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Jian Mo became interested. "What spices?"
The curly-haired orc said, "Pepper Bud!"
Jian Mo didn't understand at first, blinking in confusion, but quickly realized it was a spice he didn't recognize. "May I take a look?"
"Of course." The curly-haired orc generously took a packet of spices, tightly wrapped in dry leaves, from his basket and handed it to him.
He took it, but before he could even bring it close to his nose to smell it, the strong and overpowering fragrance made him want to sneeze. He had to pinch his nose for a while before he could stop.
My goodness, the taste of this pepper is so unique! Jian Mo's eyes widened, and her heart raced.
The surrounding orcs laughed, "That's how Jiao Rui is, she's really pungent, not everyone can stand it, but you'll probably like her."
Jian Mo paused for a moment, then gently opened the leaf.
Inside the leaves are long, thin strips of brown spices, barely thicker than a hair. If you smell them carefully, they smell a bit like pepper, with a strong, pungent spiciness followed by a hint of sweetness.
This is indeed the flavor he likes.
He looked up, picked up a spice stick, and asked expectantly, "May I try some?"
The curly-haired orc nodded. "Of course! But it's spicy, so be careful."
Jian Mo listened to his advice and scraped off a small piece with her fingernail, then put it in her mouth.
Instantly, a stimulating flavor spread across his tongue—spicy, pungent, and sweet—a rich tapestry of tastes. Although it wasn't the familiar aroma of chili or pepper, it was still fantastic.
The pepper's center is simply the perfect source of spiciness!
Jian Mo's eyes lit up with amazement, and her heart pounded.
He likes the flavor of the peppercorns and wants to change it!
We hope the other party will ask for a reasonable price.
He looked at the pepper buds, smiled, and modestly praised, "They smell very good."
The curly-haired orc proudly declared, "Of course! I picked these myself, one by one; they're all the finest flower stamens."
Jian Mo understood; this spice probably came from some kind of flower.
Wu Jiong should know; he'll ask him later.
Jian Mo: "What do you want to change to?"
The curly-haired orc's eyes burned with desire. "Pottery, I want to trade it for your smooth pottery! This bag of peppercorns, you can give me a piece of pottery in return."
This bag of peppercorns weighs at least half a pound; it's worth exchanging!
Jian Mo quickly made a decision. "Would a ceramic plate work?"
Curly-haired sub-orc. "I need to see what kind of ceramic plate it is first."
Jian Mo them to wait there and quickly went home to fetch the ceramic plate.
There was an empty earthenware jar at home, but he wanted to keep it to store wine and was reluctant to trade it with anyone.
If the ceramic plate doesn't work, he'll think of something else.
Fortunately, the curly-haired orc really liked the dark brown glazed ceramic plate and didn't want to let go of it after getting it.
Both of them liked what the other had brought, successfully exchanged items, and, fearing the other might change their mind, hurriedly left the open space.
Jian Mo was immersed in the wonderful mood of having received the pepper blossom all day long.
He asked Qing Kuo and the others, and it turned out that Jiao Rui was indeed the stamen of a flower.
This flower also grows in their tribe, but it's relatively hard to find, and the stamens are produced in small quantities, so people don't collect them much.
Zhou Fu bluntly stated, "Before you came, everyone's barbecue was pretty bad; it didn't make much difference whether there were spices or not."
Jian Mo: "It's not that bad."
Zhou Fu: "Really, for a long time, our barbecue only tasted salty and burnt; we didn't use any spices."
Jian Mo smiled and said, "Now it won't just taste salty anymore. If the pepper flowers bloom next spring, let me know so I can collect more of this spice."
Zhou Fu readily agreed, "Don't worry, if you like it, we'll help you pick it when we see it."
These tiny pepper buds were hard-won.
Jian Mo decided to maximize its effectiveness.
He thought about it for a day and came up with several ways to use it, the most suitable of which was to make it into a sauce—a sauce like black pepper sauce!
In this era of scarce seasonings, food with sauce tastes completely different.
Perfect timing, the temperature is low now, so the sauce will keep well.
In the evening, Jian Mo saw that the mother Pack-Pack Beast had produced milk again, so he tried to express it again.
He often took care of the female Pack-Pack Beast, who was very familiar with him and cooperated quite well.
He successfully milked most of the can of animal milk and carried it back to the house, completely satisfied.
When he returned, Wu Jiong had just arrived home.
Seeing him bring in animal milk, Wu Jiong asked, "Do you need any help?"
Jian Mo looked up. "Yes, let's try to separate the cream. I'll make something nice."
Wu Jiong: "What?"
Jian Mo looked up expectantly and said, "Peppercorn sauce! I got some peppercorns today, let's see if I can make peppercorn sauce later!"
Black pepper sauce usually uses butter, but since there's no butter here, the cream from Pack-Pack Beast's milk should do.
As far as Jian Mo knows, there are several ways to separate cream.
The fastest way is to separate the oils from the other ingredients by beating.
If you're not in a hurry, you can let it settle slowly; after a while, the cream will float to the top.
Jian Mo wanted cream right now, so he separated some cream by whipping it.
Let the animal milk harvested this evening and tomorrow settle.
Wu Jiong was very cooperative with his experiment and agreed to begin.
Jian Mo went first, stirring the Pack-Pack Beast's milk with a stick to demonstrate to Wu Jiong how to do it.
Whipping animal milk is tiring. After whipping it for a while, Jian Mo's arms started to ache.
Wu Jiong had already figured it out, so he took the stick from his hand and continued to beat him.
Wu Jiong's arms were very strong, with clearly defined and beautiful muscle lines.
Jian Mo stared at his arm, a look of envy in her eyes.
Wu Jiong's eyes flickered, and he stirred even faster.
With the two of them stirring in turn, the cream quickly floated to the surface.
Jian Mo carefully ladled the cream into the earthenware pot, then heated the pot to evaporate the moisture inside.