Ren Baqian cupped his hands at the caretakers and called for a few odd-job workers to move a cart of ice. Then, he followed the guards into the palace.
The palace gate was connected to the beast park. After checking the ice and the guards, he let them in.
The last time Ren Baqian was here, he was thinking about how to stay alive and didn't have much time to look around.
This time, he was much more relaxed.
In general, the buildings in Dayao were very rough. Most of the buildings in the palace were made of stone with some simple carvings. It fully displayed the rough nature of Dayao. However, Ren Baqian found it interesting.
After all, there were too many exquisite gardens on Earth. This kind of rough exotic style was fresh to him.
When they arrived at a palace, a few people were waiting outside. The guard who reminded him earlier went in to report.
Not long after, the guard came out and waved at everyone, "Send the ice in."
Then, he said to Ren Baqian, "Follow me."
After leaving the crowd, the guard said to Ren Baqian, "Her Majesty wants you to make some exotic food. Do it well. "
"Thank you!" Ren Baqian cupped his hands. "How should I address you, brother?"
"My surname is Shi. Just call me Shi Hu," the guard said with a smile.
"Brother Shi Hu and Caretaker Shi are from the same family?" Ren Baqian asked curiously.
"We are from the same village."
After chatting for a while, Ren Baqian thought of something, "Besides Her Majesty, who else is in the palace? I didn't see many people on the way here. "
"There are also some maids and odd-job workers. Then, there are us guards," Shi Hu said.
Ren Baqian was slightly surprised that there were no eunuchs in this world.
After walking for more than ten minutes, they arrived at a big courtyard. Inside, there were dozens of people bustling about.
This was the imperial kitchen of the palace. It was in charge of the emperor's meals. If there were other people from the imperial family, they would also be in charge here.
As for the food of the guards, odd-job workers, and maids, there were other places.
The supervisor of the imperial kitchen was a tall and fat man. He didn't know if all the chefs were like this, but most of them were.
In particular, the chefs here had to study all kinds of dishes every day and try all kinds of things. They had to eat everything one by one, so it wasn't strange for them to become fatter.
"Caretaker Gou, this is Caretaker Ren from the beast park. Her Majesty doesn't have a good appetite today, so she asked him to prepare some exotic delicacies," Shi Hu introduced Caretaker Ren to the imperial kitchen.
Hearing this, the fatty's face was obviously unhappy. He immediately flared up. "Since when is it the beast park's turn to cook? Who is it for? "
"Caretaker Gou, be careful with your words," Shi Hu said in a deep voice.
Caretaker Gou then realized that his words seemed to be scolding Her Majesty. He hurriedly said, "I didn't mean it. Please don't blame me. "
"The weather has been hot these past two days, and His Majesty's appetite isn't good. He didn't eat much for lunch today," Shi Hu continued.
"It's my fault!" Caretaker Gou lowered his head and said. No matter what, it was the fault of the imperial kitchen that His Majesty did not eat much. As for whether the weather was hot or not, it was not an excuse.
"This Caretaker Ren is from the outside world and is proficient in culinary skills. Hence, Her Majesty asked him to prepare some exotic delicacies."
"The Imperial Kitchen receives your orders." Caretaker Gou cupped his fists.
Then, he said to Ren Baqian, "Come over here, just tell me what you need. I want to see what kind of exotic delicacies you can make. "
It was obvious that even though he agreed verbally, he still had a lot of resentment in his heart. After all, the imperial kitchen was his territory. The chefs in the imperial kitchen had absolute confidence in their own skills.
If a chef were to display his culinary skills, they might be willing to learn from him.
However, a caretaker from the beast park came to cook for the empress. This made them feel uncomfortable.
Previously, Ren Baqian saw that Caretaker Gou didn't quibble and directly admitted his mistake. Hence, he had a good impression of Caretaker Gou. However, since Caretaker Gou didn't like him, there was no need for him to build a good relationship with Caretaker Gou.
As long as he could make something that satisfied the empress, it would be fine.
The main part of the imperial kitchen was a huge room inside. There were two slightly smaller rooms beside it.
