Grasp the farming script in the famous book

The Sir Lucas family is the neighbors of the Bennett family, and the two families have frequent contacts.

But like today, there are not many times when the Lucas and his wife bring the whole family to visit officially.

For this reason, Mrs. Bennett wanted to show off the cook hired by the family with a high annual salary. The kitchen countertops at home were full of "high-end" ingredients that were not usually seen.

Unexpectedly, there was a mistake in the first appetizer. A woman who came to help threw the meat jelly that was supposed to be eaten cold into the frying pan. Turned into a pile of minced meat.

Mrs. Foden, the cook, had not prepared any alternative starters, and it was too late to make other dishes.

Mrs. Foden had no choice but to blame the servant, but the servant felt that the cook hadn't made it clear.

The two started arguing, which delayed the cooking of other dishes.

When Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper, came to the kitchen, the two sides were arguing fiercely—no one had a solution to how to resolve the immediate embarrassment.

Mrs. Hill was rubbing her hands anxiously, knowing that if Mrs. Bennett heard of this, her "nerves" would surely torture everyone again.

But now, what does the kitchen serve?

Just when a group of people remembered that they couldn't share their memories, the "little lady" of the Bennett family came to the kitchen with a basket in his left hand and a cat in his right, and asked the reason in a few words.

Roland's vigorous face was flushed red from the long journey at the moment.

"It's simple!" Two shallow dimples appeared on her face, and her big eyes blinked brightly.

She handed the basket she was holding forward: "Use this!"

Mrs. Hill and the cook looked down at the things in her basket: it was a kind of fungus with a white stalk and a brown canopy. It was not too big, and its shape was quite like the new antler on the head of a young stag. .The stalks of these fungi still have dirt on them, and they look extremely fresh.

"This……"

Before Mrs. Hill could speak, the loud cook had already yelled, "You can't eat the fungus picked in the forest..."

Mrs. Hill's face darkened: "Mrs. Foden, don't be rude, this is the young lady of the house!"

Unexpectedly, Roland smiled and nodded to the cook: "You're right...but this kind of fungus is indeed edible. I saw it at the market in Meryton. It's called 'Matsutake' .”

"Matsutake?"

The people in the kitchen asked in unison.

Most people have never heard of this ingredient, but Mrs. Foden has indeed heard of an extremely precious fungus with a name similar to this one, called pine... pine or something.

"Correct."

In order to dispel everyone's doubts, Roland specially picked up the black and white flowers in his hand.

"Luna found this in the woods. It ate a lot. You see, it is still alive and kicking, and there is nothing wrong with it."

The little cat gave a loud "meow".

Roland handed a matsutake to the cook's hand: "Come, smell it, try its aroma!"

The cook took the finger-thick fungus, brought it close to her nose, and sniffed it lightly, with a fascinated expression on her face.This matsutake has a particularly strong aroma, which is indescribably fragrant.

Seeing the cook's expression, the people in the kitchen breathed a sigh of relief:

——There is hope for the appetizer for the Lucas family!

"But……"

The cook was full of doubts, "How should I cook this?"

"Slice it into thin slices, put a little butter in the frying pan, fry it on both sides, take it out and sprinkle a little salt to taste, then put it on the mouth-sized bread..."

Roland watched everyone in the kitchen staring at her, and added frankly, "This method was also told to me by the people at the Meryton market."

Everyone showed a clear expression.

The cook nodded: "I'll try frying one first."

It doesn't matter if you don't try it, try it, the whole kitchen is full of intoxicating aroma, and the milky aroma brought by butter intensifies the diffusion of this aroma.Everyone, including Mrs. Hill, had expressions of disbelief:

There are such fragrant mushrooms in this world?

The cook saw that the heat was about the same, and removed the frying pan from the heat—she was never afraid of being scalded. She reached out and took a piece of matsutake from the pan that was fried to a slightly yellowish color on both sides, and directly put it into her mouth without adding any seasoning.

Everyone stared closely at the cook's facial expression: she closed her eyes tightly, her eyes, eyebrows and nose were all wrinkled together.

Everyone's hearts immediately raised their throats: matsutake with such a strong fragrance, does it taste bad in the mouth?

"Oh, thank God!"

When the cook opened her eyes again, her eyes were sparkling, as if there were tears.

"This kind of mushroom has an extremely smooth and tender taste, a slightly sweet taste, and is extremely delicious... I have lived for decades, and I have never tasted such a delicacy..."

The cook's face clearly said: Let us be grateful for the gift of creation!

Mrs. Hill hurriedly clapped her hands: "What are you guys still doing? Hurry up and help out together...I'll go to the restaurant to see when the appetizers will be served."

She said and looked back at Roland: "Miss, you..."

Roland smiled and nodded: "Understood, change your shoes, change your petticoat, hurry to the restaurant, and apologize to Sir Lucas's family."

