Emperor Jiajing only had three days left of his vacation, so things about the store had to be rushed. After watching the decoration for half a day in the morning, Zhu Ping'an left a design drawing for Liu Mu and told him some things to pay attention to in the decoration, and then asked Liu Mu to stay here to watch the decoration.
Liu Mu is the most careful and cautious among Liu Dadao and his companions. Zhu Ping'an couldn't be more relieved to leave Liu Mu to oversee the decoration.
In order to open a store, in addition to decoration, it is also necessary to recruit people, mainly chefs and waiters.
As for the chef, Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others unanimously recommended Uncle Liu, the same Uncle Liu from their Yunmeng Village. At the beginning, Zhao Daying allowed his soldiers to kill innocent people to claim credit, and Uncle Liu escaped the disaster because he went out to fetch water.
Uncle Liu is a famous chef in their village. He has been cooking for half his life. His cooking skills are passed down by word of mouth among neighbors and villagers. Everyone who has tasted Uncle Liu's dishes gives him a thumbs up. Even the chefs in the town's restaurants are full of praise for Uncle Liu's cooking skills. The nearby villages are proud to invite Uncle Liu to cook for weddings and funerals. As long as Uncle Liu is the chef, the banquet is very impressive.
Liu Dadao, Liu Dachui and the other two took the heads of their fellow villagers back to Yunmeng Village for burial. When they returned from Yunmeng Village, they consulted with Old Man Liu and returned to the capital with him.
The other five hunters who were originally imprisoned in the prison built their own houses at the foot of the graves of the elders of Yunmeng Village. They agreed to observe mourning for their elders for a year, and then reunite with Liu Dadao and others to repay Zhu Ping'an.
In order to return to the capital as quickly as possible, Liu Dadao and his companions rode at full speed all the way. They were young and strong so they were fine, but Old Man Liu, with his old arms and legs, could not take it. He was almost falling apart after being shaken along the way and rested as soon as he returned to Linhuai Marquis' Mansion yesterday.
Zhu Ping'an went back to see Mr. Liu yesterday. Mr. Liu is in his fifties and in good health, but he is mentally exhausted.
I feel like I'm going to get dizzy. Why are you in such a hurry? ...
Zhu Ping'an was both moved and speechless at the sight of Liu Dadao and his companions galloping along the way.
Old Man Liu couldn't sit still, so he came over to help early this morning, but Zhu Ping'an insisted on letting Old Man Liu rest in the house for another day.
So, the chef is Uncle Liu, and Liu Daqiang volunteered to help Uncle Liu in the kitchen, so there should be no problem with the chef. When Liu Daqiang was in Yunmeng Village, he often helped Uncle Liu in the kitchen, and he was considered as Uncle Liu's half-nominal apprentice. He was still recognized by Uncle Liu for washing vegetables, cutting vegetables, and simple cooking.
Of course, if business is busy, we can hire a few more kitchen helpers for Uncle Liu and Liu Daqiang.
The next step is to customize the equipment.
Zhu Ping'an handed this piece to Liu Daqiang and Liu Dafu. Liu Daqiang was very familiar with pots, pans, plates, dishes and cutting boards. When he was a kitchen helper for Uncle Liu, he often went to the town to help people who hosted banquets to purchase these things. Liu Daqiang was an expert at bargaining and so on.
Therefore, Zhu Ping'an gave Liu Daqiang 15 taels of silver and asked him to take Liu Dayu to purchase these equipment and buy some seasonings for cooking. He especially emphasized that they should buy more chili peppers imported from Southeast Asia.
Chili pepper is also known as hot pepper. There is no specific record of when hot pepper was introduced to China.
However, the earliest recognized record of chili peppers is "Zunsheng Bajian" (1591) written by Gao Lian in the Ming Dynasty. The book records: "Chili peppers grow in clusters, with white flowers, and fruits that look like pen heads. They are spicy and red in color, and are very impressive."