Ren Baqian entered the biggest room and took a look. There were all kinds of vegetables that he had never seen before. There was also a lot of meat at the side.
The first thing that Ren Baqian noticed was the seasoning.
He tasted them one by one. Salt, brown sugar, a sweet and sour fruit core, soy sauce, vinegar, a spicy fruit, a ginger rhizome, and a jar of weird meat sauce. These were all the seasoning that the imperial kitchen had.
It was much scarcer than what Ren Baqian had imagined.
He reckoned that any ordinary household in China would have more seasoning than this.
Just like that, the group of chefs from the imperial kitchen looked at Ren Baqian with arrogance. They wanted to see what he could make.
Ren Baqian boasted that his culinary skills were average. He definitely couldn't make anything good with these ingredients.
As for relying on the taste of the ingredients themselves, Ren Baqian didn't even understand the ingredients here. What could he make?
"How is it? What do you want to make?" Caretaker Gou looked down at Ren Baqian and asked.
Ren Baqian was slightly disappointed, "Just these few ingredients aren't even enough to make zhajiang noodles."
Upon hearing this, Caretaker Gou got angry on the spot, "The whole world is filled with these ingredients. The imperial palaces of Great Xia, the Yun Nation, and the Chen Nation also have these ingredients. Don't blame us for not having enough ingredients if you are not good enough. "
Ren Baqian grinned. His culinary skills weren't that good, but if he ordered all these ingredients, he would have more choices.
Furthermore, the imperial palaces of Great Xia, the Yun Nation, and the Chen Nation also had these ingredients? Ren Baqian didn't really believe it.
You are a chef from the imperial kitchen of Dayao, how would you know what other countries have?
Furthermore, I heard that there are countries to the west of Great Xia and to the south of the Chen Nation. Maybe these countries can get some seasoning from other places.
Even though Ren Baqian didn't say anything, the noncommittal expression on his face made Caretaker Gou unbearably angry.
The people from your beast park came to the imperial kitchen to cook for Her Majesty, and you still think that we don't have enough ingredients? This is simply too infuriating.
If you are capable, then come and manage this imperial kitchen.
Caretaker Gou forcefully suppressed his anger and asked coldly, "What do you want?"
Ren Baqian shook his head slightly. He could naturally tell that Caretaker Gou was unhappy. But your ingredients are not complete. They are simply too few.
Seeing him like this, Caretaker Gou got even angrier, "What do you want? As long as you have it, I can find it for you. If you don't have it, then honestly say that your culinary skills are bad and get lost back to the beast park. "
"Do you have MSG? Do you have pepper? Big ingredients? Cumin? Sesame paste? Do you have pepper? Cinnamon … "Ren Baqian counted seven or eight types with his fingers. Then, he raised his head and asked," Do you have these? If you can take one out, it will do. "
Caretaker Gou was stunned. After thinking for a long time, he asked Ren Baqian, "What are they?"
Ren Baqian roughly described the taste of the pepper and big ingredients. After listening, Caretaker Gou was furious, "Are you kidding me? You are spouting a bunch of nonsense. I have never heard of any of these ingredients. If Her Majesty wasn't waiting for you today, I would have beaten you out. "
"That's why I said that your ingredients are not complete." Ren Baqian still shook his head. His expression of "You are indeed ignorant, I am not wrong" made Caretaker Gou explode in anger.
"Take out those ingredients and let me see if they are really as you said. If not, I will not let you off. Even if I report this to Her Majesty, I will not let this matter rest, "Caretaker Gou shouted at the top of his voice, causing dust to fall from the roof.
The other chefs in the imperial kitchen also followed suit and scolded.
"Where did you get the courage to spout nonsense? Don't just rely on the fact that Her Majesty specifically asked you to come over and criticize the imperial kitchen. "
"There is no such thing as what you said."
"You came to the imperial kitchen to spout nonsense. Don't you know what the people here do every day?"
"The people in the beast park know how to cook?"
Caretaker Gou was so irritable that he even cursed out loud.
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