Into Unscientific

  Chapter 19 Bad Lunch and Night (Part 2)

   Well known.

  The light of civilization in the east is Huaxia, and the light of civilization in the west is Italy.

  The reason why Italy is called the Light of Western Civilization is because of the existence of the Roman Empire, and because it is the birthplace of the Renaissance.

  One of the reflections of the latter is reflected in the influence of Italy on European food culture.

  A typical example is the fork.

  The fork first appeared in Italy, and was introduced to France by Catherine de Medici in the 16th century. The popularity of the British fork would not be until the 18th century. Before that, there were two main types of tableware:

  Spoons for drinking soup and knives for cutting ingredients.

   In addition, the British eat with

hand.

   That's right, hands—this can be seen in many early British paintings, such as "The Peasant's Wedding" in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria.

This habit has not changed even in some areas in later generations. For example, a street writer named Novice Fisherman once saw an Englishman put instant noodles directly into a bowl, then put them in the microwave for a while, and then Just eat it with your hands

  How should I put it, I’m not talking black, right? John Bull is really not very particular about eating this stuff.

  Of course, there is still a saying that the knife and fork were passed to Europe by the Chinese.

  However, there is no particularly strong basis for this statement, so let’s just understand it.

   His sight returned to the dining table.

  Perhaps some children’s boots have an illusion about the fishiness of eel, thinking that only river fish needs to be de-fishy, ​​and eel is not.

   There are actually two mistakes in this sentence:

  First of all, British eels are actually river fish, and they live in the Thames River. In 2019, the Thames River also caused a large number of eel 'riots' because of the high content of benzoyl, caffeine and cocaine in the river.

  Secondly, the fishy smell of British eel is no worse than that of river fish and carp. If you are interested, you can search or try eel jelly. It is no less than the king of British dark cuisine looking up at the stars.

all in all.

   Unprocessed eel soup is undoubtedly difficult for modern people like Xu Yun to swallow, but in the 17th century British commoner families, this can be regarded as one of the top delicacies.

   "Huha—"

   Taking a mouthful of hot fish soup into his stomach, William showed a look of enjoyment on his face.

Then he put down the bowl, picked up the bread with his left hand, and picked up a piece of cauliflower directly from the dinner plate with his right hand, first passed the gray-green soup on the bread, and then stuffed the bread into his mouth, letting the juice drip to the table.

   There are no maids and servants, and no red wine and candles. It is so primitive that it is only a little better than drinking blood (because I am too poor to cook without salt). This is Xu Yun's first meal in the seventeenth century.

   The eel soup was too much to drink, but the host had to show some face at the table, so Xu Yun hesitated for a few seconds, and finally picked up the bread in front of him, and simply spread some butter on it.

  The bread made by Mrs. William is somewhat similar to the local choking buns. It is thick and hard, and the inside is very grainy. It tastes dry but is extremely hungry.

  Xu Yun once stayed in Wendeng, Shandong Province for a period of time, and had eaten steamed buns with choking noodles and steamed buns with corn flour for a few months, so this kind of bread tasted quite familiar to him.

  Different from the local tradition of "no talking when eating, no talking when sleeping", John Newt likes to chat at the dining table. The only requirement is that there should be no food in his mouth.

  So after taking two sips of fish soup, William took the initiative to speak:

   "Mr. Fat Fish, how long are you going to stay in Woolsthorpe this time?"

  Xu Yun thought for a while, then said according to the requirements of the task:

   "About one to two months. Now that the plague is raging and the passage between Britain and the Netherlands is blocked, I'm afraid it will take some time before I can send a letter to contact my grandfather, Sir Zhang San."

  Hearing the word plague, William couldn't help showing a trace of worry:

   "Plague, I hope those adults can figure out a solution as soon as possible. Although this is God's will, if this continues, I'm afraid something will really happen."

  Looking at William who made the sign of the cross on his chest, Xu Yun slightly shook his head.

  Whether it is plague or cholera, the real source of infection of these diseases was discovered, and it was only a matter of one or two hundred years in modern times.

  For example, the culprit of the plague, Yersinia pestis, was a strain that was officially isolated by Alexander Yersin in 1894.

  In the 17th century, although Europeans realized that isolation could delay the spread of the plague, they knew nothing about its underlying pathology—after all, cells were discovered by Hooke.

  So most people’s perception of the plague is .

   God's punishment.

   There are also astrologers who attribute the bubonic plague to a malevolent conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, and it is quite popular.

  There are many similar things in the local area, such as the famous Wudou Rice Sect, which also started from the panic caused by the plague among the people.

  By the way, talking about the Five Dou Rice Religion, here is a very interesting thing about popular science:

  Tao Yuanming has a very famous saying, which is called "I can't bend my waist for five buckets of rice, boxing is like a villain in the village." Many people think that Mr. Tao is not lowering his eyebrows because of his salary, and it is even recorded in an encyclopedia.

  However, there is a huge loophole in this explanation—the county magistrates of the Ming Dynasty were accused of embarrassment with a monthly salary of seven stones and five dou, but the county magistrates of the Jin Dynasty only had five dou?

   This is obviously impossible.

  Actually, the Wudoumi here refers to the Wudoumi Sect, one of the earliest sects of Taoism. Anyone who is an official must have a good relationship with this sect.

  When Mr. Tao was appointed as Jiangzhou Jijiu, he had conflicts with Wang Ningzhi, his immediate boss who believed in Wudoumi Taoism. Later, the supervisor who came to inspect was also a member of Wudoumi Cult, so he would rather resign than bow down.

  Although from the point of view of interpretation, they are all intended to express Tao Gong's strength of character, but the irony of the sentence itself is actually two completely different things.

well, let's get back to business.

  Hearing that Xu Yun was planning to stay in Woolsthorpe for two months, William Escuh said nothing, but Mrs. William frowned:

  If it is said that he will stay here for two months, wouldn't he have to go to eat with Mavericks every day?

  If Xu Yun’s name is Xu Yun, it’s okay to say that a girl’s food intake should not be that big, and she is about the same as Lisa inside and out.

  But right now Xu Yun is an upright and youthful boy. As the saying goes, a half-grown man eats a poor man. This is a big challenge for William's family's food inventory.

   Right now, William owes a pile of foreign debts, and there is only a little life-saving money left under the pillow. Although there are some wheat flour and potatoes in the family, they can only support the family until January next year.

  Assuming that Xu Yun's appetite is equal to the combination of sisters Elura and Lisa, then the family's rations may only last until the beginning of December. If the plague is still not under control by then

  Thinking of this, Mrs. William's expression suddenly changed slightly.

Note:

   Just woke up and slept for 20 hours.

  There is still tonight, all-night code!

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  (end of this chapter)