cooking methods had spread throughout the Han Dynasty through trade and exchange. Even small landowners had large iron woks at home for frying, stir-frying, stewing, and deep-frying, while Liaodong seasonings had become a major business with considerable trade volume.
But comparatively speaking, the cooks outside were simply not much to look at beside the fat chef who had first developed such new cooking methods as pan-frying, stir-frying, stewing, and deep-frying in the Han Dynasty.
The fat chef of the General's Mansion had truly made an art of cooking. After doing it for so many years, even Wang Yan, with his picky palate from tasting delicacies across the world, could find no fault with him. Even now, when so many seasonings were still unavailable, the chef's talent was undeniable. His best dishes—stewed chicken with mushrooms, pork butchering stew, braised bear paws, stewed golden pheasant, dragon soup, and all kinds of seafood—had all reached the pinnacle of perfection. Any dish he casually made started at level four or above.
Whenever he had free time, he not only studied various seasonings