She gave the whole basket of matsutake to the cook, hurried back to her room, hurriedly changed her petticoat and visitor clothes, and went to the restaurant to meet the Lucas family.

When Roland saw Sir Lucas and his wife, he quickly saluted and apologized, explaining that she forgot the time for a walk in the woods today and came back late.

The two families in the dining room looked at each other, as if they were saying: Since when did Lydia also like to go for a walk in the woods?

Roland kept her personality in mind: she is a girl who "doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth", so she never needs to explain anything to others, and after greeting everyone, she just sits down at her seat at the end of the table.

As soon as he sat down, Roland felt a burning gaze looking at him.

As soon as she looked up curiously, that gaze disappeared immediately.

Sitting in that direction are the Lucas sisters. The eldest, Charlotte, is a close friend of the second sister, Elizabeth, and the second, Maria, is said to be very close to Roland.Sitting between the two sisters was Jane, the eldest lady of the Bennett family, who was joking with Charlotte with her head turned.

Roland lowered his head, listened to the movement outside the restaurant, and counted down in his heart: three, two, one...

As she expected, the housekeeper's wife appeared outside the restaurant.

At the same time, a strong fragrance hit the nostrils.Sir Lucas, who had met the king, was moved at this moment, twitching his nostrils, and asked, "Mrs. Bennett, what delicacies are prepared at the house, the smell...is so touching."

Mrs. Bennet was very pleased with Sir's compliment.

But she didn't know why a home-cooked meat jelly had such a strong fragrance.

Then Mrs. Bennet smiled with mock connoisseurship, and made no reply.

The appetizer was served immediately: the answer to the mystery was revealed. It was not aspic, but several slices of long loaves of bread cut into the width of two fingers. On each slice lay quietly a piece of butter-fried mushroom.The mushrooms are simply seasoned lightly with ground salt and pepper.

In addition, the plate is decorated with chopped chicory and thinly sliced ​​water carrots - obviously, the cook used all the garnishes that used to decorate the aspic to decorate the matsutake, which is also very attractive at first glance .

This appetizer was so fragrant that Sir Lucas couldn't hold it back. He directly reached out, picked up a small piece of bread, and put it into his mouth together with the matsutake mushrooms and the bread—then it was time to taste the delicious food.

There is very little seasoning of matsutake, but the slight taste of sea salt and black pepper greatly stimulates the umami of matsutake itself.

The matsutake juice forced out by the heat is mixed with a little butter, which is just caught by the bread used as a substrate.

The taste of the bread is soft and milky; in contrast, matsutake tastes smooth and crisp.

This flavor, this taste, this combination...Sir Lucas closed his eyes and immersed himself in it, looking as if he was in a trance.

"I seem to have tasted such a delicacy when I was preparing to meet the king in London... I just can't remember exactly."

After a long time, Sir Lucas slowly opened his eyes, sighing with emotion.

Mrs. Bennet, who was sitting next to Sir Lucas, was dumbfounded, looking at the delicious food on the plate in front of her in astonishment.Her husband, sitting across from her, was secretly amused by her expression.

"Ma'am, may I ask what this appetizer is and where do the ingredients come from?"

The jazz got a hint from his wife and politely asked Mrs. Bennet beside him.

Mrs. Bennet was speechless—she didn't know!

Mr. Bennet couldn't hold back, chuckled, and teased, "It's not aspic anyway."

Mrs. Bennett: ...Thank you for reminding me.

At this time, Mrs. Hill slightly bent her knees, and answered instead of her master: "This is picked from the forest near my house. It seems to be called, it seems to be called... pine, pine..."

"Truffle!"

Mr. Lucas immediately interjected, and put on a look that he "remembered at last", shook his head slightly and sighed: "It turns out that the pine forest in the house is rich in this kind of delicacy!"

Shocked faces all over the restaurant.

—Is this a truffle?

In the pine forest of the Bennett family, there are actually truffles?

I heard that this is the top fungus only produced in France and Italy.

But except for Roland, no one in the restaurant knew for sure that it was not truffles, but matsutake.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and praised Sir Lucas for being well-informed and able to recognize this rare and expensive ingredient.

The expression on Roland's face was the same as everyone else's, and she was no less surprised than others.

Although truffles and matsutake have similar names, they are two completely different ingredients.

Sir Lucas is so "pretentious", but she can't jump out and accuse: No, sir, you are mistaken, this is not a truffle, this is the same rare and delicious matsutake.

However, Roland calmly made up her little plan in her heart:

It seems that matsutake, an ingredient, has directly conquered the two families present with its astonishing aroma and delicacy.

But in terms of fame, in Europe in the [-]th century, "truffle", a rare fungus that also grows in pine forests, had a better reputation and probably a bigger market.

Fortunately, adults don't have to make a choice. In the forest owned by the Bennett family: the resources of these two rare fungi - they are all there.