According to the records in this book, it is generally believed in modern times that chili pepper was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Ping'an also thought so at the beginning, but the fact is not so. Now it is the 30th year of Jiajing (1551 AD), and chili peppers have appeared on the market in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. They have become a kind of seasoning of the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the degree of exploration of chili peppers is far less than that of modern times.
Even when he was a child, when Zhu Ping'an first met the little girl Li Shu in the town, the bun shop in the town near the south already had chili powder and vinegar mixed together to make the sauce.
Well, when I have time, it is necessary to write some articles like Gao Lian, such as "Notes on Peace" or poems, to leave written records to prove that the consumption of chili peppers dates back to the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Well, let’s talk about this later when we have time.
Now I have to go buy ingredients.
The vegetables and meats of this era are all natural and pollution-free, and are grown with soil and fertilizer. The quality is absolutely guaranteed, which is still very reassuring. Zhu Pingan took Liu Dachui and Liu Dagang to the nearby vegetable market. He planned to compare prices and quality, understand the market situation, and if possible, make a long-term supply agreement with the stall owners and let them deliver the goods directly to the store.
After walking for about twenty minutes, we arrived at the nearest vegetable market to the store.
The vegetable market was called "Cai Shi Si", which was somewhat similar to the modern vegetable market, but the management was stricter. There were two clerks sitting at the door of the vegetable market drinking tea, and two whips were placed on the table to maintain order in the vegetable market.
There are many people selling and buying vegetables in the market, and it is very lively, but it is not messy.
Zhu Ping'an led Liu Dachui and Liu Dagang into the vegetable market, which was divided into two areas, one for selling vegetables and the other for selling seafood and meat.
Zhu Ping'an and his companions first went to the vegetable shopping area, where there were all kinds of common vegetables as well as precious vegetables, such as radishes, lettuce, cabbage, onions, garlic, spinach, greens, and hairy taro. After asking about the prices, they found that there was not much difference between the prices of each vendor. If they purchased in large quantities, the price per pound could be reduced by one or two cents, and the vegetables could basically be delivered to their door.
Of course, it seems that there is not much difference between the vendors, but when purchasing in large quantities, the difference is quite large.
In addition, although the vegetables sold by different vendors seem to be similar, there are still significant differences between them, such as freshness, quality, origin, etc.
There are many tricks involved.
When it comes to a dish in different restaurants, the key factor that determines which one tastes good and which one doesn’t, apart from the cooking skills, is the ingredients.
Zhu Pingan compared them for a long time and felt overwhelmed. He still couldn't tell the difference between good and bad ingredients. He decided to bring Mr. Liu and Mr. Liu Daqiang with him next time to make a decision. Mr. Liu and Mr. Liu Daqiang are more professional in this kind of thing.
Moved to the seafood and meat area.
In fact, Zhu Ping'an came to the market just for seafood and meat, to be exact, pork, or more precisely, offal such as pig heart, pig liver, pig stomach, pig kidney, and pig large intestine.
It seems that I often complain about the ridiculous plots in some modern time-travel novels... ... It seems that I should apologize to them.
Ancient people preferred to eat beef and mutton and ate less pork, especially before the Song Dynasty. Although eating pork became popular in the Ming Dynasty, it was still not served at banquets because there were too many pork and the meat was cheap, far less than it is today.
Pork is only eaten by common people and the poor, not to mention pig offal. Pig hearts and livers are still okay, but as for pig intestines and the like, basically no one is interested in them. The price is so cheap that it seems like they are given away for free, but no one buys them. Butchers usually just throw them away.
In fact, the main reason is that the ancients did not know how to process pig offal.
In modern times, these are all good things. The famous braised dishes and braised meats are both mouth-watering delicacies.
As a grassroots foodie, when Zhu Ping'an was short of money but greedy, he would buy a portion of braised pork and a plate of cucumbers for himself, and then eat them all up with a cup of hot tea, sweating profusely. It was so satisfying to satisfy his gluttony.
As a foodie, Zhu Ping'an has a thorough understanding of the most basic qualities of how to prepare pig offal and how to braise meat.